Dark God Asura: Rebirth
by Pervert Nightmare
Summary: Percy Jackson, Slain hero of Olympus is haunted by his Prophecy even After death. Reborn to stand against Kronos, he treads on a twisted path as he explores the ruined dimensions and the broken Earth in search of a method to break past his Mortality. Watch him wield the Elements and the weapons of the cursed as he becomes one destined to destroy, the Dark God Asura! M for smut.
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: I never stop planning. Even if I don't update, im usually working on a new storyline. Or reading a story. I rewrote the Story, first story I had planned and corrected all the mistakes that were present in my writing style, and this is what I've finished with. It took me a lot of time to get done, and itt was annoying rewriting it, but this version is much better. **This story is a** **Crossover between Percy jackson, Tales of Demons and Gods, Against the Gods, Martial world and Martial God Asura.**

Percy jackson's Death

Percy stumbled, feeling the deadweight of tiredness pushing down on him. all he could do was stagger backwards as Luke roared with pain and anguish, clutching at his head as a golden glow spilled out of his body, overwhelmingly bright light that consumed everything in sight, even as his eyes turned a molten gold that spread down his cheeks, covering his entire face, almost as if the flesh of his face was melting under the sheer intensity of power his body was being forced to contain. Despite being blessed by the power of the river Styx, his mortal frame could not withstand the overwhelming power of kronos's essence as it burst out of him, destroying his body and disintegrating his soul. Luke's mouth stretched open in an agonized scream as his entire existence exploded, and explosive energy flooded out of him.

Space around Percy seemed to turn sticky and fluid, time itself slowing down. He fell to his knees, beside Annabeth and Grover as he felt a powerful aura ruthlessly bear down on him. this aura seemed to encompass the entire world, an endlessly power and ancient aura, carrying the dreaded power of evil and destruction. Percy shivered as he looked up, meeting the cold, deep eyes of his mortal enemy.

"Kronos"

Percy muttered hatefully under his breath, even as the titan lord broke into a wide smile, twisting and looking at his hands. Then he glanced at Percy and his smile widened."Perseus jackson. The pitiful demigod who tried defying me."

Percy had no energy left. All he could do was stare hopelessly at the ground before his knees as Annabeth and Grover froze in time. Kronos gave a cruel chuckle before extending his hand towards Percy." I have no more need of you. now, vanish from my sight, mortal."

Percy knew that death was something that he couldn't escape from. He had hoped he could beat kronos, but he knew the cards sometimes played right, sometimes they didn't.

He should have given the knife to Luke, but he hadn't and now the world around him was slowly growing dark as he felt his soul slip away, and all he had left was boundless regret. Kronos's overwhelming presence bore down on him and he felt his human body burst into flames and turn to ashes.

'In a a small room in the palace of Nyx'

Atropos sighed as she picked up her scissors. Times like this were, the worst moments of her job, having to cut a humans life thread. Clotho, her oldest sister patted her shoulder. "he was a brave hero, but all heroes die" she said in a gravelly voice.

"still though" Lachesis, the middle sister interrupted "his death foreshadows our demise as well. Kronos has won and soon, the effect shall spread. First the gods of Olympus shall fall and the west shall lose its flame. This shall cause the Romans to collapse. Then the Apophis shall soon swallow the sun and cause the demise of the most ancient civilization. When humanity loses its three largest empires, midgard shall be consumed by chaos and its chaos shall fuel Ratatoskr to destroy the world tree itself, finally unsealing the grand dragon Niddhogg and the mighty hawk Veorfolnir who will seek revenge on mother Nyx and mother chaos for sealing them. And so in a few millennia all shall be lost." She sighed as well.

"just do your job" Clotho rumbled in displeasure." If we don't we shall suffer the wrath of chaos".

Atropos nodded and with a small 'snick', the scissors closed on the thread. There was a clang and the three fates started in surprise. The thread was glowing, a shield of chaos enclosing it.

"m-mother chaos?"Clotho called out in surprise.

"leave the child" a soft voice whispered " he carries an artifact from beyond our reality. His fate is beyond your power. The least I can do is return him to the original reality of chaos. If he escapes then he may challenge Kronos once more and save our world from complete destruction."

Atropos looked up, hope in her eyes "but mother chaos, to send him to the original reality… humanity has almost died out there… won't he perish, another newborn falling to the endless armies of monsters?". Chaos snickered at her question. "One last city remains. At the rate at which Tartarus's armies conquered the continent, it might survive for another two-three years. Hmph but if I interfere, who can harm him? And don't worry. I shall soon send him a goddess to accompany and guide his growth."

The fates exchanged looks. They didn't trust their mothers judgement, but couldn't argue either.

The lifeline, still glowing, rose into the air, before vanishing. And Percy's soul departed this reality as well, heading for a new adventure yet again. In his pocket, the cursed blade Riptide glowed as well, before disappearing as it headed back to its home along with its master.

A.N.: yes peeps, riptide is the artifact from another reality. And yes Percy shall return back to earth, but only after a few millennia,by when this world will be very, very different. Btw im open to suggestions for the to be heroine and her many, many companions. Which basically means the girls who are going to be in Percy's harem. Because obviously he needs a harem. For now we have two girls only: Piper Mclean and Calyspo. Of course doesn't have an unlimited harem and only characters who can play a relevant character shall be selected. Ciao with peace from manhattan.


	2. First Arc: The Girl in Silver

**First arc: Birth in Hope city, the last fortress of Humanity: the Girl in Silver**

Perseus jackson was born in hope city, in the year 9984. He was born into the declining aristocratic jackson family, one of the 13 great aristocratic families of hope city.

The night he was born was entirely uneventful. No one noticed the dark shadow that was Chaos herself, watching the birth of their final hope.

Percy was born into a human family and seemed entirely human. His godly powers were a thing of the past, and he was as close to being a human as he had ever been. The only difference between him and the ordinary, average human was his powerful soul, tempered by not just his fathers divinity, but also the sufferings of 16 years and the forging of the river styx.

The fates watched him with worry during his initial years. They had broken many divine laws during his birth, and the only reason they had gotten away with it was even Chaos herself had supported them. But in order to maintain balance, they had sealed away all his memories of his past life, everything leading from his birth and the identity of his true parents to the point of his death.

And so Percy jackson grew up, calling trisha jackson his mother and james jackson his father. Being born in an aristocratic family, even a declining one had it's advantages and Percy grew up learning the history of hope city, its founding and the day of apocalypse.

Humanity lived in this last standing city, the last hope of humanity's survival. In this world, monsters were no secret. They were a real, existing threat. No mist existed to hide them from the sight of humans. These monsters ruled almost the entire world now, turning it into a wilderness, filled with hungry beasts.

Almost 5,000 years back, the great empire of Pontus, the empire ruled by humanity was toppled by a wave of monsters that ran amock, hunting down and killing all of humanity, massacring the once invincible race. This army was led by a monstrous beast known as tartarus's envoy, a nearly invincible monster of infinite power. He slaughtered all the great experts of humanity, single handedly bringing the human civilization to it's knees in just a single day's time.

Then the wave of monsters devoured the rest of the empire, sweeping across the continent of gaia, slaughtering and massacring everything in their path. Then five hidden experts, a band of friends appeared. Despite being weak compared to the monster king, tartarus's envoy, these five were powerful experts whose strength had crossed the limits of the human body and entered into the realm of legends.

They gathered all the refugees and led them to the west, towards the uninhabited mountains where they secluded themselves and built a final stronghold for themselves, the city of hope, the final hope for humanity's survival. And thus these five great heroes stood as guardians of the city, defending it singlehandedly for nearly 2,000 years after which they died.

Humanity had survived, but still needed heroes to guard it. And so Percy was born into a world where everyone lived a life on the edge of life and death. A hero was born, to defy the will of the heavens, and stand against the gods!

In a world where order was destroyed, strength was what reigned supreme. The gods were already extinct, celestial bronze no longer blessed. Humanity no longer had demigods to fight the nesters that threatened their survival. In this alternate dimension, which was separated from earth, humans had already learnt to fight monsters by their own strength, relying on ordinary weapons built of steel to hunt them down!

When Percy was six years old, his training had begun. He was given not just physical training to strengthen his body. But also mental training to strengthen his mental fortitude and make him a sharp thinker on his feet. The grand jackson family was declining, and they had very little money to spare. As Percy was not born into the direct line, but instead was born to a cousin of the head of the family, he was assigned to not just train, but was required to work as well.

Percy was strong minded and strong willed from a young age. while his memories were sealed, his innate experience and instincts remained. He was a hard worker from a young age and he quickly absorbed and learned new things. He didn't fear hard work and was willing to put in as much effort necessary to accomplish his goals.

"the stages of training are divided into 10 total stages." James taught Percy. "the first nine stages are known as the '9 mortal shifts'. They are how far we can train an ordinary human body. The tenth stage, is also known as the realm of Legend, because that realm exceeds human limits and grants them explosive powers. The five great founders of our hope city all belonged to this realm. In fact, before the apocalypse day, humanity had thousands, if not tens of thousands of these experts." He said with a proud smile.

Percy was listening with rapt attention, his dark eyes eager "and all these great heroes were all killed by the monster king?" he enquired eagerly.

James nodded sadly. "it was a day of bloodshed and massacre. Most of the great experts had gathered to celebrate the Pontus empire's grand founding anniversary's five thousand year anniversary. That day the monster king arrived and killed all the assembled heroes. Not a single one escaped. The remaining legend realm warriors rushed to help them, but they all perished under his cruel blade. Then he hunted down the remaining legend realm warriors to make sure humanity was entirely crippled. The five founders were hidden experts who roamed the continent freely together in a band and hence escaped his notice. But they rushed back once they heard the news, but rather than commit suicide against him, they gathered the survivors and brought them to the desolate west mountains to form hope city. Monster waves were regular in the early days of the founding. But the five founders held off each one. some monsters were even of equal strength to them, but they never once faltered. And we the 13 great aristocratic families and 3 grand royal societies are their descendants. As such, we must protect and defend our city. In order to do so you must at least become a rank seven warrior! Am I clear?"

Percy's eyes were filled with excitement. "Yes father! Someday, I shall not just become a legend rank warrior, i will even surpass our founders and kill the monster king!"

James laughed and ruffled his sons hair with obvious delight and affection. "yes, yes my brave little boy. Someday, I'm sure you'll make us all proud. Just work hard. Even if our family cannot spare you too many resources, as long as you train hard enough, you shall surely surpass all your cousins!" he stood and stretched. His clothes were rough and patched, made with coarse thread. He smiled at his son. "I'll be out in the farm, getting the work done, you just dedicate yourself and train hard till I come back."

His words were said like a joke, since he would hardly believe a six year old child would be capable of training for nearly six hours straight. And indeed, when he returned that evening, a sweaty and dusty Percy lay curled up on the ground, sound asleep. James chuckled. "at least he did some training. Or I hope he did. It'd be disappointing to find out he spent all time playing, that's why he's so dusty." He laughed and picked him up and started back towards his house, not knowing that the six year old Percy had persisted in his physical training, following his combat manuals training exercises, for more than five hours before he'd fainted due to over exertion.

Their routine continued but james was surprised a few weeks later to see his son awake at the end of the six hour period, still training. When Percy was tested a few months later, the six year old child registered an astonishing record of rank 2 level power. Training continued and the next year the six year old registered rank three level power. His instructors were pleased but according to the rules, once he reached seven years of age, he was required to start farm work.

Thus began Percy's struggle to balance both farm work and training. His goal was to reach the hallowed institute of battle qi training. The same school founded by the five founders and the same school that had produced the city's only living legend realm warrior, grandholme degrest. He was the city's guardian pillar and the head of the grand society of grest, the ruling society.

But according to the rules, to join the academy, needed a rank of at least 4 at the age of eight and at least a rank of five to join the genius class. Given Percy's speed, reaching rank 4 or perhaps even 5 was not impossible by the age of 8. But with farmwork taking up all his time, he barely had any time to train. He struggled hard, trying to finish his work as soon as possible and begin training. He worked himself to his limits but made no progress. The next year's test was disappointing but expected. He had a rank of level three. Then he began struggling even harder but within a week, of his seventh year, tragedy struck

Percy had just finished another day of work in the farm that he was assigned to. He went to the small hut where he usually trained right after work was finished. Determined to not waste any time, he did not even bother changing his clothes before seating himself and beginning to practice the energy flow manual provided by his family for a cheap price. Percy closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, letting his energy sync with the world around him even as he began respiring the profound energy around him through all his pores. He quickly speeded up his flow of energy, wincing at the sudden rush of enrgy flowing through his Profound veins.

A person's profound veins were the integral channels through which his Profound energy flowed. This energy was what helped humans to exceed their limits and perform superhuman feats. Using this energy, they could cushion their organs from attacks, strengthen their muscles and even increase their healing and lifespan! They were delicate and it was required for a warrior to ensure their safety in battle, for if they were ever broken or damaged, then the person would be crippled, unable to store or use this energy, and hence, a waste.

Percy already knew all the necessary precautions, but he had very little time and hence decided to disregard them as he quietly revolved his energy through his body at breakneck speeds. His face turned an unnatural shade of red as the energy flowed unstably throughout him. then suddenly, Percy felt the energy go wild within his body, running amok as it thrashed through his profound veins. Percy felt his mind blank out under the pain and he collapsed to the floor. He was later found by his father when he came to take him home for the night. Under the burden of incessant training and no rest, Percy fainted and ended up in a coma for nearly three days.

 _-in his dreams-_

"Hahahahahaha son of Poseidon, how are you?" a voice boomed across the darkness of his dream. Even the space of the dream space trembled under it's might and Percy felt as if the weight of the world was settilng onto his mind.

Percy cowered in fear then forced himself to stand straight. Even at such a young age, he had the courage of a hero, unwilling to fear anything. "y-you! w-who are you?!" Percy shouted back. His voice shook with fear, but then held firm.

That mocking laughter boomed again. "my identity is of little consequence my young hero. But how come you have come to visit me so soon? Do you not value your life? Training so hard will kill you my young hero."

Percy glared into the darkness surrounding him "it's the only way I can train! I have no choice!"

"there is always a choice young hero. In the past, you made the wrong choice and hence you ended up here. Now all that's left to be seen is if you will repeat that same mistake again." The voice grew softer and more indistinct and suddenly Percy woke up, surrounded by his family.

His mother had tears in her eyes as she hugged him. "you silly, silly boy! What drove you to this? That training is too much for you my dear! Give it up!" trisha sobbed as she hugged him and patted his head to make sure he was fine. She was shivering with shock and fear and Percy felt horrible to have made her so worried. Though he looked like a child, his temperament was one of a man much older.

"don't worry mum I'm absolutely fine now" he patted her head and she sobbed even more. His father gently helped her up and whispers a few words into her ear. "we'll let you rest my boy. The family has given you a week off so take care to get enough rest!" He patted trisha and led her out of the room his piercing gaze resting upon Percy for a moment as he nodded at him with a gentle smile before exiting.

Percy frowned with displeasure. He hated worrying his mother, but what could he do? He had no other choice than to work harder than others to achieve the same results. He sighed then sat cross legged and started to revolve the power in his body according to the manual provided. The battle qi surged and ebbed as it ran across his body. Percy decided to use this one week of time to its full potential. He began to revolve the power, then froze in horror. He tried again and felt sick with fear.

He'd just realized that when he revolved his power according to the level three formula, there was no problem. But as soon as he tried to follow the level four formula, to try and breakthrough, his power seemed to drain out of his body, leaving him helpless and absolutely dry and drained of even a drop of battle qi.

He tried the entire day with no avail. He again tried it the next day, hoping the nights rest had healed him. But there was no change in his condition. He tried every idea he could think of, frantic with worry. He consulted both his parents and they told him they had no idea what was wrong. They consoled him and told him that he could ask to meet the family doctor. He was experienced and might be able to help. On the last day of his week off, Percy went to visit him. When he left the building half an hour later, he felt sick. Absolutely sick to the core.

There was no cure. That was what he had told him. He had permanently damaged his body and now it no longer could host any more power within it. He would forever remain a level 3 warrior. He would remain a level three forever, because he was crippled. A pathetic cripple who had no cure.

Even his mother was a level 4 father was a level 5 and would soon be a level 6. But he was crippled for the rest of his life. The doctor advised rest and gave him a note exempting him from work for another five days.

But what did this leave matter anymore? He soon headed out of the family compound. Many people greeted him as they passed by. They had cruel smiles on their lips and immediately Percy understood. They already knew. His parents had been asking around for help for quite sometime. A few people had seen him visit the doctor. They must have gone and seen him after Percy left and asked what the reason was.

And so in an hours time the matter had spread out. The previous genius of the jackson family's side branch, the one with hope to join the grand battle qi institute was now a worthless trash. He was a cripple doomed to be a weakling for the rest of his life. He would be the weakest of all in the grand aristocratic clan and he knew what it meant. Everyone would look down on him as if he were a needy beggar living off their scraps.

Percy stormed out off the family compound but couldn't bear heading into the general city area. Soon he would have the same status as a commoner in the family. Most commoners only had a rank three cultivation after all. Usually all family members were at least level five warriors.

He headed to the outside of the city, the exclusive area of his family. every aristocratic family controlled one portion of land around the city which they defended with their own soldiers. The stronger the family, the bigger the portion. Hence, his family had the smallest portion, but that was meaningless now. He wasn't even qualified to become a guard now. He headed into the barren land. It was usually deserted, since the guards patrolled only the walls of the city. In case of a monster wave, they would be stranded if they were outside.

Percy sighed as night slowly fell and he reached the closest mountain. He felt like crying, screaming and cursing his luck, for forsaking him. He punched the ground, hard, but it didn't make him feel any better, didn't get rid of that hot heavy feeling in his throat. Didn't reduce that heavy weight in his chest. He screamed out loud in fury and tears spilled from his eyes as the truth of the future hit him. He collapsed onto the without any energy. He wished a monster wave would come and swallow him and end his misery. He looked to the sky and suddenly the heavy blanket of clouds that usually covered the sky suddenly parted and Percy caught sight of the full was bright silver and glowed with energy. Percy felt a strange peace in his heart, calming his fury and pain.

Suddenly there was a sparkle over the moon and the clouds closed over it again. Percy went to look away, that peaceful feeling fading away once the moon had been covered but he caught sight of that sparkle looked up in surprise as the sparkle grew larger, then turned into a flaming meteor as it crashed through the air, heading for the mountain.

Percy's eyes widened in surprise as the silver meteor smashed into the other side of the mountain and caused an avalanche. He ran as fast as his tiny feet could carry him. Once he was at a safe distance he turned and observed the avalanche. But soon before long, it had stopped and all was silent and peaceful again.

Percy caught sight of a faint silver glow emanating from the site of the avalanche and ran towards that area. He had no idea what it might be but was certain that whatever it was, it wasn't ordinary.

Percy soon reached the site of the glowing object and began digging it out. Feeling a budding sense of excitement, he quickly rolled away heavy rocks and dug as hard as he could, digging down the rubble that was glowing almost eerily. He first uncovered her hand. As he continued, he uncovered the rest of her arm, then her face and then her entire body. Percy stared at what he had uncovered in surprise. It was a person. A girl to be exact. She was a young girl, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and skin was silvery and glowing, emanating the light that had drawn Percy here. Despite his young age, Percy caught his breath at the sight of her beautiful face, but it was stern and dangerous. She was dressed in a burnt and tattered silver gown. Percy was surprised it was even held together after this fall but it was still very revealing. Percy didn't care about any of that though.

He leant over the girl and went to shake her. The second his fingers touched her skin, he hissed and jumped back. His fingers had gone red. She was burning hot. He looked at her carefully and held his hand over her. No she wasn't hot. She was cold. So cold, it had overloaded his nerves.

A soft voice, in the back of Percy's mind, suddenly piped up. It echoed through the seals on his memories, for this was the voice of his intuition. "she didn't just suck out heat from your body. She sucked out life. She's been poisoned. This poison is draining away her very life. If this continues,soon she'll die. After that, if the poison is still active it may spread across the mountain and kill all the life there." Percy frowned. He had no idea how he knew all this, but he just realized and understood it all.

Then the only way to stop it from killing her would be…. Percy reached out with a tentative hand and touched hers. He immediately whipped it back, unable to bear the pain. Then he remembered that he was in fact useless." Im useless to my family and my city. At the very least I might be able to save her life or at least save the life of the creatures on this mountain. Since my life is useless, let me do something meaningful with it" Percy said out loud. Then gritting his teeth, he gripped her hand.

The pain was horrendous. He felt like screaming. He felt like he was boiling till every piece of him had melted away. His nerves were burning and breaking apart. he felt like his body was coming apart and his very soul was being cooked. But in all this pain one part of Percy's soul was silent. The part that had been sealed away.

"the pain of the styx all over again" Percy mumbled through lips that were painted with coughed blood and more blood spurted from his eyes, ears and nose. His body was shriveling and his face was covered with blood. His brain was frazzled with pain and he had no idea what he was mumbling.

Suddenly a memory, still sealed but still strong burned in his mind. A promise, to find a girl. the lost girl. Percy's mind reeled with pain but his thoughts were getting clearer. "ive seen this girl somewhere before!" Percy thought fiercely. "and when I saw her, I swore…. I swore I would find….. would find….." the name of the girl Percy wanted to find was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't bring it forth.

The pain intensified and Percy felt like his soul was being torn into two pieces. The poison had spread into his soul now, and Percy knew his end was near, but he was bitter, he couldn't die, he absolutely couldn't, he had to find her… that girl, his girl…the pain blanked out Percy's mind and he roared out loud "Annabeth!"

The clouds parted again and moonlight slid over the two of them, both figures holding hands, Percy, bloodied and broken, the mysterious girl, pristine and perfect.

Percy was on the edge of his consciousness, feeling his life fade away and the world darken around him. The girl slowly opened her own eyes, silvery yellowish color pupils inside. Her eyes were cold and she seemed surprised to be alive. She felt Percy's hand and looked at him in surprise. Her eyes blurred with tears as she saw him. "no… not again…" she whispered softly. "big brother….. why.. why!" she hurriedly wiped her tears, blood staining her face and mixing with the tears.

"you fool" she shook Percy gently " why did you sacrifice yourself for me?"

Percy's eyes fluttered open and his lips parted slightly "i-if…. M-my …. W-worth…less life…c-can save… yours… perhaps it would have been…..worth it….."

her tears dripped onto his face as she heard his words, words that mirrored the ones her brother had whispered while lying down in her arms, in the throes of his death. "no more… i…I can't take this…. Everyone wants to protect me… just let me die" she sobbed then steeled herself as she looked at Percy, fury in her eyes. "tell me your name, boy"

"p-perseus…. Jackson…" Percy whispered, his breathing growing weaker.

"perseus…. You said your life was worthless. Then I will give you a new life. A worthwhile life, and you must guard it, because you just said that giving your life was worth saving it. The life I give you, is my life. Guard it well. This is the life of Artemis Sollunas, the divine human with the powers of a god."

She bent and kissed Percy and her form sparkled with dazzling silver light then dispersed into tiny motes of moonlight that drifted into him, forming the symbol of a crescent moon upon his chest.

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Eight  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Attributeless  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Artemis Sollunas  
Current Cultivation: Rank Three Warrior  
Divine Bloodlines: Nil  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation  
Weapon: Nil

Artemis Sollunas(Profile)

Name:Artemis Sollunas  
Age: Twelve  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Moon God Attribute  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Percy Jackson/Poisoned by Essence of Styx  
Current Cultivation: High-god level(half-step Olympian level)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline Of Fate(special power: Oracle's eye)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Oracle's Serpent  
Weapon: Violet Bamboo Celestial Bow/ twin black and purple divine daggers.

A.N.:that took me a lot of time and planning. Hope you guys enjoyed it. sorry the if chapter was too short. I'm trying to figure out how to lengthen them. Hopefully the future chapters will be at least as long as this one was.

No artemis is not a god. She's been reborn human. A human with special powers, called a divine human. No she does not remember Percy or her past life. Just like Percy. And no not every god is reborn. Only a few are reborn. Depends on your reviews. Btw even demigods can be reborn as divine humans. For example Annabeth is being reborn. So review who you want reborn and in Percy's harem. Currently the reborn gods are: Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, Hera, Psyche, Nemesis Ares, Apollo. No zeus, Poseidon and hades are not gonna be reborn. And no artemis didn't die. She just kissed him so why would she die!?

What happened then you ask? Well reader, wait for the next chapter and you'll know.


	3. First Arc: Training under a New Master

**First Arc: Training under a new Master.**

The people of the city soon headed over to investigate the landslide and the silver meteor. They were all surprised to find Percy's broken and bloodied form among the rocks as well. They quickly picked him up and carried him back to the city. And yet again Percy fell into another coma.

 _-in Percy's inner world-_

Percy was suspended in a blue green space. There was no ground, nor was there any sky or anything material or solid. There was just the blue green space spreading out as far as one could see.

" don't look around" a voice rang out from behind him. Percy jumped in surprise and quickly spun around. There stood the girl from that night, the girl dresses in silver. But those clothes were gone now though. She was blushing fiercely red and had covered her chest with both arms." Turn around you silly pervert!"she yelled and Percy immediately turned his head away feeling his ears burning.

Percy could still recall every detail of her with perfect clarity however. She'd had soft auburn hair, with clear, silvery skin. Her body was still immature and she was clearly no older than twelve. She had yellow-silver eyes, and cherry red lips. Despite having the form of a eight year old, Percy's soul was far older, and hence his instincts and feelings were far more mature than most people his age.. therefore he clearly knew he'd just seen a breathtaking beauty, without any form of barrier hiding any of her beauty.

"where are your clothes! And where are we?" Percy yelled at her.

She gave a cute "hmph" and replied "why should i tell you anything you pervert? You evil minded sexual fiend! Trying to take advantage of an innocent maiden such as me!"

Percy was flabbergasted. " e-evil minded? Sexual fiend? Im a kid younger than you! and you're the one naked for no reason!" she gave another "hmph" but didn't argue.

"we're in you're inner world space."she said after a few moments. "I didn't expect you'd have one, since most humans can't develop it. Even most divine humans develop their after reaching at least full god level. Yours' is more developed than even mine is, and im a peak rank full god." She sighed in amazement.

Percy on the other hand was confused." Full god? What's that?". Artemis gave the back of his head a look, reserved for idiots, or toddlers or idiot toddlers.

"give me your jacket. Then turn around. I'll explain." She said. Percy quickly pulled off his jacket and threw it over his shoulder. She caught and glared at it. It shivered, then expanded in size. She smiled in satisfaction and pulled it on. It covered her entirely, from her neck to her knees,and the sleeves were too long for her, but she didn't seem to mind. She was soon seated crosslegged in mid air, while Percy decided it was safer to stand.

"so what level of cultivation do you know about?" the girl asked.

Percy frowned then said "the nine mortal shifts, then the realm of legends.".the girl waited for a moment, as if expecting him to continue, then sighed. "that's the limit of your people?" "well.."Percy scratched him head with embarrassment. "the monster king is said to have crossed past even the realm of legends. He killed thousands of our legend rank warriors single handedly."

Artemis nodded in understanding. "so he's a demigod." Percy looked at her blankly and she sighed again. "after legend rank comes the demigod rank. Followed by minor god, then full god. i'm a full god level human."

Percy gawked at her "you're a god?!"

she mumbled under her breath, and it didn't sound like praises. "no I'm human, but my power level is classified as full god. After full god comes the legendary Olympian rank. And I'm a half step Olympian" she said proudly.

"whats that?" Percy asked in amazement.

"it means, I'm just a single step away from reaching Olympian rank power! Olympian rank is the highest level of godly power a human can achieve."

Percy was in awe." But if you're so powerful, who hurt you so badly?"

artemis sneered." Fools, all who overestimated their strength, and thought they could snatch the possession of this princess. All of them deserve death, but somehow, they got their hands on Styx Essence, the absolute poison, capable of even killing a God.." She sighed in sadness." My body is already dead."

Percy gasped in shock." But, but then you, you….."

she looked up at him." This is my soul. Even this would have died, but you foolish boy interfered. And now I'm stuck like this."her eyes glared daggers at him.

"u-um.. well….. is there.. y'know… any way to fix your body?" Percy asked.

Artemis gave him an evil smile." Fortunately for you, yes. My soul is attached to your body, so i cannot go more than a hundred metres or so away. And the poison is still present in me so I can't risk using my powers. If I do, the poison will affect me again. First I'll need to purify my soul then only can I use my powers freely again. So if you die, so will you better not die. I'll need three things to rebuild my body. The first is 30 kg's of divine soul crystal. Next is the magic core of a legend or demigod level beast. And finally I need a tartarus python flower. I'll give you….let's see… eight years to find it."

Percy's mouth was hanging wide open." I can't even pronounce half the things you told me to find. How am I supposed to find them? Are they even the there in my world? And why should I do any of this anyway?!"

With complete set of clear eyes, Artemis lifted her face, as if she had finally made a decision: "Keep your laughable ideas to yourself. You have saved this princess' life, therefore this princess shall indeed repay you…. You only need to promise this princess three conditions. Then, this princess will immediately let you have….. A new set of profound veins…."

Under Percy's startled gaze, Artemis's expression in her eyes became deep and mysterious, as her voice suddenly became softer: "A set of profound veins with the strength of a god!"

To immediately have a new set of profound veins…

Profound veins with the strength of a god!?

Artemis's few sentences were like a sudden clap of thunder to the Percy who had endlessly desired a way to repair his profound veins.

And right now, Artemis had clearly stated that… She could immediately provide Percy with a new set of profound veins! Furthermore, this new set of profound veins also came with the strength of a god!

He did not know what the "Strength of a God" Artemis had spoke of, but the three words, "New Profound Veins" , caused his heart to fill with excitement. He suppressed this excitement, and stared at Artemis: "You are… speaking the truth?"

"What reason would I, this princess, have to lie to you?" said the girl, her face pink with pride.

Percy didn't know what to say… Indeed, given the terrible might of her Full god Realm level of power, there would be no reason for her to waste her efforts in deceiving a normal person, let alone a cripple! To let a person acquire a new set of profound veins within a short period of time, in the eyes of a normal person, even in the eyes of the desperate and naïve percy, would be nothing short of a miracle. But as Artemis uttered those words, there was not even a hint of deception from her aura.

"Artemis, in the end, how are you going to do this?" Percy asked. After all, getting a new set of Profound Veins in a short time seemed to be against common sense, no matter what angle it was considered from.

Artemis, who had followed behind Percy all along, slowly came over. Stopping in front of Percy, her gaze stared far ahead, and her eyes lustered: "Do you know for what reason I was chased, and infected by this terrifying poison afterwards?"

"For what reason?" Percy asked in coordination.

"Because of….. this drop of blood!"

In Percy's bewilderment, Artemis slowly lifted her right hand. Her thin and delicate index finger erected toward the sky, and from the area of her fingertips, a drop of a dark-Golden water droplet-like object slowly rose accompanied by a shimmering ball of eerie light, until it hovered over her fingertips.

"This…. is?" Percy came closer and steadied his eyes…. It looked like, a drop of blood?

"Three hundred years ago, someone found an ancient book while exploring an dangerous ruin from the Ancient Era. There recorded a message: "In the Primordial Era, there existed a true god also known as the "Poseidon". He was the last god who remained after the downfall of the Era of the Gods. His downfall marked the true end of Era of the Gods. And during the Poseidon's downfall, he left a droplet of immortal blood that embodied his source of power…."

"If one could acquire this drop of immortal blood and infuse it into their body, their Profound Veins would be able generate the power of the Poseidon!"

"Many people quickly gained knowledge about this record; the words 'Power of the True God' was irresistibly alluring to everyone. Thus, many people started to madly search for the blood of the Poseidon. But for centuries, no one had any success, and it was not until one month ago that someone found the location of the Poseidon's downfall. Hence, innumerous people rushed to that place in order to find the remnants of the Poseidon. Inadvertently, the legendary 'Immortal Blood of the Poseidon' was actually found, and caused everyone to scramble for it….. But in the end, it fell into my hands.

"….. They chased you because you possessed the Blood of the Poseidon?" Percy asked. At the same time, a wave of confusion passed though his heart…. Blood of the Poseidon? Innumerous people fighting over it? If it were really such an uproar, how come I had never heard of this? Even the two words "Poseidon" were news to me.

Also, things like the ancient true gods…. Actually exist?

"Hmph, actually daring to snatch my possession, it's like they're simply asking for a death wish!" Artemis's eyes emitted a glint of malice, and spoke with hatred: "Only after I had acquired this blood of the Poseidon, was I able to find out that the power hidden inside was entirely different from my expectations. There wasn't even a trace of destructive power! If one injected it within themselves, it would only forcefully change the structure and attributes of the Profound Veins, and even erase all the built up strength in the old set of Profound Veins! Everything would have to start from scratch! That is all! Afterwards, the profound strength would still have to be trained by one's self bit by bit!"

"At the very least, what people expected about the "Power of the True God" was fundamentally, not there at all. In fact, it was nothing more than a mere trace of the "Poseidon" attribute! At most, it ought to be a little bit more powerful than an ordinary profound vein!

"I definitely couldn't afford pay the price of having all of my current powers erased just to use this blood droplet of the Poseidon. But using it on you, it seemed like it couldn't be more fitting." Artemis moved her finger, and made the tranquil droplet of dark-red colored blood hover in front of Percy's chest: "Your Profound Veins were broken from the start, and your profound power amounts to nothing. After infusing you with the blood of the Poseidon, your Profound Veins will be quickly reborn into the Poseidon's Profound Veins! Although I couldn't feel much power from this blood droplet of the Poseidon, there still could be a chance that it'll grant you some kind of special power from the Poseidon's Profound Veins! Even if not, you wouldn't stay as a good for nothing anymore!"

As she spoke, Artemis's eye suddenly flashed and brightened, as she lowered her luminous snow-white wrist. Her delicate fingertips suddenly stimulated the blood of the "Poseidon" to float adrift and pierce into Percy's chest. The pit of Percy's chest immediately split open to reveal a bloodstain, and the sinister scarlet blood droplet touched Percy's overflowing blood, as if it were attracted. In a flash, it entered Percy's body….

The moment the dark-red drop of blood entered Percy's body, tens of bloodstain-like crimson lines wildly fanned throughout his body, originating from the blood print in his chest. The lines spread across his whole body in an instant. His chest, hands, legs, face, ears, and even pupils were now full of blood colored channels that looked like demonic markings.

"Ughhhhhhh…"

At that instant, Percy felt as he was stabbed by tens of thousands of blades. Immense agony fiercely beamed from every single corner of his body, and made him let out a painful whine. His entire body started to shake tremendously, as his vision also became blurry, until it completely became a shade of crimson red.

A wave of pain emanated from a force digesting the insides of his body…. Percy knew the human anatomy like the back of his hand; the parts that were being digested, was doubtlessly his broken Profound Veins! The function of Profound Veins were to hold profound strength; so even if there were no profound veins, a person could still live, and just won't be able to cultivate even the slightest amount of profound energy. Although profound veins do not affect one's life and death, it still was a part of the body. The broken profound veins continuously being eaten away was not unlike internal organs that were being slowly ripped apart and shredded; and one could only imagine that degree of misery.

Artemis had just said before, that this drop of Poseidon's immortal blood would devour the previously present Profound Veins, and give birth to new Profound Veins…. Since my Profound Veins are being devoured right now, then it meant that Artemis wasn't lying earlier…. If it really can form a new set of Profound Veins, how could I not bear this little bit of pain!

The indescribable pain continued. It was a pain that no real word could express, a pain that far surpassed a human's capability to endure. This pain continued and continued on…. The devouring speed of the broken Profound Vein was extremely slow. At this rate, it would at least take half an hour to finish.

I don't need anything like the Poseidon's power, nor do I need a Profound Vein stronger than common people. If I could just get the same Profound Veins as everyone else…. I won't have any complaints, even if it's a little weaker…. If that could come true, even if it's ten times more painful, I would still definitely do it!

Terrifying pain made all the nerves in Percy's body fiercely spasm, but in his heart was a haze of tranquility…. or even, excitement!

As Artemis forced the Poseidon's blood into Percy's body, her lips curled up, and revealed a very…. gleeful smile at his agony.

Recalling the memories she obtained from this drop of immortal blood, she knew it would start to forcefully devour the original Profound Vein the moment it entered the body…. And while devouring the Profound Veins, the process would be as if one's profound vein was being cut off.. minced… cut off… minced over and over again….. This was undoubtedly an inhumane torture, an ultimate kind of pain that would even make the world's strongest beings roll on the floor and shriek.

Did you think I would really just forgive you for sullying my body with your eyes earlier? This blood of the Poseidon would indeed grant you new Profound Veins, but it'll also bequeath you with the most brutal punishment in my stead!

Artemis cruelly smiled as she saw the red demonic marks all over his body; as she saw his eyes suddenly turned crimson; as she saw his whole body tremble; as she saw his face contorting in pain…. Slowly, her smile chilled down and disappeared, and what replaced it was a face that expressed an ever-increasing shock.

His four limbs trembled, his whole body spasmed, and his facial features were more so bunched up together in contortion. On his forehead, bean sized beads of sweat slid down in a terrifying fast speed…. It was impossible to imagine how considerable the pain must be for the body to react in such a startling fashion.

However, aside from that first moan, Percy didn't utter a single sound of pain afterwards; not even a single trace!

As time ticked away, one minute…. three minutes…. five minutes… Artemis's expression eventually changed into complete astonishment.

Devouring the Profound Vein…. Under such frightening agony, he actually still didn't let out a single roar of pain!

Sweat already permeated through Percy's entire body as every spot of his skin and flesh trembled in pain. Yet between his clenched teeth, the fact that no sound had escaped, was extremely shocking. In his distorted face, there actually hid a little….. excitement!

He obviously ought to be in enough pain to wish for death as an escape…. How could this reaction be possible!

How could he, a common man with a broken Profound Vein, have such daunting willpower?!

Wrong! Was this really the willpower a human could possess?! That kind of pain, even if it were my father, would not even be able to bear it as leisurely as he is!

This ordinary, mortal man…. a person with a Styx soul…. What exactly is he….

At this time Artemis realized, in her shock, that she had entirely, and unfairly looked down on him… His body was weak, and his profound strength was meager; but at this time, he exhibited a terrifying willpower that was at a complete disparity with what he had. Before, she had always wondered why the Styx soul, being a Heavenly Profound Treasure, would actually fuse with such a inferior and lowly human. But now, she had started to feel… that it seemed the Styx soul didn't actually lose its spirituality, nor had the Styx soul's spirituality gone mad…..

Half an hour went by….

At this time, the demonic marks all over Percy's body suddenly twinkled with red luminescence, and his contorted face finally started to slowly ease down.

The Profound Vein's devourment had finished. What had followed, was the construction of the new set of Profound Veins.

From the areas that had been devoured, he felt the growth of the new Profound Veins, and the growth speed was extremely fast; over ten times faster than the speed of devourment. The hollowed feeling from just before was quickly replaced by a new feeling of fullness, and the pain he had experienced also dissipated like the ocean's tide.

His sweat no longer flowed and his muscle spasms stopped; even his expression became calm. Percy closed his eyes, and remained motionless. If one looked carefully, they would see a gentle smile hanging from the edge of his lips.

In the quiet stillness, Percy switched on his inner vision, and joyfully looked at the rapidly growing Profound Veins in his body. At this moment, he had lost any doubt of Artemis's words. The rebirth of Profound Veins; this unimaginable miracle had clearly and truly took place in his body.

A human's Profound Veins starts growing from the time of birth, and reaches maturity at around the age of fourteen. However his newly born Profound Veins were like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and completely developed in less than two minutes.

The fully shaped Profound Veins' size and shape were all the same as in Percy's knowledge of a human's Profound Veins, at least, he couldn't find a single disparity when using his inner vision.

There was none of the so called power of the God Poseidon, nor were there any different attributes; it was absolutely the most ordinary of Profound Veins. But Percy didn't even possess a sliver of disappointment. His heart was overwhelmingly ecstatic with joy, and his blood boiled within his entire body…. Because these were perfectly complete, reborn profound veins, without the slightest degree of any scratch or any damage!

This meant that he could finally graduate from being an eternally useless wastrel that couldn't advance further than the Third Level Warrior Realm.

At this time, the crimson colored demonic marking stopped shimmering, and instantaneously vanished altogether. Along with it, Percy finally opened his eyes.

"How does the reborn Profound Vein feel?" Artemis narrowed her eyes that glinted like a star…. During this period of time, she had thoroughly observed him for a while now. He was only four years younger than her, and should still be considered a half grown child. Other than his pretty good looks, he had nothing else worthy of note…. But how could he possess such a horrifying willpower? Had he actually experienced hell before?

"It really succeeded!" Percy tightened both of his hands into fists, as he said that with excitement. Right after, his tone changed and said with confusion: "However, are you sure this is the so-called 'Profound Veins of the Gods'? It clearly wasn't any different when compared to regular Profound Veins.

After he finished speaking, he had not heard a word from Artemis for a long time. However, as he lifted his gaze, he found that Artemis's starry eyes were wide open; and the gaze that watched him…. was as if she were looking at an oddly shaped monster.

"are you dreaming of reaching the heavens in a single step? You just regained your profound veins. For now focus on at least reaching the Level Three realm." Artemis said coldly.

Percy laughed softly and nodded." of course. For now I should concentrate on training myself." He lifted his hand and stared at it in wonder. "amazing, I can feel my power flowing again!"

artemis smiled at his she took on a stern expression. "starting today I am your master. You will address me as master."

Percy looked at her in surprise"eh…. But artemis, your name is so cute. I'd much rather call you artemis."

Artemis's ears turned red with delight but her expression turned ugly as if angry." I am your master, and you will address me so. Or else I won't bother teaching you."

Percy hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed to her. "disciple pays his respects to master!" he said quickly.

Artemis felt like grinning but controlled herself."good. now don't forget about the three objects you're supposed to find."

Percy nodded." Master what are you gonna teach me?"

artemis shrugged her shoulders. "All my techniques are too high level for you. if you reach the fourth rank, then I can teach you my movement technique, celestial moon flash."

Percy nodded in excitement. "What's a movement technique?" he asked.

Artemis frowned for a bit. "it helps your movement speed and pattern. Watch" she said.

There was a burst of silver light and suddenly Artemis disappeared. Percy felt her hand on his left shoulder. He turned to look at her, then saw another flash of silver light on his right and felt her grab his right shoulder. He almost got a whiplash, moving his head from side to side. There were two Artemis's, one holding each shoulder. They both pushed him forward at the same time and he went stumbling forward.

"did you just turn into two?" Percy gasped, turning back to the only remaining artemis.

She giggled then shook her head." I moved so fast that before you could register me standing on one side and pushing you, I was already on the other side pushing you from there as well."

Percy's mouth hung open." When can I learn that?"he asked eagerly.

She smirked, "that takes years of practice. I'm a genius, hence I learnt it so quickly at such a young age, but it might take you hundreds, or maybe thousands of years." Percy gulped. Artemis shook her head. "forget that, come now, let me outline your training schedule."

She quickly outlined a schedule that involved training that not even a grown man should be forced to attempt. Artemis assured him that since his body had been remade by poseidon's blood, it could take the training regime without being damaged like it had been last time he'd pushed past his limit.

Then Percy told her about the family rule stating he had to earn and contribute money to the family everyday. Artemis got a really evil look in her eyes and looked at him how a mad scientist might regard a guinea pig. Percy suddenly regretted telling her about the family rule. She quickly changed the schedule. Percy saw it now included 6 hours of monster hunting and alchemy. But she refused to tell him how it would help, and so he had to give up and head out of his inner world.

That was when he realized exactly how many days he had passed by, seemingly in a coma. Seven whole days. His parents were had worried themselves to death, and even the family was kind enough to grant him a month on leave. His father was adamant on his stopping his training. But Percy was even more stubborn and finally they both compromised. If Percy were to fail the institute's test next year he would stop training like a madman.

And then began Percy's torturous training. first artemis called him scrawny and weak. She told him to tie the heaviest rock he could possibly carry and carry it around on his back, everyday all the time,including when he slept. Thankfully he was training outside the city, so no one thought he'd lost his mind.

The weight made it difficult to walk more than a few steps, and almost impossible to fight the monsters artemis lured over for his training. Even an infant monster at the first rank was a fatal threat to him. But artemis didn't budge from her decision. And soon, by the end of the first week, he grew used to the weight and adapted to it. He regained his speed and by the end of the second week, he was fighting level two monsters.

Then began the alchemy training. she made him learn how to craft pills using the remains of the monsters he killed. The third week went by with only failures. By the fourth week he grew proficient and his experience and knowledge both expanded rapidly. He had finished making a batch of 100 strengthening pills that temporarily boosted any person under the 8th rank. He quickly headed back to the city and to the shock and surprise of the medical associations head, he sold them for a 50% discount and left. He had earned a total of 600 copper coins and was pleased. This was the same as a month of farm work. He went back to the family compound and paid his required amount for the next one month and headed back for training, ignoring the jeering looks some people threw him.

They all thought he was trash but he would show them all soon enough. He would prove himself.

Artemis cared little for sleep, and only let him rest when her poison threatened to rebound. She would meditate for a few hours and Percy was allowed to rest and freshen up in that time, as well as finish up all the assignments she handed him.

She said that since he had the Styx Soul, his mind was far more powerful than that of an ordinary human's. his understanding was naturally enhanced due to his previous life, as was his memory. By virtue of his impossibly inhuman perception, Percy was able to photographically memorize entire hours worth of lectures that artemis gave him, on every topic ranging from Herbs and poisons to array symbols and skills. He was a skilled master in every type of herb, it's appearance and how to harvest it, along with all its uses and properties in a matter of days. The same happened in the case of poison's as well as array symbols and inscriptions. He further compounded his knowledge with books he bought from the book store, selling the medicines he'd made to gather money for them.

He worked hard and so a month quickly slipped by. He went back to the city, sold another batch of medicines and paid the amount required by him for the rest of the year, to the absolute chagrin of all the people nearby. Whispers followed him as he walked off

"that boy, where did he get so much money? Since he can afford to throw this much away he must have found a lot, no doubt some rich guys wallet or some treasure. No doubt he's got more" the speaker was a man of 35 years, a rank 5 warrior. He was surrounded by his fellow co workers, who worked under him. They were younger, in their teens and early twenties, all rank four warriors. There were 4 of them. The leader spoke again, his eyes greedily following Percy.

"that poor kid might get robbed if he's not careful. We're from the same clan so we should offer to safekeep it for him. After all his belongings are all our clans belongings! If he gets robbed it's a loss to our clan. So it's better for us to go advise him"

They all followed after Percy and soon they were all outside the city. Artemis's voice rang out in his head. "how long are those pretentious buffoons gonna follow you for? Just confront them already. Your master has been bored so it'll be fun to watch. Plus it'll be good practice."

Percy sighed "yes Artemis, as you say." He shrugged at her, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"hey! I told you not to call me that !" Artemis snapped at him as Percy chuckled then turned.

The men smiled and speeded up their footsteps." Hello there little one! We're from the same clan you know and so we were just passing by and-"

Percy gave a bored sigh and cut him off "cut the crap and get to the point. You're here to rob me right?"

The man's smiling expression froze." N-no of course not! I was just trying to warn you about-" "blah blah blah. All very nice and good. Now are you gonna come rob me or are you just gonna keep spouting that same bullshit?" Percy interrupted.

The man grit his teeth and his followers formed a circle, surrounding him." Very well,since a rank three trash like you thinks himself so high and mighty, allow me to educate you boy" he signaled and his men leaped forward.

Percy's legs tensed and he spun in a circle, leaping out of their encirclement. He ducked under grasping hands and rocketed towards the level five warrior. Even while carrying a 50 jin(25 kg) rock, he was faster than most level three monsters. Now free of his burden there was no way a level five warrior could be any faster than him. Percy slammed his fist into a lackey who stood blocking the way and he vomited blood as he flew backwards. Percy shifted on his heel and his foot landed square on another groin.

There was a crunch and the man collapsed, clutching his ruined tree of life. The look on his face was as if he had seen a demon. The remaining two lackeys hesitated, but then struck together, trying a pincer attack. Percy's eyes glinted coldly and he disappeared from where he stood with a flash of silver light. he didn't manage to reach artemis's level of speed of disappearing and appearing but he still formed a zigzagging silver streak that smashed the remaining two lackeys into the ground.

The leader watched open mouthed." M-movement…t-t-technique!" he stuttered."b-but how!? You have to be at least a rank four!" Percy smirked and streaked forward. The guy screamed in horror and launched his own movement skill trying to run. His skill was inferior, but he was still a rank five warrior, one level above Percy. He managed to evade Percy's attacks until his panic cooled down and he realized that Percy was still a level four.

"ahahahaha! How foolish of me!"he stopped moving and turned to face Percy." You're merely a rank four warrior. I'm rank five! Fighting me is equal to asking to die!"

He blurred and appeared before Percy, swinging a fist. Percy managed to block it, but he was blown backwards. His forearm with which he had blocked was bent and bloody. "Hahahahaha! Why'd I run! With the difference in ranks, today you won't escape alive even if a god tries to save you!" he moved to strike again, but the world suddenly went black and twisted erratically. He felt nauseous and wanted to throw up. Then suddenly he felt a sharp stinging pain in his chest and realized he was on his knees, with his eyes closed. He struggled to open them and saw a girl standing before him. A girl of breath taking beauty and refinement. She was merely a child but even then he felt his body going crazy over her.

She suddenly smiled and the world seemed to turn red. She held out a hand and he stared at it in horror. Her hand was silverish and each nail seemed like crafted skin was unblemished and unmarked, except for the rivulets of blood running down her arm. Rivulets of blood dripping from the still beating heart she held.

He slowly lowered his head and looked down at his chest. A neat hole had been bored through it, right over where his heart had once been. He laughed crazily, blood bubbling in his throat, then collapsed, shaking in his final death throes. Artemis went and dropped the heart. Back in his hand. "there you go" she smiled sweetly at the dying man "I believe that it is yours'. And unfortunately for you a god did want to save him, and surprisingly she did" she stood up and turned back to Percy, flicking the remaining drops of blood off her hand. Then she turned into a flash of silver and disappeared. And her voice was the last thing the man heard as the world went dark." That which I wish to protect, no one shall harm. And he is mine"

Her voice was directed at him alone, so Percy heard nothing.

Percy sighed as he started on his way. Artemis started berating him over his weakness. "what an utterly pathetic display! If you can't even jump a single rank while fighting against trash, then you yourself are trash! And there is no way I'll teach trash. So stop being trash! No sleep for you today!"

Percy groaned in despair." No sleep? Oh come on artemis, I'm going to end up fainting from lack of sleep during some experiment and end up dead!"

artemis snorted." Hardly. This princess will make sure you do not die."

Percy groaned again." Then I'll die of lack of sleep!"

Artemis laughed chillingly." As a punishment for not addressing me as master, and arguing with me, I'll make sure to wake you up every time you doze away for the next three days!" Percy gasped and shut his mouth before peering into his inner world meekly.

"M-master, have some mercy on this lowly disciple…." He said weakly.

Artemis gave another "hmph" but didn't bother responding.

Percy tried again." My master is such a cute little girl. she can't be so heartless to her disciple."

Artemis's eyes flashed with cold killing intent." Want to see me try being even worse?"

Percy shivered and shook his head." No sir."

"then get back to work!" she barked.

As Percy worked hard, he had no idea that somewhere, just a few minutes away from him, a young girl was seated upon the ground, meditating in the moonlight. She had almond eyes and braided caramel hair. She was fair and her skin seemed smooth,and every inch of her uncovered skin was unblemished. She wore a heavy robe, that cover her arms and draped over her body, giving her a regal air. She was not as breathtaking as artemis's otherworldly beauty, but she was pretty in her own right. She seemed around ten to eleven years of age, but most surprisingly, her body exuded the fierce aura of a rank six Warrior.

She was calypso, daughter of the 3rd greatest aristocratic family, the thunder dragon family. True to its name, her body crackled with lightning, causing her to glow with her own inner light.

These two had met before, their previous life. And soon they would meet again.

Grandholme DeGrest, the grand legend realm warrior swept past corridors, his footsteps firm and sure. He had only had a single son in his entire life, but he had raised him well and now today he was the city lord. But his son had also had only a single daughter, and so he doted upon this grand-daughter of his was his pride and joy and her talent was fierce, and it seemed imperative she would someday follow his footsteps and become a legend realm warrior.

He paused and smiled as he knocked on her door. A clear melodious voice rang out." Come in!" he strode in and smiled in joy as he saw his grand daughter. He was usually out patrolling the mountains so she had decided to train hard and follow him someday to keep him company. And so she dedicated her life to training. She was sweaty and panting as she lunged against a wooden dummy, her silver sword slicing through the armor it wore without pausing.

He laughed and clapped. She turned her head, uneven brown hair swinging free. She was dressed in coarse rough clothes, more suited for training than the fine silks she usually wore when outside. Her multicoloured eyes sparkled with delight as she saw her idol.

"grandpa!" Piper DeGrest next successor of the DeGrest society cried out with joy and jumped into her grandfathers embrace. He laughed and patted her back. She was just eleven years old and yet the force of her hug would be enough to topple even a horse. After all, she was a rank six warrior.

Both girls were the two genius's of the battle qi institute, and ranked second and third place in the genius class. They were going to be judging this years examination, and had no idea what a fierce display they would soon witness.

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Eight  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Artemis Sollunas  
Current Cultivation: Rank Four Warrior  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Divine Sea Gods Transformation.  
Weapon: Nil

Artemis Sollunas(Profile)

Name:Artemis Sollunas  
Age: Twelve  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Moon God Attribute  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Percy Jackson/Poisoned by Essence of Styx  
Current Cultivation: High-god level(half-step Olympian level)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline Of Fate(special power: Oracle's eye)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Oracle's Serpent  
Weapon: Violet Bamboo Celestial Bow/ twin black and purple divine daggers.

Piper DeGrest(profile)

Name:Piper DeGrest  
Age:Eleven  
Race: Human  
Attribute: Frost  
Current Status: Successor to the City Lord  
Current Cultivation: Rank Six Warrior(capable of Fighting Rank Seven)  
Monster Bloodlines: Frost Fairy's Bloodline(special Power: Frost Dream Domain)  
Divine Transformation: Frost Fairy's Hand Maiden  
Weapon: Errant Ice World Staff

Calypso Thundre(Profile)

Name:Calypso Thundre  
Age:Eleven  
Race: (?)  
Attribute: Thunder  
Current Status: unknown  
Current Cultivation: Rank Six Warrior(capable of Fighting Rank Seven)  
Monster Bloodlines: Thunder Dragon's Bloodline Bloodline(special Power: Thunder Dragon's Roar)  
Divine Transformation: Dragonification  
Weapon: (?)/Dragon Empress's Whip

A.N.: finally introduced the two other heroines of the story. Piper and calypso! Of course artemis is the main heroine, but these two are pretty important characters as well. Also, just a reminder. Percy never met piper. He died fighting Kronos. So that's why he'll have no memory stirring upon seeing her.

Pm and review which goddess's and demigods you want reborn. So I can prepare for the future chapters well before hand.

And yes, piper and calypso do not have divine bloodlines, they have monster bloodlines. That means the bloodline of a monster not a 's a difference. Which will come up in the future chapters, so I pointed it out.


	4. First Arc: Battle Qi Institute Duel

**First Arc: Battle Qi Institute Entrance Exam**

Nine months later, the day of the entrance exam finally arrived. All the greatest geniuses of hope city who were of the age of nine years or younger would arrive here, to take the grand test to join the academy. Very few students were selected, and to be selected meant a very high status in the entire city. After all,only the cream of the crop were selected to join the institute. There was no fees either, and all the focus was put into the development of a students potential.

Originally, Percy had wanted to join the academy, for the guidance and techniques they would offer him, but now with artemis as his master, he saw no reason to. However, artemis was adamant on him joining the academy. She said that training alone would mean no competition, and that would slow his growth. Percy agreed with her and the eight years old Percy headed for the competition.

As he headed for the competition, he heard the laughs of his fellow peers. "look, there are some people who know they cannot achieve anything in life and still wish to make a joke of themselves. Well, at least they'll be entertainment for us!" all these people had suffered under Percy's previous limelight so now they wished to take their revenge by mocking him now that his talent seemed to be gone.

Of course Percy didn't bother with them. He believed in himself and that was all he needed.

 _-at the institute's exam center-_

There were loud cheers and louder boos as students stepped onto a massive array diagram. The array formation would monitor their battle qi and determine the rank of power they had achieved. Not only were new students hoping to join the exam trying to get in, even the old students were trying to get into the genius class of the institute. The genius class was the highest existence of the entire academy. Consisting of the hundred most powerful students, all under the age of 16. Every single one of them was a natural genius and a true warrior. Very rarely would the list change on the day of the exam.

Usually only once they reached the age of 16 would the students leave and new students join the class.

That day Percy finally found a mention of the divine soul crystal. The genius class would distribute a single gram of divine soul crystal to the top 50 students of the genius class every year. The top twenty would be given 2 grams and the top 15 would be given 3 grams. The top ten were given five grams a year and only the top three were given a single gram each month.

It was highly beneficial to increasing the speed of cultivation, but could only be produced in the bodies of legend rank beasts. Hence it was always in short supply. Percy grew pale as he heard the description. A single legend rank beast would provide only a single kg of divine soul crystal.

That meant he would need to hunt nearly 30 legend rank beasts, all before he even turned 16. And to make matters worse, legend rank beasts usually commanded large armies of monsters. Even a legend rank warrior would die if he tried fighting such armies head on.

Percy swallowed nervously. Artemis had too many high expectations of him, but then she was a god level warrior at the age of twelve. For her, legend rank beasts were like ants. No doubt she expected him to be grateful for time until 16 years, but in hope city, most people only reached ninth rank after hundreds of years. Reaching legend rank was most people's dream.

He sighed. Better to concentrate on his training for now.

He turned his attention back to the stage. Of the newcomers, only one out of ten students managed to reach rank four, barely passing into the academy. Of course these were all top level geniuses. The old students were trying to qualify for the genius class. Some passed the test to challenge one of the genius class students. Older students were assigned one random student from the genius class and had to fight.

Most of them were knocked out within minutes. Percy nodded in appreciation of their skills. The genius class students deserved their reputation. He was wondering if he should go on stage now, when everyone was watching or later, once the crowd had lessened. He didn't want to attract too much unwanted attention. But then Artemis's voice rang out in his head. "grrrr these idiots clapping at this little display of talent. Your master is getting annoyed, go up on stage now and show them what real talent is"

Percy sighed. As usual artemis was for too impulsive. "yes yes, artemis as you say…".

He quietly walked onto stage and went onto the formation. The formation glowed and everyone looked on curiously, especially the boys from his family. Finally the light condensed into three large words. 'Rank Four Warrior'. There was a small round of applause and some students waited for him to get down from the stage like the other newcomers, but Percy continued forward, stepping towards the genius class test array.

There was a burst of whispers as they watched him head towards the formation. The several school teachers all sat up, looking at him with interest." Either he is foolishly brave, or has something to back up his bravery…" Grandholme DeGrest murmured with interest. His grand-daughter, piper didn'tbother looking up. In her eyes, rank four warriors were all wannabe's.

Percy stepped into the formation and the ground rumbled and a tall pillar rose up. A blank slate hung at the top. Percy knew very well what to do. The pillar required him to attack it his full force, then it would either denote him as passed, or as failed.

Percy closed his eyes and his breathing dropped into a rhythm. He remembered how the water in a lake would ripple, tiny waves, one after another, and all those waves would combine into a roaring tsunami.

His bones creaked and snapped as the force of the oceans buried in his blood and his marrow exploded to life. He swayed and shifted and suddenly his fist shot forward.'thousand layered waves, first move:hundred layers!"

To everyone else it seemed like an ordinary jab, but Grandholme sat forward, lacing his fingers together. "how curious, that move had such hidden force" the pillar trembled slightly, then with a soft ding, the slate changed to " passed".

The entire audience erupted with chatters and even piper looked up." Hmmm? A rank four kid passed? Not bad, not bad!" her grandfather chuckled." That boy is interesting." Piper looked at him." What's so special? I was already a rank five by the time I was eight and I easily passed the genius exam and the duel. He'll just get beaten up in the duel." Grandholme chuckled again, but didn't answer.

The in-charge stepped forward and smiled at Percy." As a newcomer, you have the right to challenge any warrior in the genius class." But this was just a formality. Everyone guessed Percy would try the last student, since he was the weakest. Percy smiled then pointed at the list. "I'd like to challenge him".

Silence dropped over the area. Even pipers mouth dropped open, but Grandholme laughed out loud, slapping both his knees." Indeed he is a very interesting boy."

The person Percy had challenged was the fifteen year old, Frank Zhang, the 13th ranked level six warrior!

The incharge froze in surprise then looked back at Percy. "you can challenge someone of a lower level as well…." Percy smiled and shook his head " I wish to challenge the rank 13 frank zhang!"

Everyone was aghast. There were only thirteen level six warriors in the institute and frank was the one with the lowest rank. But he was still a formidable warrior and could crush most level five warriors in seconds, let alone level four warriors. Artemis was beyond pleased however." That's my student! Go crush that oaf!" Percy gave a small smile "if I win, will I get a kiss?", his gaze was on his inner world, watching artemis's reaction. She continued smiling,"if you don't win I'll stab you with a hundred knives. If you win, I won't. fair deal?" she said with a sweet smile. Percy's mouth went dry. "ahahaha… I was just joking master! It was just a joke!"

Artemis's eyes turned murderous" but I'm serious" Percy gulped. Curse him and his big mouth.

There was a booming laughter and the stage shook as a burly fifteen year old jumped on. He looked at Percy with laughter in his eyes." Kid, I appreciate the spunk a man needs to challenge his limits! You have the guts to grow more than any of these losers who hope they'll get lucky and get to face a weak student during the duel." He laughed again, like a booming cannon then looked at Percy, cracking his knuckles." Come on then boy! Show me your weapon!" Percy raised his fists.

Frank chuckled," is that so? Hahahaha, we're the same then. " he slammed his fists together. "come on then, I accept your challenge!"

In the five minutes it took to set the stage, the news had spread across the city. "did you know there's some talented kid who wants to commit suicide against frank." One man jabbered excitedly as he ran to the institute to see the match. "talented? More like lucky. Or else why'd he waste his chance on a suicidal match?"

Everyone was unanimous. Percy was going to get beaten up in less than 20 seconds. Some people were betting on 5 seconds as well.

Then the match commenced. Percy was completely alert, light and sprightly on his feet. Frank stood like a solid immovable mountain on the other side of the stage. One was eight years old, the other was already fifteen. If Percy hadn't been the challenger, people would have accused frank of bullying. As it was, everyone was waiting to see Percy get shown how wide the heavens were.

Frank made the first move. He rushed forward, his steps shaking the stage. Despite his size, he was fast. Percy could have dodged, but decided not to. His speed was his trump card, after all.

Instead his body swayed and his bones emitted popping and cracking sounds. 'Thousand layered waves first move: hundred layered waves!' his own fist shot out, with the raging power of the seas. Everyone gasped. That was the equivalent to offering your hand as a sacrifice.

Their fists connected and Percy flew backwards, the webbing of his fingers splitting apart and bleeding. He flew halfway across the stage before rolling and stopping at the boundary wall. He sat up and shook his head. He looked up at frank. He had been forced back two steps and was shaking his arm, a frown on his face. Percy gave a thin smile and stood up.

The power of the seas lay in the minute vibrations sent out,like ripples. These ripples would ignore any defense and directly attack the opponent. No matter how strong the defense, the ripples would simply pass through them and directly attack the opponents organs and other vulnerable areas.

Frank laughed and said "your attack was very impressive!" the audience was silent. It was one thing for Percy's fist not to fracture on impact, but how the hell had he forced frank back and made him praise his attack?

Percy smiled back."I'm just warming up." Frank boomed with laughter then shot forward, his speed reaching the maximum in an instant. Percy's body swayed and his feet loosened their grip on the ground. He used the second level of power bestowed on him by the blood of Poseidon. 'Flow like silk!'

His body swayed, bending impossibly as he dodged frank's first fist then the second one as well.

Franks eyes narrowed and his fist swung at Percy, too close to allow him to dodge. Percy lifted his right arm, blocking the blow. The entire stage shook as Percy's feet sank down. Frank's eyes widened with shock, and he immediately tried to retreat, but he was far too close and before he could even move a meter away, Percy's fist came crashing down on him.

Franks body curled up and he coughed up blood as the vibrations of a hundred layered waves spread through his body, shaking up his internal organs.

He staggered back with shock then raised his head to look at Percy, blood running from his mouth. No one in the audience spoke. This was beyond anything they had imagined. Percy was a total freak who had flipped their expectations upside down.

Frank wiped his lips with a trembling hand and looked at Percy with appreciation." Indeed, you are truly impressive. Not only is your attack so monstrously powerful, your defense is so abnormal you could just ignore my attack and even take it head on." Percy snorted in his mind." Hardly. I barely dealt with it by turning it into harmless vibrations and sending it into the ground." He thought with a tinge of fear.

Frank straightened." You are fully qualified to face my strongest attack." Artemis was laughing." He says your qualified to see his strongest move. Ha! Lets see his face when you show him your strongest move!" then her face grew solemn as she heard frank hunch over and mutter a rough growl." Monster bloodline? Percy be careful, he's transforming!" franks body erupted and bulged with muscles. His body was covered with bristly orange fur. His fingers lengthened into claws and his teeth elongated into sharp fangs. He straightened and Percy's heart shook slightly as he stared at his towering form.

Frank roared and charged at Percy. His speed was several times faster than earlier. Percy dodged his first strike, but just barely. The second strike directly slashed across his chest, leaving three long bloody gashes on his body.

Percy backed away as fast as possible, until he reached the boundary wall. Frank was far too fast. He barely was able to react,before he was already reaching him. Without space between them, the match would be finished in seconds.

Grandholme was stroking his beard as he watched them." That boy is in trouble. Unless he has a trump card, I'm afraid this match is over" piper glanced at her grandfather." I just finished checking his background. From the lowest ranked jackson family, born into the outer branch of the family. So it doesn't seem very likely he has a trump card." She shook her head, "if he hadn't been so arrogant and challenged a rank five warrior, he'd at least stand a chance."

Calypso was sitting on the other side of Grandholme, silently listening to their discussion. She was from an aristocratic family as well, but she knew that all three societies looked down on the 13 families, just like the families looked down upon the commoners. She was a direct descendant of the clan head, so she had the best training resources, but in the end, her family was still suppressed by the serpent society. She admired Percy's arrogance, his courage in going past his limits and fighting to achieve the impossible. No doubt he would achieve his goals someday. Unlike herself. She clenched her fists and sat silently, listening to piper and her grandfather laugh together, carefree.

Artemis was silent. She offered neither encouragement nor criticism. Percy knew she was giving him space to think and plan. He took a deep breath, then faced frank. He felt the blood in his veins surge and rumble, the power of the oceans rising to a crescendo.

The air around his swirled and a sea breeze blew out, carrying the briny salty smell of the ocean.

Grandholme's eyes widened."that…. that aura…". Frank roared and rushed forward, his twin claws swiping at Percy.

Percy's eyes were closed. He knew if he opened them he would react too slowly. Instead he felt the currents of the wind, the air parting and surging as frank rushed at him. Inside his inner world, Artemis gave a thin smile." Do it"

Percy tilted to one side, dodging the first slash, even as his fist shot out, clashing with the other claw.' Hundred layered waves!' the excessive power turned into vibrations that shattered the floor under his feet.' Flow like Silk!'

His feet shifted, smoothly pulling him forward. Frank disregarded everything else and both his claws shot out at Percy, one aimed at his head, the other his stomach. There was a flash of silver and Percy's fist speeded up like a silver meteor. "Thousand layered waves, second move: Five Hundred layered waves!"

Percy's fist slammed into franks chest. His fist crunched and the bones inside fractured. Frank froze, his claws inches from Percy.

Percy fell to his knees, cradling his broken the skin of frank's back split open and blood spurted out. He staggered back and then collapsed. He shook for a few seconds then fell still. His body slowly shrinking and turning back to normal. Percy staggered back to his feet with great difficulty. The referee ran in. he glanced at Percy once, then knelt by frank and checked his disordered breathing.

He stood and nodded towards the judges panel.

Grandholme grinned and stood up." Frank Zhang is unable to continue. Meanwhile Perseus is still on his feet. Thus I declare Perseus jackson, the winner of the duel! He has secured himself the thirteenth rank in the genius class!"

The crowd erupted with cheers as they watched the dark horse raise his fist, declaring his victory.

Percy gave a huge grin and his sight went into his inner world." Well artemis? How'd I do!?". Artemis gave him a cold look." Barely passable. I suppose I won't have to stab you with knives for now." She sighed." But still it was unacceptable how long you took to defeat him. And you'll need to increase the time you spend in physical training. Just using five hundred layered waves destroyed your fist. How can your body be so weak your own attack is too powerful for it!"

Percy smiled as he watched her complain. His eyes grew blurry, then he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. People quickly swarmed the stage and picked up both the competitors. Frank was half conscious and gave a small chuckle as he was carried away." That kid is really interesting."

Artemis smiled as she recalled Percy's fight. "Really this boy grew so quickly. He is completely justified to be my student. And being able to jump two ranks in battle and even fight a bloodline user, he is extraordinarily gifted" artemis mumbled under her breath as if afraid the unconscious Percy would hear her praising him.

Percy woke up an hour later, back at home. However he was not in his families, side branch living area. He was in the direct branch's medical area. Percy looked around with surprise in his eyes. An old man was seated by the door. He saw Percy get up and immediately got up and came over.

Percy's eyes widened with surprise and he hurriedly got to his feet and bowed." Side branch's child perseus greets clan leader " the clan leader gave a light laugh." Such a disciplined boy. Truly, your parents have raised you well. Despite such talent, such humility." The clan head smiled at Percy and nodded at the bed." Be seated. You just had a serious fight, and need your rest." Percy nodded and sat down.

"so Percy, what rank are you?" the clan leader asked. Percy shrugged" rank four warrior." The clan head nodded in surprise. " a cultivation of rank four with battle power capable of surmounting two levels…..".

Percy frowned. "what?" the clan head smiled." Congratulations Percy. Your true power is that of a rank six warrior. This means you can rise above your level in battle!" Percy gave a modest shrug. Artemis considered jumping out and strangling him, before the praise got to Percy's head.

The clan head nodded at Percy." You are the greatest talent our clan has seen in our long history. And so we've decided to support your training. The families head trainer will take care of your training to help you out. You can get all the pills and cultivation resources you require from the family treasury." Then he turned to leave. Percy hurriedly got up. "excuse me, clan head. Can I continue training by myself? I've devised a training method that suits me quite well, and hence I don't wish to change it." The clan head frowned. "it is not advisable. You've already had one accident last year. Another such accident might cripple your future. It's safer to work under supervision perseus." Percy felt like answering back rudely about how it was because of the stupid family rule he'd had the accident in the first place, but he held his tongue.

"but my method has worked so well and helped me so much already!" Percy protested. The clan head sighed." Very well do as you must. Just remember to come and ask us if you need any help." Percy smiled gratefully "this child shall remember clan leaders words"

He laughed and walked out. Immediately artemis's sharp voice rang out in Percy's head." What a foolish old man, praising your pathetic performance. And what does he mean, rest? As if I'll let you rest after such a sloppy, embarrassing display. Get ready, your training is getting even more intense. I'm not gonna have you breaking your fist the next time you use five hundred layered waves. Or I'll be too embarrassed to show my face to anyone again. Also work on your speed-" artemis scolded him on and on as Percy gathered his things and headed out.

His hand was all healed up, thanks to the refreshing bath he'd had in medicinal herbs. Plus poseidon's blood speeded up his healing through contact with water. Now he felt back in tip top condition.

Percy headed out of the healing areas, and found many people waiting outside, chattering. They all stopped when they saw him, then suddenly everyone surged forward to come greet him.

Percy was surrounded by people, all raising and patting his back. Just the day before these people were all ready to stamp all over him, today he was their best friend. Percy struggled, trying to get out of the crowd. Soon the crowd changed and he was surrounded by a gaggle of girls all sighing and swooning over how heroic he'd been in the battle. There was a lot of finger poking and shoulder rubbing, and Percy finally got annoyed and with a burst of speed, rushed out of the encirclement, toppling over many unwary girls. They screamed in excitement and ran behind him, chasing him halfway across the family compound before he managed to get away.

Artemis was doubled over with laughter in his inner world. "hahaha….haha….oh my gods that was hilarious." She laughed then struggled to get her voice under control and mimicked one of them" and the way your hair flew as you punched frank was so mesmerizing" she burst into giggles again.

Percy mumbled under his breath and smothed back his straight black hair. It was longer than usual, hanging till his ears, but now he swore to keep it short before any major battle."ahahaha Percy, why don't you go do a little practice in front of them? They'll all line up to swoon over you." Percy smiled helplessly." Ah as long as I have my cute master, how could any other girl catch my eye?"

Artemis blushed at the compliment then shook her fist threateningly." Don't make me come out and beat you, you beastly disciple." Percy chuckled then headed away into the wilderness for his training. He had a month's worth of time before class started so he reckoned he could get some training done by then. He didn't necessarily need to attend class either, as he had artemis to teach him. Most students above the twentieth rank didn't bother attending. They had their own unique training methods after all.

Calypso watched Percy from afar, laughing and mumbling to himself as he roamed the wilderness.

He was someone she admired. He was someone who had the strength and bravery to control his destiny. But despite all her power, she had no control over her destiny. She would inevitably just be sent off against her will, and her power would just become something someone else would brag about. She would be the equivalent of a pet, and her powers and talent would just add to his glory. He could brag about his powerful wife and how he tamed her. She was just destined to be a trophy.

She envied girls like piper who had control over their destiny and admired people like Percy who despite being like her, still fought and controlled their life. All she could do was hope he didn't catch the fancy of some girl from one of the three societies. Otherwise, he'd be sold off like her, another new trophy for the three societies to show off.

Piper trained, harder than ever, back in her room. She'd even cancelled the time she'd planned to spend with her grandpa. Percy's talent had shocked and scared her more than a little. If he continued to grow he would overtake her. She refused to let him. She'd seen that sparkle in her grandfathers eyes as he had seen him, and she knew that he was a threat. Her father paid her little enough attention, just coming by to ensure she was training. Only her grandpa doted on her, but that was partly due to her talent. And with the talent Percy had, once he overtook her, she would be left behind in the dust, while everyone, even her grandpa and father admired him.

She refused to let that happen. She closed her eyes and mumbled an incantation. She would pour her entire being and all her effort into being the best. She'd always been content with being second rank in the class, happy as long as calypso held third place, so that she knew the other girl her age was less talented than her. But now this younger boy was even more talented than her. He would soon come after her second place, so she must become more strong, stronger, until she was unbeatable!

Percy had no idea about the different lives he was soon going to be affecting. He just trained in the wilderness, his laughter and artemis's giggles brightening his way. And that was all he needed.

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Eight  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Artemis Sollunas  
Current Cultivation: Rank Four Warrior(Capable of Fighting Rank Six Warrior)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Divine Sea Gods Transformation.  
Weapon: Nil

Calypso Thundre(Profile)

Name:Calypso Thundre  
Age: Eleven  
Race: (?)  
Attribute: Thunder  
Current Status: Engaged to someone from the Serpent Society (?)  
Current Cultivation: Rank Six Warrior(capable of Fighting Rank Seven)  
Monster Bloodlines: Thunder Dragon's Bloodline Bloodline(special Power: Thunder Dragon's Roar)  
Divine Transformation: Dragonification  
Weapon: (?)/Dragon Empress's Whip

A.N.:Major powerup for Percy, hope you guys enjoyed that. Yes I get that the romantic storyline is progressing a bit slowly, but give me a few more chapters and we'll have some naughty Percy and calypso moments. Also read calypso's profile, it's been updated with a new fact about her sad love life.

So we have three heroines, one cute Tsundere master (artemis), another Tsundere, the competitive piper and lastly the shy Dandere, calypso who just keeps watching him from afar, waiting for her senpai to notice her.

How will each one's love story end? Well how should I know? Just keep reading. Also review reborn goddesses and demigods. There are only limited slots so, hurry up!


	5. First Arc: Genius Class's Genius Student

**First Arc: Genius Class's Genius student**

Percy spent the entire month training under the eye of Artemis. He never realized the presence of calypso as she trailed after him, watching his training and trying to learn from it. Artemis did notice, but never bothered mentioning it to Percy. In her opinion, telling Percy he had another fangirl after him would just make him bigheaded.

The girl was in obvious discomfort and artemis soon figured out why." This girl has moonlinght frost qi sickness." Artemis mumbled to herself." And quite an advanced case as well. It's astonishing she's even able to walk around without screaming in pain, and I can't believe she's still training so hard despite this sickness. If this continues, this girl will be crippled." Artemis watched her progress, and soon she grew quite fond of her resilience. She quietly wondered if she should help her or not.

Calypso trained at night, her entire body glowing from within with lightning. The moonlight swirled around her, silently gathering at her acupoints . her teeth were tightly clenched and sweat matted her forehead. She whimpered as her body shivered with pain, feeling as if ice cold water was running through her body, causing her immense pain.

By the time her training was over, she would have almost blacked out with pain. The next morning would begin with her body aching to the core, and every muscle trembling with exhaustion. She felt as if this would kill her. But she knew that stopping her training meant she would e married off. Only with sufficient power would she be able to control her fate.

Like this a month passed by.

 _-first day of class-_

Percy was neatly enough dressed and waltzed off to class. He was nine years old, having celebrated his birthday just the last week. His family had made it a grand affair, and his parents were all thankful to the gods for such an extraordinary son. Due to his status, they had been given better jobs and their own status had increased.

The genius class was as expected, half empty when he arrived. There was a bit of a commotion as he walked in, the youngest child in the class. Many people were curious about him, but arrogance was ingrained in every part of them. They were not the type of people to accept they were lesser than anyone. So they shut in their curiosity and tried to pretend as if he was a new piece of furniture.

Most of them believed that frank had gone easy on him, hence his victory. They refused to believe he, a rank four was so powerful. Not that Percy cared. He wasn't here to make friends. He was here to train. Suddenly there was a small commotion as one of the doors swung open. All the boys, except percy all looked up eagerly, as the young piper DeGrest the second rank genius and beauty queen of the school walked in. her eyes scanned the classroom icily till she caught sight of Percy. Then she stiffly walked over and sat to one side of him.

Percy suddenly felt enormous killing intent lock onto him and he almost jumped out of his seat in surprise. He quickly looked around and saw the angry gaze of every boy in class locked onto him.

He shrugged in surprise then went to turn back to his seat when he realized someone had sat down next to him. He turned to greet them as a formality, then froze as if he'd been sucker punched in the gut.

Percy's eyes widened at the sight of the pretty girl sitting next to him. She had uneven brown hair, hastily pulled into a ponytail, leaving strands he felt like tucking behind her ear. Her face was regal, with a sexy appeal. She turned to him her full lips turning into a smile as she greeted him "hey! My name is piper. Your Percy right?" "u-uh… yeah.. " he smiled back at her. "wow so you defeated a level six warrior at level four?! You must be the youngest person to have made it into the top fifteen!" she gushed.

Percy suddenly felt a lot happier about his results. He was gonna say something cool to shrug off his wins, but then artemis's voice rang out in his mind."careful! she's a level six warrior! She doesn't have kind intentions, that's for sure!" Percy's mind snapped into attention at once. A level six meant she was someone with a higher rank than him. And after fighting frank he could understand why the level six warriors were so fearsome. Anyone with a higher rank would be very powerful.

Percy gave her an innocent smile." Oh my wins were just a lot of luck. What about you? what rank are you in class? You look around twelve or thirteen so you must be really powerful too"

Piper gave him a sweet smile." I'm the second rank in this class" Percy's heart shook. Second rank. That was seriously powerful. He had no doubt she could easily crush him. Then why was she being so nice to him? Some ulterior motive. Percy was starting to think about it more seriously, but then suddenly both doors into the classroom swung open simultaneously.

A hulking brute of a boy strode in. he was heavily built and wore a large heavy sword strapped onto his back. He seemed plated with muscles and he had a cruel scarred face and blonde hair that grew past his shoulders. He was three heads taller than Percy and Percy was confused whether he was the teacher or a student till artemis spoke up." His aura is even more powerful than the girl next to you. he must be the rank one student." Through the other door, a slender girl with caramel hair and dressed in a heavy robe walked in. the rank one student caught sight of her and grinned.

She saw him and frowned in displeasure but before she could move he had already reached her. She tried slipping away from the side but he barred her way with a heavy arm. The girl glared at him, and seemed ready to slap him, but seemed too fearful to even move as he stroked her cheek. Percy stared in astonishment. This guy was harassing her in front of everyone, but not a single person stood up. Percy was about to get up, when piper suddenly caught his shoulder.

"don't" she warned in a soft whisper."he's her fiancée. But she dislikes the prospect of marriage. Lets just say that her family married her off for the sake of a connection in the serpent society." Percy felt revolted. Then the name hit him."serpent society?" he whispered back in shock. Piper nodded. "he's the next in line to be the serpent master. Hercules, the society heads oldest son"

Then he seemed to be done harassing her. Percy saw the girls eyes tremble with fear and grief as he strode away, laughing boisterously. "whats her name?" he asked piper. " her? She's the thunder dragon family's next in line. Calypso thundre."

Artemis chose this moment to speak up"Percy , she's suffering from moonlight frost qi poisoning. It's a disease caused by excessive training at night. It's a horrible disease that clogs up the body with ice attribute moonlight qi. She's suffering from an advanced case. If this keeps up, she'll be crippled and unable to practice within 2 years of time. No doubt she's doing this so she can join the army and escape having to be married to that oaf. But at this rate, she has no hope left."

Percy frowned" is there any way to help her?". Artemis chuckled, glad she'd predicted his question" of course there is" but before she could continue, Hercules caught sight of him and headed over.

Piper shut her book and turned to him."Hercules is coming this way. Did you do something to annoy him?" Percy frowned "no" piper nodded." Good, keep it that way".

Hercules turned up and gave a loud chuckle."hehehe. what a sweet couple. The two youngest geniuses of the class. I've heard about you kid! Good job beating frank." Percy muttered a thanks. Being this close to him made Percy wanna smack him, Fiancé or not. Also it didn't help artemis was muttering curses in his mind and urging him to rip Hercules to shreds.

"so kid, you've got pretty good talent. I'm the number one rank myself, so I can give you a few pointers. Wanna be friends with me and follow me?" Hercules grinned in what was supposed to be a friendly manner but came out as threatening.

Calypso heard his words from where she stood and sighed. She'd hoped for his sake no one from a society would eye him but his talent was too great. Once their eyes were set on him, his future as an individual was over. He would first be their trophy, then all his achievements would be theirs.

She looked up and saw Percy looking at her. He smiled at her. Then he stood up. Piper bent over her book and mumbled to herself."oh boy, here he goes"

Percy smiled at Hercules then shook his word, while carefully telling Hercules "absolutely not". Hercules smile froze on his face. Then he shook his head gently." I don't think you understood me clearly. I asked you to be my lackey, and join my serpent society. Of course you'll have sufficient benefits from my society as well."

Percy shook his head gently"I understood you clearly. And you understood me clearly. Absolutely not. I'm from an aristocratic family, so I have a duty to help them." Hercules grit his teeth, " are you stupid? The benefits offered by an aristocratic family are nothing before the benefits offered by my serpent society!even reaching the eight or ninth rank wouldn't be impossible! And you want to STAY in such a pathetic family? I've already checked, jackson family, the most shitty fucked up aristocratic family. They are barely better off than a common family! " Percy's face hardened." Don't insult my family"

Hercules laughed and mimicked his voice"don't insult my family. Hahahaha, you think you're something big? Let me assure you, you're not!" . Percy clenched his teeth." I've already told you I don't want to join your serpent's society. Now will you please leave?"

Hercules sneered." My serpent's society doesn't need trash like you. I was just being kind and letting you be my lapdog. But it seems I was mistaken. A mangy street dog like you can never be my dog."

Artemis was outraged." No can call you a mangy streetdog except for me!" Percy sighed" that's hardly the point" artemis shook her head" of course! Percy challenge this bastard to a duel and beat him up! That's the best way to teach him!" "if I do that, I'll be the one getting beaten up. I feel his level of power is close to the peak of a level seven warrior." Artemis sobered down" indeed. His cultivation Is on the power of a rank seven warrior. The current you is not his match. But that's just for now. Challenge him to a duel a year later. Then we'll see." Percy mentally shook his head" he's close to a breakthrough. In another year he'll be a rank seven warrior, while I might be a rank five warrior. The safest option is for me to challenge him two years later." Artemis grit her teeth." I refuse! You will challenge him in one year and beat him. Trust your master!"

Percy felt like hitting something. He looked at Hercules."what do you want?" Hercules grinned, "since you're on the level of a level six warrior, lets have a duel!" Percy sneered "im just a level four warrior, and you wish to fight? Ahahaha. Youre already 13 years old and im just 9! How is this a fair battle?"

Hercules licked his lips" are you scared?" Percy smiled back" of course not. But we'll duel a year later. Do you dare? Hercules guffawed with mirth."why wouldn't I dare. A hairless baby like you doesn't scare me! Let me show you the difference between a young master of the serpent society and a kid from the shitty aristocratic families!" he spun and walked away. "remember a year later!" he shouted as he strode out.

Piper turned to him."you are an idiot" she stated. Then she went back to reading her book. Percy chuckled then stood. He walked over to calypso." Calypso right? Hi I'm Percy." Calypso shook her head." You should not have fought with him." She murmured." Your family shall pay the price." Percy frowned. "my family?". Calypso nodded gravely." The serpent society shall start suppressing their businesses and causing them trouble. You should know when to fight and when to back off. Now they'll suffer for your mistake."

Percy frowned. He'd never even considered such a possibility. He nodded to her, distracted and ran out of the school, heading back towards the city.

Whe he reached the city, he headed, not towards his home, since that might take a week or so on foot, and instead headed to the third great society. The alchemist association.

"so why am I here?" Percy asked artemis as he waited for the guard to go inform the alchemists of his arrival." My knowledge of herbs and medical ingredients far surpasses your imagination. I've taught you so much, you can at the least join the alchemist association." She said smugly. "but just joining won't make them help. They won't care so much about a single alchemist that they'll help me against the serpent society." Artemis was even more smug as she heard him." No they won't help you. but a year back, I had already sent a letter to the alchemist association." Percy was puzzled. "so?" "I read some of the books your city has on alchemy and the highest level alchemists here would barely classify as a junior alchemist in the realm of the gods from where I come. I'm already a grandmaster level alchemist, so even spare change from me is a fortune to them." Percy's jaw dropped open."all you need to say is you're my apprentice and voila, they'll be dying to befriend you. also remember that weed I made you painstakingly hunt down and make a paste from? Well in the letter I sent, I told them the uses of that weed, and they've gone mad searching for it. At most they would have found a few stalks since I'd already made you pluck most of them from around the city. It takes five years to mature so there's no way it'll have met the demand. So the paste stored in your inner world is invaluable!"

Percy felt like a man suddenly finding out his dog was worth a fortune." Why didn't you tell me before?!" she shrugged" didn't wanna" Percy felt like spanking her and probably would have if not for his utter weakness before her superior strength.

The door swung open and a young woman walked out. She glanced at him and smiled." Hello young master. My name is phoebe. How may I help you?".percy smiled back at her and nodded" well, I'd like to take the alchemist exam." Phoebe smiled as if anticipating his answer." The junior alchemist exam am I right?" Percy bit his lip and scratched his head in embarrassment." Um well, actually…. I wish to take the senior alchemist exam."

The attendants smile dropped off her face. Even taking the exam for the junior alchemist was a very difficult thing and usually only people from their early twenties would try it. She'd assumed he was some rich young master who had come here for fun and spend a few copper coins. But senior level alchemist? The exam fee itself was 10 gold coins and usually only those old men who'd studied alchemy for decades would take it.

Just the number of books needed to be read was astronomical. Even if this kid had been reading books from his time in his mothers womb, he still wouldn't have read all of them. The attendant tried another smile" young master, the price is ten gold coins. And it will not be refunded after the exam." Percy nodded and tossed her ten gold coins.

He felt like crying. Those ten gold coins were his year of hard work and savings. The attendant felt like crying as well. Just who was this young master who was willing to waste gold coins for fun?

She sighed and nodded." Very well, please follow me young master" she led him inside.

They walked through a long narrow corridor before they stopped in front of a plain grey door. "wait here. I will inform the association president." She opened the door and walked in. Percy started conversing with artemis.

"the association is so sparsely decorated."he commented. Artemis snorted." They're obviously having a difficult time right now." Percy frowned." Having a hard time?" "with such low quality medicine's and no new recipes, how long can they last?" artemis asked. " at this rate, the only reason they've survived is probably because they're monopoly on the medical gardens" Percy was enlightened. "oh its like that?"

The door swung open and an old man, with a long white beard and a wrinkled face walked out. He was tall and sturdy and emanated the powerful aura of a Level Nine Warrior.

Percy gasped in astonishment. A level nine warrior was a peak existence in the city of hope. After all, they only had a single legend realm warrior so most of their fighting power was based on the Level Nine Warriors.

The old man was dressed in a loose robe and gave a small smile upon seeing Percy." So you're our applicant eh? Ahahaha. Such high hopes. You'll be a grand figure in the future!" he chuckled and motioned for Percy to follow him." You'll be tested by two senior level alchemists. They'll grade your papers. You must at least answer half the paper to qualify." Percy nodded as he followed him.

"here's the hall. Best of luck little boy" the old man gave a reassuring smile as Percy walked in.

 _-two hours later-_

Two middle aged men ran out, their faces bright red and eyes bulging.

"president! president! President!" they shouted, startling the old man out of his nap." Huh?whats wrong?" their faces were growing redder as they looked at him. "th-that boy!? He…he…" they were both gasping now and the president was starting to get worried. "what's wrong?!" "he passed with a hundred percent!" the president felt sucker punched. "p-passed? W-with a h-hundred p-percent?" the examiner nodded, then fainted.

 _-an hour later-_

All the senior alchemists were admiring Percy as he spoke with the association head.

After all of artemis's teaching, Percy was on the level of a junior alchemist by her levels. This was even higher than the president of the association. Percy dodged most of the questions aimed at who had taught him, just vaguely describing a grand master of alchemy who had taught him from a very young age. He neglected a few minor details, such as his master was a young girl of 13 years.

Then he raised the issue of the letter artemis had sent last year. The president nearly choked on the tea when he realized the letter was from him.

By the time he left the association, he'd been added to the council as a guest elder and the president had promised to help his family in trade. In exchange, Percy gave him the recipe to three pills.

The president was still in shock as he bid Percy farewell. he wiped his forehead with a trembling hand." Truly a monstrous talent. What learning speed" he went back inside and opened the scroll in his hand, then almost dropped it when he saw the recipes.

"the legendary phoenix pill? The pill that can restore any injury done to the body within a short period of time. He knows this recipe? And the dragon pill that can promote a person of the seventh rank or below, to a higher rank for a period of time? The holy moon nectar, used to reverse the effects of aging!" the presidents hands were trembling. All these three pills were divine pills, recorded as in ancient records as pills of impossible value. Now he had this recipe scroll in his hand!

He raised a hand and beckoned. A blur appeared and a troop of warrior at the eight rank appeared. They knelt in front of him. He pointed a trembling finger at Percy's disappearing form."protect that young genius, at the cost of your own lives if necessary!" they all stood and bowed, then disappeared.

There was a light laugh and a woman dressed in red walked out from within the building." president Duzong. It's rare to see you so excited these days!" she was a young woman of around 20 years, dressed in silken clothes that hugged every curve of her body. Her stomach was flat and her chest seemed to explode out, deforming the silken cloth that wrapped around them.

She lightly swung her hip and strode over to him, reaching out to take the scroll from him."ah! " she exclaimed." Indeed a genius boy!" she seductively licked her lips and said "find out his background. We have to rope him in!" the president nodded." Indeed director. It's imperative."

Artemis could feel the warriors trailing after them but didn't bother commenting. With herself poisoned, she could deal with sixth rank or maybe even seventh rank warriors, but her power was still limited. She still needed time to heal her poison. With this squad protecting Percy, she had one worry of her mind. Now all she needed to concentrate on was training Percy.

She gave him a cold smile." Get ready. Training is getting even more intense." Percy felt like vomiting blood. How could she possibly make it more difficult?!" hihihi" artemis giggled evilly." Lets go to the monster training compound in your institute. There'll be more monsters to train against there. The area outside your city is almost empty. Percy sighed. His master was insane.

Back at the thunder Dragon Family headquarters, calypso's servants were hurrying to her with information she had requested. They hurried to her room and knocked. The door swung open and calypso called out"come in!"

The maidservant ran in." milady, I have the information!" calypso quickly took the scrollfrom her, then dismissed her. She jumped back onto her bed, then opened it to read. Her eyes scanned the words, then widened in surprise. She sat up and read the scroll again. Then she closed it and threw it away. She'd asked her maids to follow Percy and observe what he had gone to do. She had her doubts on how his growth was so fantastic. Now she found out he'd gone to the alchemist association to take the exam.

"he became a senior alchemist?! At just nine years of age? And they put him on their council." Calypso pinched her cheeks, hard then fell back onto her bed."hehe, so he does have to power control his destiny. Unlike me, he can even challenge to serpent society and get away with it." She sighed and slumped down.

Then her eyes hardened and she got up again. She opened her door and quietly snuck out. She headed around the family compound and headed to a hidden stairway in the center of the headquarters. She headed down, into the cold darkness.

A figure stepped out of the shadows behind her and sighed. He pulled out a scroll from his pocket, the same one calypso had thrown onto her bed. He opened it and read through it. Then he mumbled under his breath"perseus?...nine years?..." then he shook his head and sighed again."I'm so sorry your father is so useless calypso my daughter. I hope you can keep working to protect yourself." He flickered and disappeared as well.

Calypso quietly ran into an underground chamber. She sliced her hand open, letting the blood drip onto a black stone set into the ground. The floor rumbled, then descended. She quietly waited until she was in a dark sealed chamber where the only light came from the lightning flickering on the ceiling and walls.

She stepped off the descending platform and with a rumble the array formation inscribed on the ground rumbled to life. A dragon's roar shook the chamber and a dragon constructed of electricity rose up, dashing towards calypso. She grit her teeth and slammed both her palms together. The lightning in her veins awoke and her clothes ripped apart and were replaced by an armor of thunder. She leapt forward and slammed straight through the beast.

She dropped to her knees and blood bubbled up from her lips. Shewiped it away and got to her feet, heading towards the sword set at the centre of the formation. She reached out a hand and grasped it. The sword shook and a voice boomed out. "pathetic! Compared to my previous master, you are far too weak. I shall never let you wield me. Give it up already little girl." calypso's lips trembled and she fell to her knees.

" please give me a chance! I have the best thunder dragon bloodline in my entire family for the past generations! I am capable of wielding you!" the sword shook and laughter boomed out." Hahaha! Thunder dragon bloodline? So what? Your bloodline is nothing compared to my previous masters! He had the blood of a true god! He was the son of the sea god. Write this down in your mind! He was named perseus jackson! A true son of of the seas! A being with the power to fight gods!"

Calypso's eyes widened. " you may not remember, maiden, but he wielded me to cut down even gods and was the only one powerful enough to challenge your father as well as the titan Kronos!" calypso's heart shook and she clutched her head."m-my father?... Percy…" she gasped and then her gaze blanked. She fell down to the ground and fainted.

The sword chuckled." My words rang a bell eh? Oh don't blame me Chaos. I'm bored of these weaklings. When is he going to turn up? As if I will submit to anyone else!"

Calypso Thundre(Profile)

Name:Calypso Thundre  
Age: Twelve  
Race: Thunder Dragon God Beast Bloodline  
Attribute: Thunder  
Current Status: Engaged to Hercules/Afflicted with Moonlight Frost Qi Poisoning  
Current Cultivation: Rank Six Warrior(capable of Fighting Rank Seven)  
Monster Bloodlines: Thunder Dragon's Bloodline Bloodline(special Power: Thunder Dragon's Roar)  
Divine Transformation: Dragonification  
Weapon: Riptide/Dragon Empress's Whip

A.N.: you might say I'm focusing more on calypso. But she has a deeper background. Plus she is the damsel in distress. Piper has her attention issues but that's about it. Now we'll have Percy meets calypso in the next chapter. Plus a little naughty medical treatment from Percy to calypso. Under artemis's instruction of course.


	6. First Arc:Percy Vs Calypso: Transform!

**First Arc: Son of the Seas Versus Daughter of ThunderFlame**

Percy had hunted down over half the monsters stocked inside the training forest during the first week of his training. After all, most of them were level three and level four monsters. He occasionally came across level five monsters. As for level six monsters, there weren't any. The magicite cores of level six monsters was exceptionally expensive after all. The institute wouldn't waste so much money for just training. But Percy quickly hunted down the level five monsters and gathered their magicite cores. These were useful for equipment and weapons. But Percy currently didn't have any. After all with 'flow like silk' his defense had no need for armor. As for weapons, they would be useful, but Percy's style was quite straight forward. Overwhelming brutal power to defeat the opponent.

He'd tried using a sword but using even 'hundred layered waves' bent the sword when he attacked anything. If he tried using 'five hundred layered waves, most probably the sword itself would shatter. Thus Percy's fists were naturally his best weapons.

Thus Percy sold most of the magicite cores, getting anywhere between a fifty silver to one gold coin for every ten cores of the fifth rank. A few nights later, while Percy was on his usual prowl for monsters, he had quiet an interesting meeting.

While Percy snuck through the tops of the tress, he felt the swirling currents of battle qi. Percy was startled."such a formidable aura!" he exclaimed. "who could it be?" artemis kept silent, even though she already knew.

Percy silently dropped out of the trees into a small moonlit clearing. Calypso was seated there, cross-legged, her body glowing with silver and blue lights as moonlight was sucked into her and arcs of thunder flashed in her hair.

Artemis frowned. Something about this girl felt wrong. Her aura was clearly that of a thunder attribute warrior, but artemis still felt the presence of a spark buried in her body, like a tiny ember, waiting to blaze into an inferno.

Percy froze when he landed. Calypso was slightly floating off the ground and the very air around her seemed to hum with power. Her eyes slowly opened and the whites of her eyes flashed with thunder.

She softly landed onto the ground then stood up." Here so late at night?" she asked him. Percy shrugged." Well um I was just walking around and enjoying the cool air!". Calypso just stared at him, her face impassive and emotionless." I already know you're the one who hunted down most of the monsters in the past week."

Percy chuckled." Guilty as charged." Calypso sighed and turned away from him." Go on then, don't let me interrupt you."

Percy didn't look away however. He stepped forward, eyes narrowing." Does it feel like your feet are burning with intense pain, as if on fire?" calypso stiffened and froze." And your body aches from inside, from the center of your bones and radiates all over?" she turned and looked at him, disbelief in her eyes. No one, not even those in her family knew she had this problem. Then how did he?

Percy's gaze was steady as he looked at her." If you keep this up, within two years, you'll be crippled." Calypso's grew noticeably whiter and her arms trembled."how do you know all this?" calypso asked in a calm voice, still maintaining an emotionless tone, but Percy could sense her panic.

Percy shrugged." I'm a senior alchemist. And my divine sense picked up a weird coldness from you. judging by your training schedule, your growth rate and the fact that you haven't denied my questions, you probably are suffering from moonlight frost qi poisoning. This is caused by the moonlight qi gathering and freezing within your meridians. All because you practice so much, so hard every night and your body has a weak frost qi affinity."

Calypso's façade cracked and her expression softened with worry and hope. Her voice took on a pleading note." If you can recognize this then you must be capable of curing it too right? I'll pay any price you want!" Percy laughed a bit and shook his head." It's alright. I just can't bear watching you suffer. Its no problem for me to heal you."

Calypso smiled at him gratefully." How do we cure this?" she asked curiously. Percy closed his eyes for a moment as his qi flow stabilized." I'll use my own qi to slowly chip at the solid moonlight qi in your meridians, and over the course of a month, the pain will reduce. The pain will reduce drastically after the first night so don't worry." Percy smiled at her reassuringly then asked." Show me the affected areas, I'll start now."

Calypso hesitated, then drew her robe up as she sat down and showed Percy the sole of her foot. It was bruised purple-black and had swollen considerably. Percy winced in sympathy. How was she even able to walk with this wound?" how old is this?" Percy asked.

Calypso hesitated, then replied" a month or thereabouts" artemis was surprised." A month?! And yet so big? Percy this is a severe case and her condition is critical!" Percy looked up at calypso, worry in his eyes. Calypso gently bit her lower lip as she met his gaze.

" The case is even more severe than I anticipated. And your condition is critical. It'll take longer than I expected." Calypso frowned in worry." It's alright if its too much work for you" she went to stand up, but Percy caught her hand and pulled her down again." When I'm willing to help you, smile, accept it as something I'm doing as a friend. I'm not here to profit, I genuinely want to help you". calypso swallowed as she saw his earnest gaze.

Her shoulder drooped and her act broke apart."p-pleaase help me. I don't want to end up as a trophy of Hercules! If I can't even train, then I have no choice or future! At first I thought if I became a rank seven warrior and ran into the army, I could escape." Her lips trembled and her eyes sparkled with tears." But his serpents society snatched away our family businesses and covertly threatened my family! Please, the only hope I have is if I reach the ninth rank, or the legend realm!"

Percy patted her shoulder, and his eyes flashed with fury." Don't worry, I'll pay Hercules back in full" calypso's sobs slowly quieted and she looked up at Percy. He was so firm and reliable, so assured in every move he made. She remembered what the grand family treasure had told her. Its previous owner was the son of the sea god and was named perseus jackson.

She recalled the seabreeze that had stirred up the audience when he'd launched his finishing blow against frank. Curiosity bubbled inside her but she locked it away. She had other worries for now.

Percy had begun softly massaging her leg. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the pain in her leg vanished and it seemed to turn back to normal. Percy worked almost 10 minutes before letting go. By then the swelling had gone down and the bruising was beginning to fade.

Percy nodded in satisfaction." I should massage it once every five days since it isn't so severe." He looked up to calypso." So where's the next spot.?" Calyso blushed lightly and reached up to her shoulder, pushing down the sleeve. The shoulder had a horrible red mark the size of her palm. It radiated ugly red lines that were clearly her blood vessels, all along her arm.

Percy sucked in a cold breath." This is going to take much longer." His hand grasped her shoulder and glowed with his qi and he began the treatment.

The treatment took more than double the time. Almost 25 minutes later Percy sighed and sat back. The red mark was completely gone now, leaving only her flawless white skin. Percy could have admired her shoulder all night but he felt artemis digging daggers into him from inside with her eyes, so he quickly went back to professional mode.

" That's done as well Calypso. Do you have any other affected areas?" Percy asked her gently. Calypso looked up and met his eyes by mistake. Her face went beetroot red and she turned away. Percy scratched his head. He hadn't expected such a response when he'd just massaged her shoulder. It wasn't like he'd done anything weird with her.

Calypso's face seemed to be getting even redder as she sat there, then finally she gave a huffy gasp then sat up straight. She reached over and her other sleeve began sliding off as well. The upper part of her collar bone came into view and Percy jumped backwards." W-wait calypso! Its okay, I just massaged your shoulder, lets not do something we'll regret!"

Calypso froze, then her face reddened rapidly, spreading over her shoulder and arms, until she seemed like she'd been boiled." Y-you idiot! I'm showing you my injury!" calypso yelled then dropped away the upper part of her robe, revealing her fair and smooth stomach and the two small globes that jut out from her chest.

Percy's eyes were naturally drawn to those luscious tender breasts, however that was since one had turned almost purple. Percy's eyes widened. This was twice the size of the wound on her shoulder. It was obviously very old.

Still despite the seriousness of the situation, Percy was quite distracted as well. He was rapidly nearing ten years, and was extremely mature, having two lives worth experiences. Plus calypso herself was around twelve and her body was beginning to shape out very nicely. Percy was only able to snap out of his stupor when he heard Artemis singing a soft tune about how she would gouge his eyes out, with a sword, if he didn't stop staring.

"um…w-well… the situation looks very soft" Percy hastily said." Eh?" calypso asked "looks very… what?"

"errr, very soft…I mean very…um…delicate!" Percy mumbled incoherently. Artemis slapped her face with embarrassment. Her ears were glowing red, usually a warning she was very happy or very angry.

"hmph who cares about that stupid brat, just running behind every girl he finds! Hmph first he compliments me for being cute, but the second he finds a curvy girl….. Argh!" artemis paced around angrily muttering. She looked down at her own flat chest, then ranted some more.

Percy had no idea how he was going to treat her. His hand was troubling him far too much. He was trembling quite badly and found it almost impossible to reach out. Finally calypso huffed with annoyance, grabbed his hand with both of hers and pulled it onto her chest. Percy's mind went blank with the warm soft and squishy feeling that engulfed his hand. His hand flexed involuntarily and calypso gave a small cute moan that snapped Percy back to reality.

He quickly got to work, his hand moving in smooth rhythmic motions and massaging the soft flesh in his hand. Slowly, calypsos' moans grew louder in pitch and intensity as his hand carefully traced out her pale skin. The moans were making it harder to concentrate and focus and Percy had to consciously force himself from pinching her nipple as she moaned in ecstasy under his machinations.

After a long and enjoyable half an hour, Percy was done. The purple color had lightened and calypso seemed in a lot less pain. She sighed out loud, her body sweaty and the fragrance of her lovely sweat and natural womanly scent wafted to Percy's nose, seeming almost intoxicating.

However he wasn't so easily swayed this time and took a deep breath to calm himself, then focused his mind and thoughts." So calypso? Is that it? I sincerely apologize for that awkward moment…." Calypso gave him a small smile as she secured her robe around herself. When she was done she asked Percy, " what happens if you don't treat a wounded area?" Percy thought a bit then answered" the disease grows and spreads from there. If so soon your body would turn purple." Calypso gulped in fear than nodded." I….. I …..d-do have another s-spot" this seemed to take all of calypso's willpower, and then she slumped, unwilling to elaborate. Percy told her he had to leave soon, and she finally relented.

"close your eyes" she instructed Percy. He shrugged and did as she told him to. there was a bit of rustling, then calypso's voice" I swear if you say a word, you will die. I will fucking kill you!" Percy opened his eyes and saw her lying on the ground on her front. A towel covered up her back and body, while a simple white robe was draped over her legs.

However Percy couldn't stop himself from swallowing his saliva when he caught sight of her bare ass. It was nice and plump and her hips itself were quite wide too, lending her an overall beautiful look.

The mark on her butt was almost as small as a pinky finger. Percy licked his lips nervously and reached a hand out, the tips of his skin grazing her bare skin. She shivered but then held still.

Percy cupped her ass in one hand, slowly kneading and massaging. Calypso whimpered and moaned in pleasure as the last source of her pain was eliminated.

Despite its small size, the mark took longer to deal with than the previous ones. It was the oldest one after all. By the time Percy was done groping her, calypso was sweaty and panting. The two faced each other, embarrassed at what had happened. She could never be the same. After all her body had just been groped all over.

Percy blushed then cleared his throat nervously." Remember three nights later, we'll need to repeat your treatment!" calypso nodded." I'll turn up." Then she disappeared in a streak of lightning.

"that was so embarrassing," Percy said out once she had disappeared. Artemis growled and gave a small "hmph". "hmm artemis what's wrong?" Percy asked in surprise."nothing" she growled."I'm taking a nap, I'm bored of watching you molest girls. Always after one girl or the other huh?"

Realization dawned on Percy. Was she jealous?" Nope my artemis is the cutest. With her, why would I need someone else?" Percy said with a smile. Artemis's ears went scarlet, this time with delight." Hmph you say that to every girl you meet. Stop your annoying flattery"

Percy smiled at her words." Ah but artemis, you are really cute you know. Nothing can compare to you. and you mean the world to me." Artemis's face was turning scarlet as well now." H-hmph. Idiot disciple, extra training for you today" Percy groaned. Why did he have such horrible luck?

 _-the next day-in the institute_

Piper had defaulted to sitting by Percy in class. He was always teasing her, flirting with the awkward girl and this filled many of the boys with seething jealousy. More than a few of them were wishing they could beat him up.

However the next day a new incident occurred. After Percy had taken his seat, calypso suddenly turned up. However gone was her heavy robe and icy face. She was wearing a colorful dress, one that bared her shoulders and a long loose skirt that fell to her knees and a pant under it. She smiled upon seeing Percy, then headed straight for him, two baskets in hand. She stopped in front of Percy's desk, then she dropped both in front of him. Everyone's mouth, including piper and Percy's mouth dropped open.

Was this….? "Good morning Percy!" she smiled at him as she pushed both baskets towards him.

Percy gawked at her then hurriedly asked"h-hey calypso what's wrong ?" calypso gave him a small cute smile." Nothing, I just wanted to make you breakfast. But I didn't know your taste, so I brought two.", Percy felt murderous killing intent from all his classmates. If looks would kill, he'd have been skewered, skinned and slow roasted over a fire.

He pulled open one of the baskets and started munching on a sandwitch."its lovely calypso!" she leaned forward, blushing then whispered to percy." I'll help you train. You can practice with me from today." Percy's eyes widened"really!" she smiled"it'll help you learn and adapt to Hercules faster. I am no. 3 in the class after all!" artemis sat up as well. This was a great opportunity for her to investigate the mystery surrounding calypso.

" Say yes Percy!" she said." Practicing with a strong opponent will speed up your growth!" Percy grinned at calypso." Thanks so much for the offer." Calypso blushed lightly then slid into the seat next to him. Percy could swear that right now every boy in class was probably contemplating the best way to punish him for sitting next to their goddesses. But Percy hardly cared what they thought. After all, their thoughts wouldn't affect him. And so the day passed enjoyably, with calypso laughing alongside him, while he occasionally leaned over to annoy piper.

 _-later that day-_

Percy and calypso were standing in the training forests largest clearing. This was usually avoided by students since many level five monsters lived here, but Percy had already hunted them down. So the entire area was free from disturbance. Calypso smiled at Percy as she took up a fighting stance.

" Lets see how strong the 13th ranked student is." Calypso said. Percy grinned and mirrored her stance." What about your weapons?" he asked. Calypso gave him a look."if I were to use my weapon, the difference between us would be too much. With your current strength, it's best for me to use just my fists." Percy grinned, "well don't end up regretting it." Calypso smirked." Hardly"

Calypso suddenly exploded with force, turning into a blur as she struck. Percy didn't have a chance to hold back.' Moonlight Flash!' he exploded with speed and turned into a silver blur as he dodged calypso's blow and then weaved back with a counter attack.

Calypso didn't even hesitate as she directly grabbed his arm, twisting it and throwing him over her shoulder. Percy twisted in midair, legs locking around her right arm. He grabbed the ground with both arms and bent his back with all his force, then snapped straight, throwing calypso away with his legs.

She flipped in midair and landed smoothly, not even pausing as she rushed back to attack him. She was lean and lithe, her entire body coiling with power. She appeared in front of Percy as he tried to retreat, then her fist shot out with full force. Percy had no other choice but to meet her attack.

Bones cracking and popping as his arm shot out, both fists colliding.' Thousand layered waves, first move: hundred layered waves!'

With the force of a hundred punches merging into one, Percy's fist crashed into calypso's fist with tyrannical force. The ground beneath their feet shook and neither took a step back. Calypso grinned." Not bad at all Percy! Once you breakthrough to level five, you'll be far more powerful than even Hercules!" Percy smiled back. Then calypso's smile grew sweeter." But our fight isn't over yet. I only said I won't use my weapon. But im still using my monster bloodline!"

Percy's eyes widened as thunder exploded from within her body. Her clothes were torn to shreds and burnt asunder but they were immediately replaced with a suit of armor, made entirely out of electricity.

Her eyes sparkled and flashed with lightning and even a pair of wings made entirely out of thunder exploded from her back. Her entire body was covered by a thunder armor, and even her eyes sparked with lightning. She reached a hand out and a sword made entirely out of thunder appeared in her hand. Her armor sparkled with different colored lightning's and tiny tendrils sprang out, making it almost impossible to approach her.

Percy closed his eyes and his consciousness went into his inner world. He saw artemis coolly watching the scene outside." Artemis! What power is this? Its way more powerful than franks transformation. There's no way I can fight her!" Percy said worriedly. Artemis nodded." That is not a monster bloodline. It's a god beast bloodline."." god beast?" Percy asked." There's no time to explain. Just understand this much, god beasts are direct descendants of gods. Their bloodline is naturally more powerful than ordinary monsters. Her body carries an extremely pure thunder dragon bloodline, which makes her very powerful. It's not something an ordinary monster bloodline can compare to."

"then I've lost?" Percy asked, surprised. Artemis grinned then chuckled. She made a seal with her hand." Let me tell you a little secret. Your not a level four warrior. You're already a level five warrior." Percy stared at her."b-but…. How….?" Artemis smirked." I sealed your cultivation when it increased. Just in case you ever needed a boost. You already broke through last year before the exam." Percy was dumbfounded.

The seal from artemis's hand floated out, then broke apart. suddenly, power rushed into Percy's body, pure, refreshing battle qi. Percy gasped then shook his head. He was back outside his inner world. Calypso smiled as she raised her sword."ready to give up Percy?" Percy grinned and raised his fists."hardly!"

Calypso smirked." Oh really? Show me your trump card then!" her eyes narrowed." Show me your bloodline son of the sea" Percy froze when he heard her words." S-son of the sea?" calypso smiled." Do the words ring any bells?" artemis shouted out in Percy's mind." Percy don't fall for the trick! She can't know you have poeidon's blood. Somethings very fishy, but she cannot know!"

Percy shook his head."I have no idea what your talking about." Calypso shrugged." Is that so? Then show me your bloodline power." Percy shook his head." My family has no bloodline. You should know that."

Calypso laughed." I know you have a bloodline. I felt it when my own bloodline power activated. It resonated with you. that's only possible for a high level bloodline. Artemis gasped." She's right! Hmmmm this is troublesome". She murmured. Percy was getting worried. Then artemis spoke up." Don't worry. You do have a bloodline transformation."." what?" Percy gasped." But how?" artemis grinned smugly." Watch and learn boy."

She sat cross legged in his inner world space and began meditating."begin your fight. It'll take me time to activate your transformation". Percy raised his fists to calypso." If you want to see my bloodline, prove your strength to me first!"

Calypso laughed" very well Level Four Warrior!" she blurred and dashed towards him. Her left hand swung, carrying behind it the deadly force of lightning and weight of a mountain. Percy leapt into action as well and his own fist swung out, meeting hers. There was a terrific explosion and the ground itself shattered. Calypso stumbled back with surprise." W-what? But how?" she stared at Percy. He had been blown back and his arm was burnt black, but it was only a superficial wound. Percy shrugged and got back up, flexing his wounded fingers with a small wince."not bad!"

Calypso was at a loss for words." Y-you… you're a Level Five Warrior!"" she exclaimed.

Percy laughed lightly then nodded." Calypso's eyes narrowed." Then let me get serious!"

She turned into a fork of lightning and disappeared. The speed was beyond anything Percy had ever seen, except perhaps artemis. Suddenly he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and he spun around. Calypso stood there, silently pointing her weapon at his throat. Percy's eyes widened in horror. She had gotten behind him, and so close, so fast without him even realizing! If she had wanted to kill him, he'd be dead.

Calypso flashed him a wicked grin." Well I won. Now show me your transformation."

Artemis had a small smile upon her face and her eyes opened, glowing pure silver." You asked for this, little girl!" her body exploded with silver light, illuminating Percy's inner world.

Percy gasped as unbelievable power surged through him, flooding his veins and every part of his body and all his flesh, moistening his entire being with moonlight attribute battle qi. Percy's eyes flew open, glowing pure silver from within. His entire being began glowing as well and his body seemed to turn into molten silver as he stretched, sighing as his body seemed to loosen, all the tension draining from within him.

He stood and looked at calypso." This is my transformation! Celestial Moon God's Transformation!"

Percy rushed forward, his speed even greater than calypso's now. Her sword swung out at him and his fist flew to meet it. Both weapons clashed turning into an explosion of silver lightning and forks of lightning. The ground turned into a crater, cracking and shattering under their feet, before the explosion detonated, smashing both of the away cruelly.

They flew through the air, smashing through the trees surrounding the clearing. The closest trees were scorched by the flames of the explosion and the two of them spat blood as they finally came to a stop, rolling hard on the ground. Percy was immediately back on his feet, rushing towards calypso. She had just finished rising to her knees when he arrived his fist smashing down like a silver meteor. Calypso hastily swung her sword of lightning again. The two clashed and exploded once more, but this time the force of the explosion was far weaker and most of it was borne by calypso alone.

Her armor ripped apart and her sword dissisipated into a shower of sparks. She collapsed onto all fours, panting and breathing heavily. Percy hurriedly pulled his jacket off and draped it over her. She shivered slightly but smiled at him gratefully. His clothes weren't in great shape either, but it was better than nothing.

She flipped her palm upwards and a ring on her finger flashed. A pair of clothes appeared on her hand. Percy stared at in surprise. She glared at him and he understood, turning around as she quickly dressed.

Once she was done she gave a small cough. Percy turned around. She smiled a bit shyly at him."I'm sorry for being so pushy about seeing your transformation." Percy laughed lightly and shook his head." It's fine.". then artemis spoke up inside his inner world." No its not alright Percy. She knew about the sea god's blood. Ask her!" Percy started a bit then turned to her." Why did you think I had a sea god bloodline anyway?"

Calypso blushed and hesitated slightly." Well…. There's a senior in my clan, who spoke about a sword heirloom in my family. He… well he said that the sword was once used by a hero, a son of the sea god. And his name was perseus jackson." She gave a small laugh." It seemed like a bit of a coincidence so I was very curious."

Percy chuckled as well." So am I on pipers level now?" calypso gave a light laugh." Hardly. Piper and I have nearly equal power. You're stronger than her now." Percy gasped in delight." Then am I on the level of Hercules?!" calypso sighed and shook her head."I'm really unsure Percy. Hercules can be described as a special case." She patted the ground beside her." Sit. Let me explain what I know, as well as some of the rumors I've investigated."

Percy quietly sat down next to her as she began to speak."well from what I know of Hercules. He was described as a monstrous talent. The greatest talent the serpent society has ever seen. That is simply because he has many, many bloodline within him, all of different monsters." Percy was stunned." Many bloodlines!?" calypso nodded." The serpent society targets people who have special and powerful bloodlines and asks them to join. These people marry and dual cultivate.(A.N.: dual cultivate as in have sex to raise their powers. Like a sex ritual.) when a man with a powerful yang bloodline cultivates with a woman with a powerful yin bloodline, it allows their power to rise by leaps and bounds especially when they combine forces in battle. This is due to the distribution of yin and yang." Percy nodded in understanding." Because so many people with so many bloodlines cultivate together, naturally, many mixed bloodlines are born. And the society president usually dual cultivates with a harem filled with many women with varying bloodlines. And apparently, Hercules is a miracle since he was born with so many bloodlines. So you can imagine the power he wields."

Percy was absolutely stunned. This Hercules was a miracle of the heavens. His power exceeded that of Percy's imagination. Just a single monster bloodline was so powerful, but if so many combined together, he might even be unbeatable! Artemis was similarly stunned. Even three bloodlines combining was a rare event. But four more than four to combine…. That was astonishing! Then calypso sighed." At least that's the story given to the public. But here's something I dug out. I found over a thousand members of the serpent society suddenly went missing. Right after hercule's birth, over a thousand members of the serpent society, all wielding powerful, and pure bloodlines were sent to a mission to fight against the shadow alliance." Percy frowned." The shadow alliance?" calypso nodded" an organization of rebels that opposes hope city. They are all composed of criminals that wish to destroy hope city and only care for themselves. So serpent society sent a troop of people with pure and powerful bloodlines and they were all ambushed and no trace of them has been found ever since."

Percy got a cold feeling in his gut." And every single bloodline Hercules has, was also possessed by those ambushed warriors." Calypso finished solemnly." So you mean…. These bloodlines were all stolen?" calypso nodded." It makes sense…. It is possible to transfer bloodlines from pure possessors to someone else. As long as the bloodline is a weak one. If its a powerful bloodline, it usually rejects other bloodlines, but if Hercules has only weak monster bloodlines, they shouldn't have any problem coexisting". Artemis mused. Percy's mouth had gone dry.

Calypso sighed and stood. She brushed herself free of dust."you'd better train hard Percy. If not, Hercules will absolutely crush you next year." She gave him an encouraging smile and turned to leave.

Percy's eyes widened and he stood and called out." Calypso wait!" she stopped and turned around with a quizzical smile." What?" she asked." Does Hercules have the thunder dragon bloodline?" she shook her head. Artemis seemed confused." Why did you ask that?" Percy stood still, thinking hard.

When he looked up, his eyes flashed with anger." He won't stop chasing you calypso. He will forcefully try to obtain you. if you start to grow too fast, he'll have you kidnapped or crippled." Calypso's face went white with fear." Wait why!?" she cried out.

Percy's face was solemn." If he dual cultivates with the pure bloodline possessor of the thunder dragon bloodline, then….. he will also gain the thunder dragon bloodline." Calypso trembled at the thought." No no! this can't be happening!" Percy sighed." Once you reach the Level Eight Warrior, he will be forced to make a move. After all the serpent society has many Level Eight Warriors and even many Level Nine Warriors. They can easily kidnap or cripple when you are at Level Eight Warrior. But once you become a Level Nine Warrior, it will be far too difficult. After all with your power you'll be a very strong Level Nine Warrior."

Calypso collapsed onto the ground with despair." It's hopeless then. Even if I kill myself, or run away, my family shall suffer their wrath." Percy knelt by her and gripped her shoulder, then shook her." Calypso! I won't let him!" She looked at him, her face streaked with tears." No Percy even the alchemist association cannot protect you forever. And the serpent society has far more attack power than the alchemist association! They will kill you if you interfere!" Percy gave a smile, his eyes hardening.

" let them try. But all those who harm my friends should know. Whoever comes, shall never return." Percy said coldly. Calypso looked at him hopefully." B-but Percy, we barely even know each other. Why would you risk your life for-" Percy placed a finger on her lips, silencing her." You're my friend, because I consider you one. Do you consider me your friend calypso?" calypso nodded with a small smile"uhuh"."then don't ask me why I'm on your side. Because no matter what calypso, I'm on your side." Calypso smiled as he wiped away a tear from her cheek.

Artemis sighed. She had no idea if Percy was being so charming or this was just how he was. But she still felt like kicking him for making her feel so jealous when there was nothing to be jealous about.

And so, the night passed on, with the two kids, laughing and holding each other in the starlight.

A.N.: **Short story about Luke Castellan and the Shadow Association at the end of the Author note.**  
so basically bloodlines can be ranked as-1)true god bloodline(ex-Percy)  
2)godly physique/bloodline(ex-Artemis)  
3)God Beast Bloodline(ex-Calypso)  
4) Elemental Spirit Fragment(ex-Piper)  
5)Monster Bloodline(ex-Frank)

Yeah major buildup for Percy's battle with Hercules. Also, there's a hint about calypso's true origin in the title. It's pretty obvious when you see it, but can anyone guess who her mother is? Lets see.

yup major focus on artemis(duh she's the heroine) and calypso. Percy obviously looks at calypso as his best friend, for now. And even artemis has a more strict relation with him. The one Percy likes is obviously piper, but I was feeling too lazy to describe the flirty talk between Percy and piper. I guess you guys are dying for a bit of Percy and piper action. Well that'll come up sometime after the battle with Hercules. A lot of hot and steamy romance with Percy being insufferably noble and heroic as piper the Himedere is finally forced into being a damsel in distress!.

 _ **Luke Castellan and the Shadow Alliance**_

Calypso and Percy were both lying on the ground next to each other, laughing and giggling softly. The night sky was especially beautiful for calypso. She kept peeping out of the corner of her eye, admiring Percy. He was the most brave person she had ever met, willing to stand and help her, when her own family was scared to. She didn't blame her father however. He was the clan head and had to think about everyone's well being.

But he had at least tried to protect her and argued for compromises and time at all and every point. He obviously felt very guilty over his inability to protect her. She'd never known her mother and her identity was a taboo topic, but clearly, her father felt very pained over the subject. But her uncles had been quick to sell her out, happy for the benefits the serpent society gave them for their work. If this continued her father would have lost control of the clan entirely but she had gone forward and agreed to the marriage in the end. Telling him she didn't mind marrying that cruel oaf.

He knew her well enough to know the truth, but he understood her intentions. And now when all hope seemed lost Percy had suddenly popped up out of nowhere, standing by her side for just their friendship. She had admired him since the day of the exam, but had never really understood where his strength came from. Now she did. She smiled as she turned to him, laughing along him as he spoke. It was his stubborn nature, unwilling to give up and unwilling to give in. he kept improving because he refused to be weak. She couldn't understand where his faith in himself came from, but seeing that spark in his eyes as he spoke made her feel, as if she believed in that strength too.

On the day of the exam, she had seen him as a sword, cutting down his enemies and his own limits. But today she saw him as a shield, Her Shield, willing to shoulder any difficulty for her sake.

Percy didn't know much about many things. After all most of what he knew, came from his father, who was just a cousin of the family head and a farmer at that. However calypso was the direct descendant of her family and knew a lot. So Percy was naturally very curious around her. After joking about a variety of topics, they finally got around to something he'd been curious about for sometime now.

"what is the shadow alliance?" Percy asked calypso. She thought for a bit, then began explaining the deep history to him.

"there were once fifteen great aristocratic families." She started." wait, fifteen?" Percy asked in surprise. She nodded." Yes, more than 2,000 years back, there w ere fifteen great families. One of these was the grand devil mist family. This family was not one bloodline, but rather a group of people who practiced the same cultivation technique, known as the devil mist technique. It was a strange technique, and caused a great deal of damage to people's bodies in exchange for faster growth in power. A woman was born in this society, known as may castellan. She was no genius talent, nor did she have a powerful bloodline. By all means, she was a normal woman. She ended up pregnant after dual cultivation and bore her first child. This child was a genius talent, and grew quickly, soon becoming a Level Eight Warrior. Her second child was also a girl, and also a genius talent. She too quickly reached Level Eight Warrior. The third child Went even further, becoming a Level Nine Warrior! Then the rumour began. May castellan had a special physique, that granted all her children heaven defying talent!"

At this point, artemis who had been silent all along inside Percy's inner world suddenly exclaimed "great mother Rhea physique!" Percy was confused." What's that?". Artemis quickly explained." You probably only know about bloodlines. But in reality, there also exist special physiques, which cannot be passed down by birth. These are special mutations that occur through random chance's or coincidence. For example my own power is the 'celestial physique' which I gained in before birth. Apparently this occurred because my mother and father conceived me in a patch of moonlight essence. This essence permeated my body and changed it into the moon god's physique. Similarly, this may castellan must have been conceived within a patch of rhea's essence. Rhea was a goddess and her power was over birth! So when someone gains her physique…." Artemis's voice trailed off.." …all their children are extraordinary…." Percy finished

"when such a woman is found in the godly realm from where I come, her fate is usually to end up as a baby factory. Usually a whole bunch of superpowers fight over her. Last time it happened, the woman was captured by an Olympian Level God Warrior known as Ares. He kept her alive for more than six hundred years, and used her to produce his children, till she died." Percy shuddered. Such a fate would have been worse than death itself.

Calypso continued." Two of the societies grew envious and wanted her as did the other aristocratic families. Other aristocratic families supported them. Ten aristocratic families banded together, while two societies and two aristocratic families tried snatching her away. It ended with her family destroyed and her committing suicide to prevent herself from suffering a horrible fate. Meanwhile one of the societies broke apart and was forced to disband. Another aristocratic family that had tried snatching her away was also destroyed, leaving behind only thirteen aristocratic families. The remaining society snatched away her three oldest children, all who were girls. Then they killed her fourth and last child, a male baby, named Luke Castellan. They forced the girls into becoming their cultivation tools, but it turned out her daughters did not inherit her physique. Then the DeGrest society learned of the truth and destroyed the society for their evil acts." Percy sighed in amazement. The DeGrest society was so strong, it single-handedly destroyed another society.

Then calypso solemnly shook her head." But Luke castellan did not die. His family had switched him with the child of a servant and sent him away. Luke grew up as a servant, suffering the torture and abuse of a rich family. Then he learned the truth. Luke had extraordinary talent, and even as a servant, he reached the power of a Level Nine Warrior and massacred his way out of the city. He renamed himself the Demon King and formed a society of bandits and rebels, and criminals expelled from the city. He turned it into three branches, the Shadow Sect, dedicated to spying and infiltrating hope city. The Shadow Triad, specialized in assassinations of high level figures. And lastly the Shadow Society, their true military strength. All these three formed the Shadow Association, with Luke Castellan, the Demon King at the head. And for more than two thousand years they have waged war on us. And their leader is always called the Demon King."

Percy frowned" why didn't we destroy him when he formed the shadow association?" calypso shook her head." This was after the death of the last guardian founder. we had no legend realm warriors and so there was no easy way to eliminate an entire organization. And now they are too hidden and powerful to eliminate." Percy sighed and shook his head." It feels as if Luke has left a long legacy". Percy sighed.

Calypso shook her head."the few shadow warriors we have managed to capture alive and have broken under torture can be counted on both hands. But every single one of them has said the same thing. The demon king is still Luke." Percy was silent for a few moments. Then he sighed and turned to calypso." Forget about it. We can't change the past, but we have to protect the future." Calypso smiled, then she blushed shyly as she spoke."I wonder…. Percy, if I were ever in danger , can I hope for you to come save me?" Percy pinched her cheek." Of course I would. For you a thousand times over!" she giggled and turned away to hide her red face.

A.N.: that's the history of the shadow Association and Luke Castellan. Hope you enjoyed it. Obviously Luke will be an important character in the future!


	7. Percy Vs Hercules, Duel of Geniuses!

**First Arc: Percy Vs Hercules, Clash of the Geniuses!**

It had been a whole year since Percy and Hercules challenge. Percy arrived at the classroom, his body emanating the steady force of a Level Five Warrior. Hercules was not there however. For once piper's nose wasn't buried in her book. Rather she was looking at him worriedly." Hercules called you to the arena". She said with a tense expression. Percy laughed." well then I can't keep him waiting now can i?"

Piper glared at him." You idiot! He broke through! He's a Level Seven Warrior! You are not his match!" Percy chuckled then said." That remains to be seen!" piper gave an angry huff then turned away." If you're going to die then go die!"

Percy laughed and ran out. He headed for the arena, cool and confident. The arena was where challenges were issued and fought. Here any bet made was witnessed by the higher ups of the institute and they ensured it was kept.

"that Hercules must be planning to make me bet something" Percy murmured. He speeded up his steps. A smile touched his lips." Good." Percy murmured again.

When he arrived to the arena, it was packed with students. Everyone was chattering, but the second, he stepped in, the entire stadium fell silent. Percy grinned and strode to the center of the arena. Hercules stood there as well, a small smile on his face." Perseus jackson!" he boomed. "have you come here for the challenge you issued to me last year!?"

Percy laughed and nodded." Yes indeed I have." Hercules's eyes glinted with a sinister light. He smirked at Percy and said." If you were so daring, then dare you make a bet with me?" Percy laughed again." Name it." Hercules grinned so wide, his face almost split in half." If I win, you will join the serpents society as a servant and sign the slave contract. Then you will work for our society forever!" Hercules boomed with laughter. He expected Percy to refuse immediately but unexpectedly, Percy didn't even seem surprised." I agree!" Percy called out and Hercules almost choked on his own tongue." W-what!?"

Percy smirked." I said I agree. But in exchange, you need to agree to a demand of mine, if I win!" Hercules smirked." Tell me then!"." Your engagement with calypso, and your suppression of her thunder dragon family. End both of them if I win!" Percy's voice rang around the stadium. Everyone went silent. Hercules's face turned from red to blue to purple. Then he burst out with rage." What the hell you damn sissy! How dare you! how dare you!" he screamed at Percy. He went to scream more profanity, but before he could, a loud voice rang out." Enough!" the power contained it was enough to silence even Hercules.

Percy looked around with surprise. Grandholme, the grand master of the city of hope sat in the judges panel. Percy's eyes widened. There was no way something like this was a coincidence. He had such a high status, there was no way he would have come here to just judge. He looked around and caught sight of piper, grinning smugly at him.

Of course. With Grandholme here even Hercules would stay within his limits. Otherwise with his status as the young master of the serpent society, he could even try killing Percy during the duel and most referee's would be too scared to interfere.

Percy smiled at Hercules." Do you agree?". Hercules shuddered with rage." Agreed!" he growled. He decided that after he beat Percy, he would torture him to death as his slave.

A referee stepped out nervously, and said." Are both parties ready?"."yes" Percy said lightly."of course" growled Hercules, cracking his knuckles.

The referee stepped back and shouted" begin!" the ground beneath Hercules's feet cracked as he shot forward like a wrecking ball, his form a blur. He was faster than his size led most people to believe.

Percy reacted just as fast, bending impossibly, completely dodging his fist as his leg flew out, crashing into his side. Hercules didn't even flinch, absorbing the attack like it was nothing. He seemed to have anticipated it however, and he brought his arm down, trapping Percy's leg and then he twisted, throwing Percy into the arena's wall. Percy slammed it into with full force, but before he could even catch his bearings, Hercules rushed forward and slammed into him like a wrecking ball.

Percy fell down and vomited blood. Hercules laughed mockingly and stepped on his head." So this is the extent of your power?" he laughed louder and kicked him , sending him crashing into the wall. Hercules looked around." Was that it?" the arena was silent. Hercules's strength was beyond compare. Even piper and calypso were nothing before him now. Percy staggered to his feet then flipped his hand up.

He wore a dark red ring on that hand, borrowed from calypso. This was a spatial ring that, like his inner world could store objects. A small water bag appeared in Percy's hand. He grinned a bloody smile and he burst it. The water doused him and he felt a rush of power awaken within his veins. The blood of Poseidon was agitated by both the fear of war and the power of water.

Percy smirked and said." Im completely awake now." Hercules laughed." Is that so? Come then, lets see how good you are awake!" he rushed forward again. Percy didn't bother dodging this time. He smirked and his own fist burst out, without any special moves. This was a simple confrontation, fist against fist.

Both fists collided and Hercules stepped back, unruly blood rolling within his veins. He struggled to control the blood surging in his chest. Blood rose to his throat and he swallowed it, unwilling to show weakness. He sneered at Percy." Is that it? Well at least you're qualified to face my weapon now!"

Hercules flipped up his own palm and a spear appeared in his arm." My fists are my best weapons but I've already researched your special move! If you were planning on defeating me with it, then I'm afraid not! With this weapon, you'll never even touch me!"

He darted forward and jabbed at Percy with the spear. It moved like an extension of his arm. It was seven feet long and he wielded it like it weighed nothing. Percy smirked as it rushed to him. 'thousand layered waves, first move: hundred layered waves!' Percy reached out with a single hand and patted the spear. The powerful vibrations rushed into it, rushing up the spear and into Hercules's hands. His muscles trembled on impact and his aim shifted, missing Percy entirely. Percy stepped forward with a single step and Hercules's eyes widened in horror as he tried to backpedal, but there was too much momentum behind his attack and it drove him forward. Before he could even stop Percy reached out a single finger.

'thousand layered waves, second move: Five hundred layered Waves!'

His finger tapped the center of hercules's chest and he trembled then stepped back. He bent over and vomited a mouthful of blood. His spear dropped to the ground with a thud. The audience was dumbfounded. The battle had just swung from Percy vomiting blood and being kicked around to Hercules vomiting blood after Percy tapped him with a single finger!

Hercules raised his head to look at Percy with a murderous gaze." Damn brat!" he staggered to his feet, spitting blood. He clutched his chest and emitted a deep growl." Dark skinned tortoise!" he growled. His skin erupted with solid scales and a tough shell covered his back." Lets see how you penetrate this defense!" he sneered.

Percy mirrored his sneer, then his foot touched the ground.' Moonlight Flash!'. He turned into a silver flash and appeared behind Hercules. Despite an increase in defense, his speed had reduced drastically.

" you fool, the shell is the strongest area of my defense!" Hercules laughed. Percy smiled." I know." He said, then his fist shot out, surging with the force of the seas. It tapped the shell, then Percy abruptly pulled back, then punched again, rapidly punching the shell ten times in swift succession at ten different spots, forming a circle.' Circular Softness: Destructive Interference!'

Percy slammed a single fist in the center of the circle. 'Hundred layered waves!'

The shell shivered and trembled with the vibrations rippling through it. The final vibrating ripple connected with the ten others and with a loud bang, the shell itself exploded, the entire center turning to dust.

Hercules's organs shook and trembled and he vomited another mouthful of blood. He turned to Percy and his shape shifted, turning lean and sinuous. He roared and leapt forward with immense speed.

Percy's eyes turned pure silver and his speed increased by several folds. He retreated backwards, but Hercules kept up, claws reaching out to rend his flesh. His claws connected but to his horror, he was unable to even pierce his skin. All the force behind his claws turned into vibrations that scattered harmlessly. Percy laughed and suddenly moved forward, his fist catching Hercules off guard and slamming him into the ground.

Percy stopped and laughed out loud. He looked down at Hercules and said." Is that it? Ready to give up yet?" Hercules was unable to believe how weak he was before Percy." This cannot be!" he roared and the air around him trembled. Percy frowned and leapt backwards. Hercules got to his feet, his entire body twisting and changing shape fluidly.

"very well! You will die by my trump card perseus jackson!" he roared. Percy narrowed his eyes as he watched Hercules. Hercules's body twisted from the lean shape to a heavily muscled one, to the tortoise he had before. He hunched over and growled as if in pain. Then suddenly he straightened and returned back to his natural human shape.

He breathed out in relief and then flexed his muscles." He smiled at Percy." Come on then. Don't tell me you're scared?" Percy nervously shifted from one foot to another, ready to dodge at a moments note. Hercules smirked." If you won't come to me, I'll come to you!" he blurred and suddenly appeared before Percy. Before he could even react he had him by the throat. He shot forward, and slammed Percy into the wall. Then he raised him up and slammed him down into the ground. Percy banged his fist against Hercules's arm, but it felt solid, plated with hard scales. He threw Percy and he flew across the arena, ramming into the wall. The wall cracked as Percy fell to the ground. He felt stunned and dizzy. He couldn't even move his arms or legs. The force with which Hercules struck had floored him. It was as if he had been boosted in every way possible, speed, defense, strength.

Hercules rumbled with laughter as he landed punches on Percy. Percy tried holding his arms up to defend, but each blow was like a jackhammer, smashing through his defenses and rattling his brain. Percy knew that he needed to get himself some breathing space and find his center, but Hercules wasn't going to give him any chance to get back up. He slammed Percy into the wall of the arena, then threw him all the way across, leaving a long trail of Percy's blood on the floor." This is the true power of my bloodline fusion! The ultimate fusion and boost in every possible manner! I have the defense of a dark skinned tortoise, speed of a shadow split panther, the strength of a two hundred armed blue ape, and all the special characteristics of the other bloodlines mixed in! I am the strongest human!" he laughed and lifted Percy by his head and slammed him into the ground, cratering the ground.

Calypso was weeping without even realizing it. After Hercules had started his counterattack her tears had started and since then they hadn't even slowed. Piper had found her a few moments after Hercules had started his counterattack, as if she had anticipated her reaction and was sitting beside her, hugging and patting the distraught girl.

Percy felt like fainting right now would be good. At least that way, he could avoid the pain. And even end this fight. He really wanted to blackout, and hide away from the intense pain clouding his mind.

Then a voice rang out, sharp and clear. Artemis, sounding as stern and angry as ever, without even a hint of worry in her voice. She even sounded impatient." You idiot disciple! Is this why I trained you? to lose? Why the hell are you taking so long to win this fight huh? The pain?" her eyes sparkled with tears but she kept her voice as steady and harsh as always. Her lip was bleeding and ragged after she had bit down on it." Are you were scared of the pain? Who had held my hand that day, bearing the worst tortures possible, just to save my life?" Percy gasped and slammed his fist into the ground, gritting his teeth. Hercules stomped his back, forcing his to fall down again.." When they sneered and called you a loser, you fought back! Will you lose today!? i….i believe that…. The only one who can defeat you….." artemis's voice trembled" the only one who can defeat you… is yourself….. you cannot give up Percy….please.."

Percy desperately wanted to stand, to fight back, but he felt so weak, so helpless, so pathetic. Hercules landed a kick on his side and he rolled on the ground, gasping. He was sure he had broken a rib just now. The audience was cheering Hercules on, laughing at his weakness. Then his eyes fell on calypso, her eyes fixed on him as tears ran down her face.

Artemis, calypso…. He had come so far. Then the world before his eyes darkened and Percy felt the comfortable embrace of oblivion. As he slipped into unconsciousness a voice boomed in his mind, a voice he had heard once, long ago.

"hahahahaha, son of the sea!. Looks like you are in a bit of trouble eh? I didn't expect that! Aren't you the great hero of the prophecy! Hahahahaha! Very well, I shall lend you a helping hand just this once!"

Suddenly Percy felt a cold sensation against his back. His eyes cleared and his pain faded and his strength returned. A small salt spring had come up under his back, unknown to anyone else. The salt water refreshed his mind and restored him. Percy rose to his feet and the audience erupted with cheers. He looked back but the ground was almost dry, just a little damp, giving no sign of the spring. Percy smirked and turned to Hercules.

Hercules laughed." Didn't you have enough pain yet? Or are you a masochist by any chance?" he boomed with laughter. Percy gave a small smile." I just thought it was time to repay it to you."." repay me? Ahahaha! You've only been getting beaten up. I thought during my last kick I heard a rib snap but I guess not. It was probably your mind that cracked, under all this pressure and pain!"

Percy lifted a hand and beckoned to Hercules." Enough talking. Lets fight!" Hercules roared and charged at Percy. Percy ducked his first punch and rammed his elbow into Hercules gut. Hercules seemed unaffected as he reached down and grabbed Percy's skull with both hands and began applying pressure on it, trying to crack it open. Percy calmed his mind. He remembered the feeling of the salt water under his back, the agitated feeling of his blood. The sea was all around him, even if it was far away. The seas wrapped around the land, which was why Poseidon was not just the god of the seas. He remembered what artemis had told him.

"Poseidon's domain is the sea, but for someone who disobeys him while on the land, he is the earthshaker, capable of bringing down the very mountains and laying waste to all of creation. Percy's eyes flashed and the air around his swirled with the scent of the sea. He grit his teeth then roared out loud." Bring all of creation to ruin! ' Earthshaker!'" the ground rumbled, trembling slightly. Everyone looked down curiously. Then the ground seemed to liquefy, moving in waves as it shook and rumbled. Hercules let go of Percy and fell backwards. The rumbling of the earth intensified around him and Hercules body shook and trembled as he was tossed about ruthlessly.

Percy could feel the power of the seas, surging under the ground. He slammed his fist downwards.' Hundred layered waves!' the ground crackled and a geyser of salt water erupted, engulfing Percy. All his wounds seemed to fade away and all his exhaustion disappeared. His body was healed and the blood of Poseidon awoke with all its force!

The shaking stopped and Hercules cautiously got to his feet, looking down warily. Then he looked up to the fountain of salt water. Even as he watched it grew smaller and smaller, then finally stopped. Percy stood where it had been, dripping wet.

Hercules growled." You brat! What are all these petty tricks of yours! I've had enough! I'm ending this fight right now!" Percy smiled then took up a fighting stance." Yes. To end this fight, I require but only one move." Hercules was trembling with pent up rage now." Enough of your boasting!" he roared and attacked. The sea water on Percy's body evaporated and he seemed to glow from within with a blue green glow. A glowing trident appeared over his head, spinning with high speed. Percy growled as the sea god's blood within him awoke to its full potential.' Divine Sea Gods Transformation!'

The world seemed to slow down to the point of stopping. Percy moved as if he were floating through space itself. At first there was a distance of four meters between him and Hercules. The next instant Percy was before him. He shifted into a fighting stance, then his fist surged out. Hercules felt the cold touch of death approaching him as he saw the fist fly towards him, almost in slow motion.

Percy stopped his fist right in front of Hercules's face, just before it touched him. He was immediately dripping in sweat as he stared at the fist. Then his legs gave out and with a soft 'putt' he kneeled in front of Percy shaking and trembling, an entirely broken mess. Spittle flew from his lips as he rolled on the ground, pulling at his hair like a madman.

The terror of seeing Percy's fist had broken his sanity. He had been driven insane with fear. The audience gaped at the scene before them. Unbelievably Percy had won. Not only did he win, he had broken hercules's mind in the process. This was a huge insult to the serpent society and it was unknown if he could be healed or not. If not, their greatest talent had just been destroyed.

There was a scuffle then calypso jumped over the barricade and into the arena. She ran straight across the arena, disregarding everyone watching her and threw her arms around Percy. Then she broke down, sobbing into his shoulder as he held her up. At first everyone believed it must be Percy's sweetheart or his girlfriend. Then the news slowly spread across the arena. That was Hercules's ex-fiancée. Of course, everyone loves a juicy story and soon it had spread like wildfire that she was the reason Percy and Hercules had fought.

The referee stepped forward nervously. Even declaring Hercules the loser would be dangerous for his health. However with Grandholme sitting right there he had little choice in the matter. He checked Hercules once, just for formality. Anyone could see the drooling, wide eyed person had gone mad.

He nodded to Grandholme who smiled and stood up." Hercules is unable to continue. Percy is still in fighting condition! Hence, this battle is declared a win in Percy's favor! And as today's judge I personally witnessed Hercules agree that he would allow calypso to break off her engagement to him, as well as say his serpent society will no longer suppress the Thunder Dragon family! If anyone dares to break the agreement…." Grandholme's eyes flashed with warning. The he spun and walked away, cloak fluttering in the wind.

Percy smiled at calypso." Calypso I'm fine!"."unghhhhh Percy you idiot, you idiot." She sobbed, pounding his chest with both her fists." Why did you have to make that stupid bet!" Percy laughed then looked at calypso as he stroked her hair." If I hadn't they would have forcefully married you to him even after he went mad. Now he's lost his talent and its no use for them to kidnap you. even if they do, Grandholme would place his wrath on them! And now they can't even suppress your family so you're free!"

Calypso burst into fresh tears and started hitting him again. Percy started to smile but then the energy from the salt water suddenly went away. He staggered and swayed, then collapsed, right into calypso's arms.

She struggled to hold him up, then carried him out leaving everyone to discuss the juicy story of Percy and calypso's illicit love.

 _\- A few days later-_

Percy was still bedridden and tired out. Calypso sat beside him almost the entire time, keeping watch over him even as he slept. Before long, the feeling of her presence had seeped into him, and he could feel her, even with his eyes closed.

Percy was to be discharged today. The institute had been shaken by Hercules and Percy's battle. Especially the fact that most medics on the school campus had declared Hercules permanently disabled. There was no hope for recovery. He was completely mad, and even now blubbered in fear of Percy's fist.

Hope city's greatest talent had been destroyed by a single fist. Of course this had given rise to a new talent. Namely Percy.

Visitors were not allowed on campus, so despite many people wanting to see the new genius with their own eyes, many people didn't have the chance.

The year continued peacefully. Until they got a new teacher.

 _-in class-_

Their new teacher, ms foxfire was one of the pure bloodline warriors of the serpent society. She hated Percy and his very face seemed to send her into a fit of rage. She punished him whenever she could and cursed him whenever she couldn't. finally Percy grew fed up of her nagging and decided to just sleep in all her classes and ignore her. The plan worked well for about a week. Then she finally lost her temper and attacked him as he slept. She was a Level Seven Warrior, but she was sneak attacking him while he was asleep. Little did she expect she would be blown across the room by the combined fists of calypso and Piper who sat on either side of Percy.

"If you want to hurt him you'll have to go through me" calypso growled." And if you want to hurt her, I'll beat you up" piper said from behind the book she was reading." And god forbid you hurt me…." Piper snapped her book shut and smiled sweetly." My grandfather would kill you"

Ms. Foxfire didn't have anything else left so she directly headed to the principal. He laughed as he heard her complaint. Then assured her he would visit her next class.

 _-the next day-_

Ms foxfire was taking an array symbols class that day. The principal walked in just as she was explaining a symbol. "this symbol is made of 47 minor symbols and was created by the serpent societies grand elder. It is used as a heating spell and is vital for many fire type formations and is used nearly everywhere. This array symbol can be said to be the heart of many arrays!" she finished with a smile. Then turned to the principal who laughed as he saw Percy. Piper was kicking his leg under the table and he soon got up. He saw the principal and gulped.

Ms. Foxfire smiled sweetly, then said to Percy " mr. jackson, would you explain the symbol I just taught?" Percy glanced at the board and saw it. He smiled then began." It is formed from 48 minor symbols and was copied by the serpent societies grand elder from another ancient array symbol from the snow symbol empire period. He changed the previously powerful, flame type array symbol into a weak heat symbol and claimed it as his own work."

Ms. Foxfire went red with rage." How dare you slander my serpents society!" the principal stopped her with a single arm then regarded Percy with a smile." You're right about the number of minor symbols. , if you study symbols to a great depth you'll find thatin reality, one of the minor symbols in the array symbol is actually made up of 2 other minor symbols. Thus Percy was right and you were wrong. Its 48 minor symbols, not 47." Then he looked at Percy. Do you have any proof for your other accusation?"

Percy laughed then bowed." I assure you, if you look in the ancient book of the snow symbols, you'll find it. I believe a copy is there in the library?" the principal sent one of the students and turned to Percy."I know which book you are talking about, but it is untransalated and in the language of the snow empire. How did you read it?" Percy tilted his head." I decoded and learnt the language" Percy said as if it were obvious.

The student soon arrived with the book and handed it to the principal. Percy smiled and said" please check page 2546 the third paragraphs diagram." Artemis had taken quite a few books into the inner world space and learnt them all. Then she'd taught Percy everything while he trained, to increase his mental fortitude.

The principal flipped through the pages then stopped. He turned the book around. Just as Percy had said, there lay the exact same symbol, barring a few side symbols were missing. Obviously they had been added on to change the symbols look slightly. The children looked at ms. Firefox. She turned red with emarassment then stammered." M-maybe he had used it as a r-reference!?"

Percy sighed and shook his head." The alchemist association rules state, if you create a new symbol, you must cite all sources of reference. Also, he copied the entire symbol and then added a few more. How is that referencing?"

Ms. Firefox was embarrassed into silence. Soon the entire classroom was talking about how the serpent society's grand elder had used such cheap methods to try and earn fame.

Piper was looking at Percy with keen interest all of a sudden. Percy laughed then looked back at her." What is it? Can't take your eyes off me?" piper went red then stuttered "i-idiot, I was just wondering how accomplished you are in symbols!" Percy thought for a bit then said" well I guess you could say grandmaster level. I can draw and build any symbol and activate all of them." Piper stared at him in shock." Well then can you see what's wrong with this symbol of mine?" she handed him a scroll containing a symbol drawn on it." I purchased it, but it hasn't worked. I checked every bit of it, but the symbol looks perfect to me. My aunt is an inscription master, but she was stumped as well." Percy opened and glanced at it" The symbol is perfect"." Huh?" piper exclaimed," then what's wrong?". Percy chuckled then pointed at the symbol." The blood used isn't a full grown Level Eight Warrior Frost Imp. It's the blood of a child Level Six Warrior Frost Imp. That's all" piper was astonished." But how did you…."."the blood of an adult frost imp is blue with hints of green. But a child has blue with hints of yellow." Piper glanced at the ink carefully. There did seem to be a slight shade of yellow in there. She looked up at Percy surprised.

He quickly pulled a scroll out and started drawing a new symbol on it. He quickly traced out a clear, sharp array symbol. He handed it to her. "trace this with flame serpents blood. It'll form a stronger type of the same spell."

Piper was a bit suspicious as she took it. That day she directly went to her aunt and handed the scroll to her." A-aunty, please check this" she smiled and took the scroll and opened it. She frowned and pored over the scroll. After ten minutes she was done checking the entire symbol." Your aunt admits defeat my dear. Did you meet some old symbol grandmaster?" she asked, her eyes bright with curiosity. Piper didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. How was she supposed to explain to her aunt the symbol master was a kid who was still waiting to turn eleven!

The next day at school, she was browsing the snow symbols book in the library. Percy popped up next to her and handed her another book." Try this instead. Its translated and once you learn the Brownian period's language, it'll be easier to learn the snow empire's language."

Piper jumped with surprise and then gave Percy a grateful smile." So how about a little kiss for my help?" he smirked. Piper slammed the book into his face." Pervert" she mumbled and then left with the book he'd given her.

And so the year passed. Finally the end of the year arrived and the time to finally go home for the holidays arrived.

Percy was leaving when he met calypso by the school gate. She seemed a little breathless and very excited." You're leaving?" she asked. He nodded with a smile. She blushed then held out her hands. Percy took the dark red wooden box. Inside was a red bracelet. Percy smiled and put it on." Thanks a lot Calypso." He said then patted her head and headed off. Piper joined him as he walked." Did calypso give you that bracelet?" She asked. Percy nodded in surprise." Yeah how'd you know?" piper sighed." Don't you know what a red bracelet signifies in hope city? Especially when a girl gifts it to a guy?" Percy shrugged." No I don't. why? What does it signify?" piper sighed again, then looked at Percy with a sneaky smile." Maybe you should date calypso. You two would make a cute couple." She said.

Percy frowned at her" hey! I'll date the girl I like, okay?" he smirked and looked at her out of the corner of his eye." And you know who that is don't you?" piper chuckled."yes I do. It's calypso!" then she quickly ran off, laughing." Remember, you have to teach me symbols next year!". Percy laughed." Yes of course!".

Then his gaze went into his inner world where artemis sat, reading a book." Shall we get going master?". Artemis closed the book and nodded." Of course." Then her eyes flashed and she gave a small pout." I've already told you to stop flirting with other girls! focus on your training!".

Percy smiled as he started on his way home." Of course my cute artemis".

First Arc: Finish

Second Arc: Battle with the Shadow Association and the Serpent Society!

A.N.: finally finished the first arc. Well that's good. Maybe its time for another one of my ultra long breaks. I'm just so sleepy these days, staying up late, typing this and studying for exams and shit. Maybe I should just stop till the exams get over. But that's three months so its pretty long. Well we'll have to see. At least you've been warned.

Finally Piper and Percy action begins! Next chapter will showcase the depth of artemis's love for Percy as we see her risking her soul for him. Also piper as damsel in distress! And Grover finally shows his hooves! I mean face. Plus Percy gets a major boost in power! Oh shit that's a long chapter. Maybe I should just split it into two? Or should I just cram everything into one?

Ciao with peace from manhattan!


	8. Exploring The Snow Song Empire Ruins

**Second Arc: Battle against the Shadow Association and Serpent Society.**

 **Exploring the Snow Song Empire Ruins**

His trip back home was uneventful. Percy had no idea that he was in fact targeted by many assassination groups from the serpent society, but the attacks were all stopped by the covert protection squad of the alchemist association. Artemis soon informed him about the attacks and who was protecting him. He was surprised and decided to go thank the association president while on the way home.

But when he reached the association, he was greeted by a young buxom women of around twenty years. She wore a short red silken robe that only covered half her thighs and struggled to hold in her large breasts. Silken cloth was stretched and deformed at her chest as well as around her shapely hips, struggling to hold in her huge curves.

She had purple hair and large brown eyes. Her face was a clear skinned and she had a mischievous smile on her lips as she regarded Percy." So you're the grand genius boy eh?" she bent forward and Percy ad to swallow a mouthful of saliva as her jugs bounced and swung before his eyes.

She bent even lower and Percy could directly see down her cleavage. His eyes widened and he had to struggle to stop himself from doing something impulsive. The blood of Poseidon was a powerful Yang bloodline and it had rocketed his male instincts to the heavens. Even now he had difficulty controlling his surging blood. That was until he felt a deep killing intent radiating from artemis.

"stop. Staring. At. Her." Artemis said softly and Percy immediately looked away." Ahaha. Big sister compliments me too much. I'm simply a disciple. I'm still learning" Percy told the woman. She giggled and moved closer." Is that so?" Percy had to use all his willpower not to look at her swaying breasts.

"this damn woman! Is she trying to seduce a kid with her body! Grrr does she have no shame!" artemis exploded angrily within Percy's inner world. Suddenly the woman straightened and smiled at Percy." So Percy, we haven't met before have we?" Percy licked his lips nervously and shook his head." Im afraid not." He said politely.

She laughed and said." Oh how formal of you! come on loosen up around this big sister!" she grabbed percys head and pulled him into an embrace. Or rather buried his head in her chest. Strong womanly fragrance filled his nose and Percy felt lightheaded. Her chest was extremely soft and comfortable. He felt like it would make a great pillow to sleep in. artemis was contemplating jumping out and kicking this overly touchy woman away but then suddenly there was the sound of someone clearing their throat.

The woman let go of Percy and looked around to see who was standing she and Percy saw it was the president of the alchemist association. Percy immediately bowed." Disciple greets president.". the woman looked at Percy with a chuckle and pulled him straight." Oh dear, you're an elder of the council! Don't be so formal!" she wrapped her arms around Percy and he stiffened as he felt her softness pressing into his head." Good morning president Duzong". She said with a charming smile.

The president sighed." Stop teaching him bad manners my little devil director. He's such a good disciplined boy." She giggled and ruffled Percy's hair." Let him go. The poor child must be feeling awkward!" the president told her. She laughed lightly and let him go." Come meet me sometime little boy." She said, her voice soft and seductive." If you have any doubts or need any help, this big sister will give her all to help you!" she giggled again then winked at Percy as she strode away, swinging her shapely hips.

Percy watched her leave, then heaved a sigh of relief. The blood of Poseidon was too unruly. It had been nearly impossible to control himself.

The president sighed as well then smiled apologetically at Percy." Forgive my niece. She's a good girl, but has an eccentric personality." Percy was surprised." She was your niece?". He nodded with a smile."she's the greatest talent of our alchemist society!" He looked at Percy with surprise then shook his head" before you arrived I mean. She's already reached the rank of director, which is a high position in the council and she's even a Level Nine Warrior!". Percy was astonished." Level Nine Warrior!" it had to e understood, most people reached only Level Six Warrior after intense training. Some powerful warriors reached Level Seven and geniuses reached Level Eight. Extreme geniuses like Hercules, piper and calypso might reach Level Nine Warrior. Once you reached the limit of your potential, even if you trained for fifty years you wouldn't reach another increase in power. Therefore it showed how much talent she had to reach Level Nine Warrior in less than thirty years of age. Of course, breaking into legend realm depended on talent and luck. Even if she trained for the rest of her life now, she might never reach legend realm.

After all the human body could only be trained till the 9th Mortal Shift. Legend realm meant exceeding human limits and lifespan. An ordinary persons life increased upon reaching Level Seven from one hundred years to around one fifty years. Level Eight reached Two Hundred years. Level Nine at their limit, could live up to 300 years. But a legend realm warrior could live to at least 600 years and usually did for 700 to 800 years. The founders had used special medicines and techniques, to live for almost 2,000 years!

Percy sighed in amazement and looked at the president." What's her name?" he asked. The president smiled fondly and said." Aphrodite." Percy's head felt a stabbing headache. He tried ignoring it." Well I just dropped by to thank you for the protection." Percy said with a smile. The president laughed." with talent like yours, if I did not protect you, I'd be a fool!" Percy chuckled and said." You flatter me president. Im still learning." The president shook his head." But your talent is extraordinary!"

Percy shook his head with a rueful laugh, then nodded at the president."I'll see myself out then. I must go home!" the president nodded back and Percy swiftly headed out, heading towards the west, where his home was located. His speed was now extraordinary, and at top speed, it only took him a day to reach the family estate.

He was home atlast.

The holiday was not what he had expected. When he had arrived, he'd been summoned by the council of his family. He had been curious as to why he had been called. It turned out, the council was furious about him challenging Hercules. The punishment elder especially. He was incharge of handing out punishments to all wrongdoers and criminals in the family.

The council stated that Percy's challenge had led to extreme damage to the family business, and now the serpent society had begun crushing all their sources of revenue.

"you little brat! How could you have been so foolish? We would have collapsed because of your mistake! Thankfully the alchemist association has obtained a new recipe and needed people to grow these ingredients, and they handed us the duty of monitoring and tending their medicinal gardens! If not, our family would have already collapsed!" the elder yelled venomously.

Artemis sneered." Percy, tell this fool who was the one who obtained the help of the alchemist association. Percy smiled at her words. The elder saw this smile and exploded with anger." You laugh? Is the fate of our family a joke to you?!" percy frowned and went speak up but his father caught his head from behind, pushing it down to bow. He bowed next to him." My child is immature. This father has not raised him well! Please punish me instead!" artemis growled in irritation, then suddenly laughed out loud.

Percy frowned." Artemis, what is it?". She giggled and said." Who would have guessed she would turn up!" Percy was confused until the gateway guard ran in, eyes wide and legs trembling." The director of the alchemist association has arrived!" Percy was surprised. Why had she come?

Aphrodite swept into the hallway, dressed in the traditional robes of an alchemist. Gone was the mischievous, seductive smile. She radiated the heavy aura of a Level Nine Warrior. Even the clan head was just a Level Eight Warrior. She immediately stifled every single person with the pressure of her presence.

She looked at Percy and her eyes glinted with cold light." I must say, this is not something I expected to see when I arrive at the heavenly marks family's main hall. Is this how you greet guests?" the clan head gave a strangled laugh, then motioned for Percy and his father to leave.

Percy ignored him and instead smiled at Aphrodite." Hello big sister. What brings you here?" the head as well as the other elders felt like vomiting blood. Was this boy trying to insult even the alchemist association?

The disciplinary elder exploded with anger." Damn brat. This isn't a place for you! apologize to the director and leave! I'll have you punished later!" aphrodite's eyes glinted with sinister light. Suddenly the room grew cold and everyone felt like it was extremely difficult to breathe. They shivered in terror and looked at Aphrodite." Who the hell are you to interrupt me? I was just about to answer his question and you dared interrupt me?!" Aphrodite spoke chillingly.

The elder felt enormous terror at her words and his mouth went dry."i…. i…" she swiftly cut in." If this is how you want to treat me then fine! I don't need your family's help. There are 12 other families and they can all help take care of our medical gardens." She stood up swiftly and went to walk away. The head immediately stood up and went to apologize." Please director, this little man was foolish, made a mistake. A great figure like you shouldn't heed his words! Please just look away from his stupidity!"

Aphrodite gave a snort, then turned to him." Very well then. Dismiss him from his rank as elder for his mistake." The elders eyes widened but he dared not protest.

The family head turned and shouted at him." Did you not hear!? Leave at once!" the elder bowed his head and left. Aphrodite turned back to Percy." Elder Percy! How nice to see you again today." She said stiffly. Percy felt like laughing. Really she was something else entirely.

He nodded to her." Director, I didn't expect to see you here today." The entire council was dumbfounded. Percy was an elder? But that would mean…

Aphrodite shrugged." A rank eight warrior of the serpent society tried attacking you. our society was getting increasingly worried so we decided to dispatch at least one Level Nine Warrior to keep you safe at all times." Percy was surprised. The alchemist association was at least sincere in their efforts. He nodded gratefully." I must thank the association. Please convey my thanks to the president." Aphrodite's eyes flashed as she regarded him." I am your guard, elder Percy." Percy stared at her.

She tilted her head." I am one of the most powerful Level Nine Warriors. Therefore logically I am the best candidate." Percy laughed and nodded. She gestured to Percy." Shall we go now? We have to discuss a few matters regarding the new recipes." Percy nodded and they headed back to his room.

The head stood up swiftly. " u-um Percy! Your room has been shifted! It's in the central halls core area!"in reality it hadn't but considering Percy's sudden rise in status, it was necessary.

A few minutes later, Percy was escorted to his new room. The second Percy and Aphrodite walked in she turned and closed the doors, and then bolted them. The second the bolt slid into place her aura seemed to change, from the cold and aloof Level Nine Warrior Director to the charming, seductive and beguiling Aphrodite. She turned, her hips swaying seductively, and regarded him with a suggestive gaze.

"awww little brother Percy was being punished. Don't worry. With big sister Aphrodite here no one will dare do anything to you." she purred. Then she suddenly stepped out of her heavy gown. Under it she wore only a lace bra and silken panties.

Percy's hand immediately flew to his nose, half covering his eyes as he tried to stop staring at her. He pinched his nose, feeling blood rushing around ruthlessly in his veins. His poseidons bloodline seemed to awaken even more forcefully than when he had fought Hercules.

"what's wrong little brother?" Aphrodite asked sweetly." Is your nose bleeding? Let big sister have a look!" she bent forward, her lovely chest bouncing and grabbed his hand and pulled it away." Nope little brothers nose looks all fine to me!" artemis burst into a rage." Where the hell did this weirdo get a split personality from! She was so formal just a second back!". Percy however had difficulty concentrating on her words.

Aphrodite grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him towards the bed." Little brother must be tired. You should get some sleep!" Percy nodded awkwardly, trying his best to look anywhere except her swinging and bouncing breasts. But it was impossible to see anything else. Her intoxicating scent wrapped around his head, making him feel light headed and dreamy. He'd never been drunk before and had no idea how to control the thoughts in his head or stop them from slipping out. And right now one of the major thoughts was her bountiful chest." Y-yeah, let me escort big breasted senior sister to the guest rooms". He said dreamily.

Aphrodite smiled mischevioulsy." What did you just call me?". Percy answered almost automatically." Big brea-unghh!" he bit on his tongue with surprise." U-uh… s-sorry big sister Aphrodite. Im f-feeling a bit…. Dizzy. I think I should get some rest." Aphrodite gasped and then looked at him with her seductive smile." Awww if little brother doesn't feel well, how can I abandon him? Don't worry this big sister will take veeeery good care of him." Percy gulped down a mouthful of saliva as a number of thoughts came to mind. Aphrodite pushed Percy onto the bed and started massaging his shoulders. Her soft chest was pressed into Percy's back." So how does my…. Massage feel?" Aphrodite giggled.

Percy was floating away in dreamland under the pressure of her soft body. She leaned down to his ear and gave a seductive whisper." Don't worry my cute Percy. As your bodyguard I shall take care of every inch of your body. And I also won't leave your side at any time, whether at night, or when you need to have a bath~"

And so a month dreamily passed by.

 _-First day of school-_

"well I'm finally back to school!" Percy said brightly as he stretched. Artemis ignored him, as she had been doing for the whole of last month. Aphrodite had been quite reluctant to leave him, but the institute forbid outsiders. Of course, no one would dare to attack Percy within the institute itself.

The battle qi institute had numerous warriors, not just teachers, but warriors from the grand DeGrest society. So Percy was perfectly safe in here. Even the serpent society wouldn't dare to offend the DeGrest society. They could extinguish them like a gnat. After all the DeGrest society's fame was no secret. They had previously eliminated societies dangerous to the city. And with Grandholme, they were the supreme power of hope city.

Percy had just taken his seat when the doors swung open and in walked an older boy of maybe 16 or seventeen years of age. He was lean, tall, and had a dark goatee. He wore a confident smile and even as he strode in, many students gasped in surprise and stood to greet him.

He had a strong steady aura, and Percy could feel the strength behind it. Even artemis was surprised." A Level Seven Warrior!? And one with such a strong foundation?" Percy could feel his power. Without a doubt he was a genius talent and was probably as powerful as Percy, if not even more powerful.

He saw Percy and strode over with a big smile."ah the number one genius himself!" he chuckled and shook Percy's hand." I'm Grover Underwood, the second oldest son of the cloven aristocratic family!". Percy smiled and introduced himself. Just then piper walked in as well." Oh there you are. Senior apprentice brother Grover, please hurry up and come along. The other expedition members are getting impatient."

Grover laughed and turned to her." I just wanted to have a look at hope city's number one talent and ask him if he was interested in joining our expedition." Percy's curiosity was piqued." Expedition?". Piper groaned and shook her head." I already told you, don't invite him." She pouted.

Percy laughed and stood." Since piper doesn't want me along, I absolutely must come along."

Grover laughed alongside him and slapped his shoulder." That's the spirit! Now then get ready! We're planning to go explore the snow song empire's ruins!"

 _-two days later-_

They made good time. The city had disappeared behind them, fading into the mountains, and they were heading to the ruins at a fast pace. They hadn't met any monsters on the way and with three Level Seven Warriors leading the group, the surrounding monsters wouldn't pose any substantial threat.

Thus piper had a lot of time to feel resentful. She didn't dislike Percy in particular. He was smart, loyal and exceptionally talented. She could admire his bravery and stupidity. But now her grandfather seemed fixated on had complimented him ever since the day of the entrance exam.

Then piper had brought him to the battle with Hercules. Of course she had expected Percy would have been beaten up, and she had been worried for him, which was why she had called him. But Percy had done exceptionally then as well, and the gap between them became painfully obvious. She had finally broken through to Level Seven Warrior, but had no hopes she was anywhere near his level. The gap between them would just grow wider and wider.

This summer holidays, her father had actually joined her for dinner many times. She was so happy, she could float away with joy. But then he started asking her how Percy was in class, how Percy trained, what did she know about Percy, Percy this, Percy that.

Even with all her talent her father showed no interest in her. But with Percy, everyone was interested.

She had hoped that she could have some lucky chance in this ruins, that allowed her strength to grow. But Percy was here as well. So with his luck, he'd be the one to find anything useful.

She huffed in anger and frustration. She couldn't even share her feelings with anyone. Percy treated her exceptionally well, always paid attention to her, kept annoying her to stop her from getting bored. If she was to complain about him, that would just be evil on her part.

She knew calypso would die to be in her place, to have all of Percy's attention all the time. And despite all her hints, Percy was seemingly oblivious to calypso, assigning her the role of his best friend. And the silly girl was too happy being around him to care. She was more fixated on his laugh than being the one causing it. She seemed satisfied seeing him happy. And all these complicated thoughts gave piper a serious headache, making her feel even more grouchy.

 _-the next day-_

The snow song ruins were one of the furthest ruins from the city. Since they were within the mountains, they were still safe, but so far out, there was always a chance of running into a Level Eight Warrior monster. That was an actual threat to the entire group.

However they soon reached the ruined city. However, they had no idea they were being trailed by another group, a silent bunch, dressed in black with their aura completely concealed.

Even artemis was unable to sense their presence.

This was a group of renegade criminals, from the shadow association! Their leader was a burly man and his aura was hidden as well. But if it was to emanate, it would prove that this man was a Peak Level Seven Warrior! He had five other subordinates, all who were Level Seven Warriors. The rest of the group were all Level Six Warriors. The group numbered only 15 but their combat power far exceeded the group they were stalking!

The man was briefing his followers." These are all important heirs of the important families of hope city. If we kidnap them we'll get a hefty ransom. But our main target is the youngest kid. He's named perseus Jackson and has a cultivation of Level Five Warrior, but don't underestimate him! He has a battle power Capable of Surmounting Two Levels of Cultivation. He can fight even Level Seven Warriors! There fore us six brothers will have to quickly defeat the other Level Seven Warriors and then attack him together. There are totally four Level Seven Warriors in the group. The rest of the ten have Level Six Warrior cultivation."

The warriors all nodded and then slowly split up, encircling them from behind.

Percy was walking next to calypso as the rest of the group argued on which area of the city would be best to explore areas had been explored before so this was an intense discussion.

Suddenly the undergrowth exploded with noise as the trap was sprung.

Percy didn't even hesitate, and he flashed silver, grabbing piper and dodging a huge man wielding a blade. He was the leader. He cursed at his bad luck. He'd wanted to eliminate Percy with a sneak attack, but his reaction was too fast.

The others weren't as lucky and screams rang out as some were injured severely and incapacitated, then captured. Percy carried piper in his arms as he dashed out of the encirclement towards Grover. Grover saw him and shook his head." Run for it! We have to scatter! Protect her at all costs!" Percy nodded and raced towards the city center.

He was a silver blur as he dashed through the streets, heading to the center of the city. However he had no idea of the danger right in front of him.

The leader shook his head." as anticipated, that kid is far too slippery and smart. But his majesty the Demon King has already told us about him, so we can deal with him." He grinned and tapped an array symbol drawn onto a small pendant in his hand. The array symbol glowed. In the center of the city, a similar pendant lay. This began glowing as well.

Percy was still running at top speed, headed straight to the city center. Artemis was worriedly scanning the area around them." Good, none of them have followed you." Percy sighed." Artemis how much longer for your poison to get healed?" she laughed bitterly." It takes your blood to heal my poison. I can only absorb a small amount of your blood everyday, since its very difficult for me to absorb and so I can only cure a little bit everyday." Percy sighed. Suddenly artemis felt a cold shiver pass her neck. Her eyes widened with horror." Percy! Stop! Stop! Run back!"

But before Percy could even understand her words, the city center exploded and a huge dragon jumped out of the ruins." A flood dragon!" artemis shouted. Percy froze as he felt the dragons eyes lock onto him, coldly regarding him." A-artemis…. W-what's a …. F-flood d-dragon?" Percy shivered and asked." A decendant of a true dragon. It's a very impure bloodline, maybe its great grand father or even more previously was a true dragon, but still its power can't be underestimated." Percy gulped with fear. Piper was trembling as well."a Level Nine Flood Dragon!"

Percy was thinking furiously." Artemis any ideas?". Artemis was silent. She had no idea what she could suggest. Piper gave a shaky laugh." W-well im glad I didn't invite calypso at least." She was trembling quite badly now." P-Percy you oblivious i-idiot. S-she likes y-you" piper laughed again, a bit crazily, though it sounded like she would start sobbing suddenly.

Percy wasn't paying attention to her. He was steadily trying to inch back while the flood dragon stared at him. Suddenly it rumbled deep in its chest and Percy realized it was laughing at him. It opened it's mouth and suddenly a crackling ball of frost energy shot out. Percy began to move back, but piper jumped out of his arms.

Her arms splayed open and she glowed with a light blue aura.' Frost Fairy's domain!'

A solid wall of ice suddenly appeared before them, but the ball just smashed through it and slammed into the ground before them. Piper flew backwards and crashed into Percy, smashing past him and into the house behind them." Piper!" Percy shouted, but artemis suddenly yelled." Percy! Leave her and get out! Right now!"." The hell artemis! I can't!" before their argument could continue, the dragon suddenly rushed towards them.

It was as big as a two storey building and was a bluish all over. It flew straight at him, mouth opening and gathering another charge of frost power. Percy widened his eyes. This was far more powerful than the last one. It would kill him for sure!

It spat out the ball of pure condensed power and Percy's world seemed to turn blue as it arrived before him, carrying explosive power beyond his imagination. Percy closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

There was a huge explosion and the entire world beneath his feet seemed to shake and tremble. Percy dropped to his knees. He opened his eyes with surprise and saw Artemis floating before him, glowing silver.

"How Dare You Harm My Disciple!" her voice boomed with rage and the entire city shook with the force. The sound wave spread across the dragon, making it pause in fear. It snarled." I am the king! I shall destroy any puny human who comes before me!" he roared back." He is destined to be my meal today!"

The power of Artemis's voice quickly traveled, even going as far as hope city. Few people noticed it. Grandholme DeGrest sat up with surprise. This voice, clearly indicated trouble!

The dragon seemed hesitant before artemis. Then roared again" a puny girl like you does not scare me! If you stand in my way you shall die as well!" he leapt forward. Artemis closed her eyes and glowed even brighter. "you wish to die? Very well then!" she exploded with moonlight qi and a divine sword made of silver moonlight seemed to descend from the skies.' Moon god's slaughter!'

The blade slashed the flood dragon in half, mercilessly tearing its body apart. the dragon died almost instantly, without having the time to even roar.

Percy was still kneeling on the ground, shocked. Artemis's silver glow slowly darkened and she fell from the skies. Percy snapped back to life and ran forward." Artemis!" he grabbed her and shook her." Artemis! Artemis!" his eyes blurred with tears." No! No! Artemis! Artemis please, open your eyes! Artemis, say something!" he shook her, but she was still and seemed lifeless. Her body was growing cold and Percy could almost feel the poison ravaging her from inside.

His tears dripped onto her face." Please, artemis….. you can't…" Percy stared at her desolately, feeling as if all hope was lost.

He remembered all those times she had scolded him, told him how useless he was, grown angry when he flirted with any girl. this poison was going to snatch her away and he was powerless to help her.

Then suddenly his mind flashed to their last ever conversation." It takes your blood to heal my poison. I can only absorb a small amount of your blood everyday, since its very difficult for me to absorb and so I can only cure a little bit everyday."

Percy sat up and dug at his forearm with his finger nails. He gouged out his flesh and bit down on the cut, sucking up the blood from inside. He bent over artemis's lifeless form and kissed her.

He sucked up more blood then bent and kissed her again. The cut was quickly healing and he dug at it again, sucking up more blood and kissing her over and over." A-artemis… you have to come back to me. I'm kissing you so many times without your permission. You have to come back and punish me for being so shameless."

Percy's eyes were blurred with tears and he was feeling light headed with bloodloss. But still he sucked up more blood, giving it all to artemis. Suddenly she coughed and spluttered weakly, reaching out a hand to cup his face, kissing him back. The two of them embraced weakly as they kissed both seemingly half consciously. then suddenly Percy fainted and slumped over her. artemis sat up weakly and touched her lips. She looked at Percy and realized that they had just been kissing quite passionately few seconds before. Artemis blushed despite herself, but couldn't muster up any anger at Percy.

She looked at his arm, bleeding heavily and frowned. She bent over him and kissed him, finally facing her own feelings that had built up over the three years of being by Percy's side, constantly being with him every day, every minute, every second. She brushed the tears out of her eyes, then stroked Percy's face." Thank you for being such a fool Percy." She got up and headed to where piper had fallen. She frowned in worry. Pipers condition was critical. The power from the explosion had flooded her meridians and had destroyed her cultivation. She was crippled. Also her backbone was damaged, so artemis was getting very worried if she could even survive or not.

She lifted the girl with her qi and carried her over to Percy. Then she frowned. The people who had ambushed them might arrive soon. They had to hide. She lifted them both and hurried to the central crater from where the dragon had erupted.

Artemis swept the area with her divine sense then frowned with surprise. There was a sealed transport array hidden away here! She leapt down. No doubt this would be the best place to hide!

Just then Percy stirred and looked around hazily."A-artemis…" he called out softly. Artemis rushed to his side." Percy!" She gripped his hand with both of hers." Percy's eyes turned to her and he gave a weak smile. Tears filled his eyes and slowly dripped down, tracking marks along his face." Please…." He whispered softly. Artemis leaned forward hurriedly, not wanting to miss anything he said." Please…. Don't….. leave me…" his voice trailed off and artemis's eyes filled with tears. She rested her head against his." I promise you, I'll always try to be by your side." She whispered softly. Percy's grip on her hand tightened." I swear… if I ….ever….lose you…. I will chase you to…. The depths of hell…if necessary.". he whispered back softly, then his head dropped as he lost consciousness again.

Artemis got up and started on the array. It took her a few seconds to unseal and activate it. Then she leapt in with both of them. They were carried to another dimension, where another, more powerful being awaited them.

 _-meanwhile-_

Grandholme DeGrest soon arrived, having rushed at top speed. The shadow association warriors fled. He quickly gathered up the expeditionaries. Though many were severely injured, none were life threatening, and none were killed. However, Percy and piper were nowhere to be searched the whole city. Grover and the others narrated the appearance of the flood dragon and the loud shout as well as the silver sword. Grandholme found the dragons corpse,and he'd heard the shout as well.

He guessed it must be Percy's mysterious master, who the president of the alchemist association had mentioned before as well, saying all he knew was she was a powerful figure, and wasn't from hope city.

The death of the dragon and the shout confirmed this, but then where were Percy and piper? Did his master appear after their deaths? Was she too late as well? Grandholme felt like screaming in rage. His precious grand daughter was missing and most likely dead!

His rage was boundless. He returned back to the city and the news of Percy and pipers death was relayed. The city sank into mourning. Calypso was thunderstruck and seemed to have gone into shock.

Suddenly, the shadow association started increasing their activity, attacking more often, stealing many high value items and medicines. Percy's phoenix pill, dragon pill and holy moon nectar were finally released to the market and caused an uproar. There were many attempts to steal the recipe, but the alchemist association guarded it furiously.

Even Aphrodite was stunned at the news. She had hardly expected that a few days after she had left Percy at school such an incident would occur.

And so two years passed.

 _-in the sealed dimension.-_

When Percy awoke. He was lying in a small pool of world around him was dark, dimly light by two burning torches standing on either side of the pool. The sky was pitch black with neither stars nor the moon. He had healed up all his injuries and sighed in relief. Then he saw piper." H-hey piper!" he ran to her side. Her breathing was labored and her face was white, devoid of any color. Artemis's voice rang out in his mind." Her cultivation is crippled and her spine is broken. She's paralyzed and probably won't live much longer if you stop injecting her with battle qi."

Percy was speechless. Her future had been ruined in a single day!

Suddenly the ground shook and rumbled and the sky was suddenly illuminated by a pair of eyes that suddenly opened in midair. They coldly regarded the world around like it was worthless. The eyes were azure blue,deep and endless. Percy felt an earth shaking aura from them. Clearly this was the remnant of some grand figure.

"I am the soul of the Azure Sea Dragon and this is my testing ground! Welcome lucky challenger." Percy stared at the eyes in surprise." Hahaha! You are lucky to have a chance to take this test! If you can, I shall grant you three drops of my blood." Artemis's heart shook" Percy this is the trail ground of the azure dragon sea god. Before they died, many gods set these up, where you have a chance to inherit its bloodline." Percy looked at the dragon." Senior I do not need the blood, but is there anyway for me to help my friend? The dragon mused carefully.

Then finally he replied." There is a way. A very difficult and harsh way perhaps, but it exists nonetheless."

Percy's heart trembled." Please, senior be so kind so as to tell this junior!? The azure dragon burst into laughter." Complete my trial, then I shall!" Percy froze, then shrugged helplessly." Can I take her into the battle with me?" the dragon god chuckled and said" my trial allows several warriors to enter at once. However, it has a special rule. The difficulty doubles for every person who enters! And the base difficulty is decided by the warrior with the highest cultivation! If you enter with her, not only will the difficulty double, but the original difficulty will shift from Level Five to Level Seven!" do you still wish to take her along?"

Percy nodded."yes senior. I must!" the dragon boomed."reconsider kid. Its almost impossible to pass at your own difficulty level, then level seven is suicide for you!"

There was a small shifting sound and pipers eyes half opened. From the look on her face, she'd heard most of the conversation already."Percy…. leave me and go." Percy shook his head stubbornly." I refuse." She sighed and shook her head." Your stubbornness won't help!" she shut her eyes." Please just leave me to my fate. Don't ruin your future over a cripple like me." Percy stood and picked her up.

The dragon sighed."very well. You can go try. Beware, death and victory are the only options."

Percy swallowed nervously and walked into the glowing portal of azure light.

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Eleven  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Artemis Sollunas  
Current Cultivation: Rank Five Warrior(Capable of Surmounting Two Levels Of Cultivation)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive), Circular Softness(offensive)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Divine Sea Gods Transformation.  
Weapon: Nil

Artemis Sollunas(Profile)

Name:Artemis Sollunas  
Age: Fifteen  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Moon God Attribute  
Current status: Bond Of Blood With Percy Jackson/Poisoned by Essence of Styx  
Current Cultivation: High-god level(half-step Olympian level)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline Of Fate(special power: Oracle's eye)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Oracle's Serpent  
Weapon: Violet Bamboo Celestial Bow/ twin black and purple divine daggers.

Piper DeGrest(profile)

Name:Piper DeGrest  
Age: Fourteen  
Race: Human  
Attribute: Frost  
Current Status: Successor to the City Lord  
Current Cultivation: Rank Seven Warrior  
Monster Bloodlines: Frost Fairy's Bloodline(special Power: Frost Dream Domain)  
Divine Transformation: Frost Fairy's Hand Maiden  
Weapon: Errant Ice World Staff

Calypso Thundre(Profile)

Name:Calypso Thundre  
Age: Fourteen  
Race: God Beast Bloodline  
Attribute: Thunder  
Current Status: In Love with Percy.  
Current Cultivation: Rank Seven Warrior  
Monster Bloodlines: Thunder Dragon's Bloodline Bloodline(special Power: Thunder Dragon's Roar)  
Divine Transformation: Dragonification  
Weapon: Riptide/Dragon Empress's Whip

Aphrodite Alhart(Profile)

Name: Aphrodite Alhart  
Age: Twenty Two  
Race: Human  
Attribute: Love  
Current Status: Director of Alchemist Association/ infatuated with Percy.  
Current Cultivation: Level Nine Warrior  
Monster Bloodline:Nil  
Divine Transformation: Nil  
Beast Contract: Alpine Snow Fairy.  
Beastly Transformation: Angel Of Love  
Weapon: Heavy Handle Heart Sword

A.N.: I hated typing this long chapter. Plus it was so heartbreaking. Originally planned to cram the next chapter in as well, but I didn't. so the next chapter is Percy taking the three Dragon God Trials.

Hope you guys enjoyed the heart wrenching emotion between Artemis and percy! Don't worry, artemis goes back to her tsundere self. And Percy has no memories of their kiss. The first time, he was half conscious with pain from the styx essence poison. This time, the first kiss he was delirious with bloodloss. The second kiss he was unconscious. So no the oblivious Percy still doesn't know artemis's feelings for him. But we'll see his feelings in the next chapter!

Also yeah, Aphrodite is a bit infatuated with Percy for unknown reasons. And read her status. You'll notice something new.


	9. The Dragon God's First Trial

**Second Arc: Dragon God's First Trial**

A voice rang in Percy's head." Why do you not choose a weapon? Hehehe, I can provide one." Percy shook his head." Most weapons cannot bear my power. Ordinary swords shatter under my power. I require weapons that can release my brute strength, like my fists. My ideal weapon, that would be a heavy sword, capable of cutting down an army with a single strike! Meant for close combat!" the dragon god chuckled."why?to kill all your enemies?" Percy shook his head. So that I can stand with my loved ones and friends behind me and protect them even if an army were to come forward!". The dragon god laughed with delight." Trial challenger, I can feel the problem you have with weapons. So I grant you this weapon, a quasi divine weapon, used by a tyrant more than fifteen thousand years ago. This is the sword the last king of snow song city used! The Overlord colossal sword!" in Percy's hands an enormous sword appeared. He almost dropped it. The dragon god chuckled." It weighs exactly 1950 kilograms! With your strength, you should be able to use it!"

This was a dry and barren highland. Gazing outwards, the surroundings were full of steep-sloped mountains which pierced into the sea of clouds. The encircling mountain range surrounded the area, turning this place into an inescapable and isolated land, where even half of the emitted light-rays were blocked.

Percy, who passed through the 'Gate' of Trial and entered this place, looked at the surroundings, and frowned. The platform he was standing on was very small. It was so small that he was even able to see the extreme ends of the platform in his current position. The length of the platform was not more than a quarter of a kilometer, and its width was barely a hundred meters. The surroundings were all mountains, so there were basically no roads to walk on. And, all the mountain peaks were seemingly hidden within the clouds; even if one were to think of climbing to the top of one of them, it was absolutely impossible to do so.

"Release… me…"

Piper, who was in his embrace, emitted out a frail voice, and even her right arm, the only limb she could freely move, was making a slight struggle. Percy knew she was not used to it, or, to be exact, she absolutely hated contact with men. He knelt down, took out a light pink-colored blanket and laid it on the floor. After that, he placed Piper onto it, and said gently, "You don't have to worry. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not casually touch you. Currently, we have already entered the Dragon God's trial grounds. No matter if you're willing or not, our current destinies, are already completely connected. If we were to successfully pass this trial, both of us will be able to live, and even obtain tremendous benefits. If we were to fail… then both of us will die."

"But, before our failure, you must definitely not possess the thought of dying, and work hard to keep yourself alive, alright? Because this is not a trial of mine alone, rather, it's a trial belonging to the both of us, and it relates to both of our destinies. I hope that you can give me strength and give yourself hope… Hope of not just being able to live on, but having a complete recovery of your profound veins and meridians, and even directly breaking into Level Eight Warrior!"

Since young, Piper had the qualifications to reach the absolute top, and no one of the same age was able to stand against her. She had not yet become middle-aged, but was already a half-step away from the Level Eight Warrior. She basically spent most of her life being admired and looked up to. She was used to standing on heights where no one would even dream of, and mightily, pridefully, look down on others… But now, like a little girl being coaxed, she was being comforted by Percy. She was neither used to it, nor was she able to explain the sort of feeling she currently felt. She closed her eyes, and did not give any other reply, but the thought of death in her heart, had already silently disappeared a long while ago.

"You actually took my blanket and gave it to another girl. Aren't you afraid that I will get angry?" Artemis said a little grumpily.

"Artemis, you have such a big heart, so you will definitely not fuss over such a small matter. Once I return to Hope City, I will definitely buy you a better one."

Artemis snorted coldly. "Hmph! We can talk about that again once you're able to return to the Hope City with your life intact. You actually insisted on bringing this woman into the trial grounds. I really don't know what you're thinking! Not only will the difficulty increase, you will definitely be distracted because of her… This is the Dragon God's trial! Its level of difficulty, is something impossible for you to imagine! In my current state, I can't use even an ounce of my strength, you're on your own."

Artemis's voice was filled with bitterness. In her eyes, Percy's decision of bringing Piper into the trial grounds was undoubtedly a death-seeking move. But with her understanding of Percy's personality in the Three years she had been with him, this move of his, was not the least bit unexpected to her.

In the skies above, the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice suddenly resounded:

"Welcome to the Dragon God's trial grounds, two young humans. In this trial, there will be a total of three stages. Where you two are now, is where the first stage will be held. In front of you, is the only entrance to where the second stage will be held. Defeat all the Stone Dragon Warriors in this place, and the entrance will naturally open… I wish you two best of luck."

As the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice disappeared, in front of Percy, two balls of dirt-yellow light suddenly started to flash… Percy quickly took a step forward, and with his two hands, he wielded the Overlord's Colossal Sword horizontally in front of him.

The yellow light scattered, and two figures appeared before Percy's eyes. Their bodies were no different from an average person, but they seemed to be carved from stone, and looked unbelievably firm. Their heads looked half-human, and half-dragon. They were holding onto a stone spear on one hand and a stone shield on the other, as their pairs of expressionless eyes firmly locked onto Percy.

Are these the Stone Dragon Warriors the Primordial Azure Dragon spoke of? Percy's alertness in his heart rose, but immediately after, his heart calmed. Because, he did not feel any trace of intimidation from the aura of strength emitted out from the two Stone Dragon Warriors.

"Their strength is probably at the Seventh Level Warrior, same as you." Artemis said.

The two Stone Dragon Warriors had already begun to move as charged straight towards Percy. Their bodies were seemingly heavy, as their running steps were exceptionally deafening.

Facing enemies of the same level at the same time, to an average practitioner, was indeed very difficult. However, to Percy, it was fundamentally not the least bit intimidating. Because he, who possessed Two great divine abilities in a single body, could completely eliminate opponents of the same level in an instant.

Percy waited for the two Stone Dragon Warriors to approach, and swept his sword… which, was even longer than the spears the Stone Dragon Warriors were holding. When the first Stone Dragon Warrior had only just raised its spear and took up an attacking posture, Percy's sword had already smashed onto the stone spear, instantly breaking it into pieces. Then, without any loss of momentum, his sword broke into its waist… However, even at this point, there was no sign of the force behind the sword decreasing, as it continued to sweep across the air, smashing into the body of the second Stone Dragon Warrior.

The shattered bodies of the two Stone Dragon Warriors laid on the floor and then, disappeared completely in a flash of light.

Percy had only swung once… and in only a single breath's time, he destroyed two Stone Dragon Warriors and a stone spear. It's completely not exaggerated to say that, in the entire younger generation within Hope city, it was impossible to find a second person, at the same level as Percy, who was capable of doing this.

After instantly defeating two opponents of the same level, Percy did not relax because of this. This was the Dragon God's trial, so how could it be this easy? If the difficulty of the trial was only at this level, then it would not make sense for all of the previous hundred and twenty nine people who took the trial to lose their lives.

Ziiiiing~

Not even three breaths' time after Percy defeated the two Stone Dragon Warriors, in front of him, four yellow balls of light suddenly started to flash, and right after, four Stone Dragon Warriors, with exactly the same figures as the ones before, held up their spears as they charged towards Percy.

Although the number was increased to four, the strength of these Stone Dragon Warriors did not change and was still at the same level as Percy, the Level Seven Warrior. Percy took a step forward; his heavy sword swept across like a dragon's tail, and with a loud bang, the four Stone Dragon Warriors which weighed at least several hundred kilos were sent flying far away. When they landed, all four of them shattered into countless pieces.

Four Stone Dragon Warriors, were still instantly eliminated. The tyranny and the attack range of a heavy sword, was something a longspear could never compare to.

Without even giving Percy time to wait, after the four shattered Stone Dragon Warriors disappeared, the yellow rays of light once again flashed in front of Percy, and this time, there were eight of them.

Eight Stone Dragon Warriors appeared in a single line in front of Percy. Even with these numbers, Percy was still not afraid. Without waiting for the Stone Dragon Warriors to attack, he took the initiative to rush towards them and swept his heavy sword across with more strength than before.

BANG BANG BANG!

Three Stone Dragon Warriors had only just appeared, but their heads had already turned into rubble, falling upright onto the ground. At this moment, three spears came thrusting towards Percy from his sides. Without even looking at them, Percy swept his sword, then three stone spears were instantly destroyed, and the airwave brought about by the sweep forced the remaining five Stone Dragon Warriors to retreat. Right after, he sped forward and slashed three times. Three heavy bangs resounded, and the five Stone Dragon Warriors shattered one after another… In this entire process, not only were the eight Stone Dragon Warriors not able to touch Percy, they were not even able to approach within three steps from him.

At this moment, in Percy's mind, Artemis's warning sounded. "Don't attack them so ferociously. Try to limit your profound energy usage as much as possible. Haven't you noticed that the number of these Stone Dragon Warriors double in every subsequent wave? In the last few waves, there will be definitely even more of them!"

"I know." Percy nodded. The first wave had two, the second wave had four, and the third wave had eight. Following this pattern, the next wave will definitely have sixteen of them, and the next wave after that will have thirty-two, and then sixty-four…

"Fighting against opponents of the same level, and even a dozen of them at the same time, if it was someone else, it will definitely be despair. But to me… even if a hundred of them were to come at the same time, I will still be able to kill them all without even leaving a single one!" Percy said solemnly.

As he was saying that, yellow light once again flashed in front of him, and eight new Stone Dragon Warriors appeared.

Mn? Eight of them? Why are there only eight? Is eight actually the limit? In his heart, Percy was a little surprised. When he was about to head forward to attack, suddenly, he felt something was wrong… Because the auras of these Stone Dragon Warriors were not only present in front of him, but he could faintly feel them behind him as well.

He stopped his tracks and quickly turned about. He was shocked to see eight spear-wielding Stone Dragon Warriors appearing at the back as well, and they were currently charging towards the Piper, who was laid on the floor.

"You're courting death!"

Enraged, Percy ran back at lightning speed. Like a dragon, a swing of his sword brought about a windstorm, pushing back all of the Stone Dragon Warriors approaching Piper, and then, he quickly headed to Piper's side. But this time, he did not dare to take the initiative to take them head on. Rather, he stood by Piper's side, and destroyed the Stone Dragon Warriors that charged towards them one after another… But, before he could finish dealing with the ones in front of him, the eight Stone Dragon Warriors behind came charging towards them together. They seemed to have came to know of Percy's weakness, as all of their longspears thrusted towards Piper, who had been laid on the floor.

Attacks coming from his front and back; to Percy, they were a small matter. But Piper was in the midst of danger, so he could not afford the slightest negligence; as with Piper's current state, she could die at any time. And currently, there were only sixteen Stone Dragon Warriors, yet there would be even more in each subsequent wave. If she was going to lay on the ground the entire time while he simply stood guard her by her side, it was simply impossible to ensure her safety.

Percy thus made a decision. He wildly brandished his heavy sword, drawing a pale-black full moon around his body, which forced all of the Stone Dragon Warriors to retreat about six meters away. Then, he released his left hand from the sword handle, and wielded it with only his right hand. He brought Piper up with his left arm, and tightly held onto her against his shoulder. Then, he plunged into the group of Stone Dragon Warriors; wherever his heavy sword was swung, shattered rocks would fly.

"Are you crazy!?" Percy's action completely stunned Artemis as she exclaimed. "You're actually wielding your heavy sword with a single hand… This will cause your strength to fall twice as fast! By carrying her, not only will it increase your stamina depletion rate, it will also affect your movements, and cause you to be constantly distracted… If you don't wish to die here, hurry and throw her aside and then control your energy consumption."

"I can't do that!" Percy said unhesitatingly. "You can call me an idiot and even call me conceited, but I will never put her down… If you were in her place, I would never throw you aside either!"

As he said that, Percy's heavy sword had already swung out six crescents, shattering all of the sixteen Stone Dragon Warriors.

Artemis: "…"

Percy's words stabbed into one of Artemis's many nerves, and she no longer said anything.

Within this period of time, the fifth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors were summoned. A total of thirty-two Stone Dragon Warriors appeared in a circling formation and surrounded Percy.

"Don't… care about me…" Piper had always been awake and she clearly understood the current predicament. She, who was pressed against on Percy's shoulder, slightly struggled.

Percy turned a deaf ear on her, and wielding his sword with a single hand, he engaged the incoming Stone Dragon Warriors. His sword swinging speed naturally decreased, as he was wielding a one thousand nine hundred and fifty kilo heavy sword with a single hand; however, it was still as ferocious and tyrannical as before. Each one of his swings were huge and wide, bringing about the whistling of the wind as the sword sliced through the air, causing the destruction of the Stone Dragon Warriors one after another before they could even approach him.

The sounds of exploding stone continued without rest. Although he was wielding the heavy sword with a single hand, although he was hugging onto and protecting someone with his left arm, these thirty-two Stone Dragon Warriors still did not threaten Percy. In less than two minutes, under Percy's dozens of continuous swings with his heavy sword, they all turned into shattered rocks on the ground.

But, the fifth wave, was still not the end. Immediately after, the sixth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors appeared before Percy, and this time, there were sixty-four of them!

Looking at the sixty-four Stone Dragon Warriors encircling him, Percy took a deep breath as the hand he was using to wield the sword unconsciously tightened. The Blood of Poseidon was able to give him complete mastery over the control of heavy swords, but it definitely did not mean it could allow him to ignore the weight of the heavy swords themselves. Holding a heavy sword with a single hand was unwise to begin with, and after eliminating the fifth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors, his right hand had already begun to feel numb.

Boom… Boom…

The sixty-four Stone Dragon Warriors started running together and the ground they ran on shook with every step they take. Percy growled, raised his sword and plunged into the crowd of Stone Dragon Warriors which just doubled in numbers. He charged. He clashed. His heavy sword was swung to the left. And then, it was swept to the right. Over and over again. The enemies were swept away one after another, and their bodies shattered one after another… Right here and now, he who had Piper in his embrace, was extremely glad that he chose a heavy sword as his weapon back then. Because, when heavily surrounded, the only weapon that would allow one to fearlessly sweep in all directions like now, was only the heavy sword! The only weapon that could allow one to embrace a person, and protect her from the slightest bit of harm, was only the heavy sword! The only weapon that could easily shatter these Stone Dragon Warriors, whose hard and sturdy bodies could hardly be harmed by any other weapons, was also only the heavy sword!

The advantages of a heavy sword, in a battle like this, were thoroughly displayed. Percy absolutely believed that if he was currently wielding a light sword in his hand, he would not be able to move effortlessly in this encirclement of many Stone Dragon Warriors, and he would not be able to protect Piper this perfectly.

But at the same time these advantages were being displayed, the disadvantages were slowly revealing themselves as well.

Boom…

Bang…

Boom… Boom….

With another set of tyrannical brandishing with the heavy sword, the sixth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors had turned into rubble as well. And the time taken, was exactly four times the time he had taken to finish the fifth wave.

Percy stabbed his heavy sword into the ground as he finally began to pant. Under Artemis's "command", Percy had carried the heaviest rock he could bear on his back and in his arms, so as to get used to its weight. However, no matter how one gets used to it, it definitely did not mean that it could be be completely ignored. Because that weight of a thousand nine hundred and fifty kilos, will always be there. It will neither decrease, nor will it disappear.

The sixth wave, was still not the end.

Ziiing… Ziiiing…

A large number of yellow rays of light flashed around Percy, and the figures of an exact total of a hundred and twenty-eight Stone Dragon Warriors appeared. And these Stone Dragon Warriors had undergone changes as well. Their weapons were no longer just longspears; at the back, there were Stone Dragon Warriors who decided to discard their shields, and were wielding two longswords and two longblades.

"More than a hundred of them… Facing more than a hundred enemies of the same level at the same time, and even after a large consumption of energy, how the hell could this be a trial? It's basically abuse! This should probably be the last wave, I guess."

Percy thought as such. His initial ragged breathing had already calmed down after he regulated it. He threw a Phoenix Pellet into his mouth, and adjusted his left shoulder so he could tighten his hold on Piper by a little bit. He then pulled out the heavy sword from the ground with a single hand, and pointed it to the front.

The fierce battle between a one-handed person and a hundred warriors, thus began.

The Stone Dragon Warriors wielding longswords and longblades were not only different weapon-wise; even their movement speed was evidently faster than the Stone Dragon Warriors wielding spears. They rushed towards the front, and silhouettes of swords and blades enveloped Percy… Until now, what Percy was really consoled about, was that these Stone Dragon Warriors did not possess any long-ranged profound skills. Under the swings of his heavy sword, they were not able to approach him, which also meant that basically, they were not able to harm him and Piper. Otherwise, their predicament would undoubtedly be several times more difficult.

However, the condition for this situation to persist was for him to maintain the frequency of his swings. But with the combination of his increasing energy consumption and increasing sense of fatigue in his arm, the speed of his heavy sword swings, and their level of ferociousness, were evidently falling. This also lead to even bigger openings and flaws after his every swing.

Bang bang bang…

In a series of explosions, five Stone Dragon Warriors that came to attack together were sent flying with a crescent swing of the heavy sword. But because of the gradually piling exhaustion from exerting his strength, when Percy was withdrawing his sword, his posture suddenly became unbalanced for a moment, so the longspear of a Stone Dragon Warrior came thrusting from his side and ruthlessly pierced into Percy's waist.

Blood splattered out, and the Stone Dragon Warrior's spear-tip was instantly broken as well. With a protective veil of profound energy on the exterior, and adding the hardness brought about by the Flow Like Silk, although this thrust did cause a bit of blood to spill, it did not bring about any serious damage. However, it was enough to allow Percy to feel a heavier sense of danger.

"Haah!"

The nearby Stone Dragon Warriors were smashed with a single swing of Percy's sword. He then suddenly flung his right arm and threw the heavy sword in the air. Right after, he quickly and gently moved Piper to the right and held her tightly with her right arm. His left hand grabbed onto the descending heavy sword, and with a single swing, it brought about a howl that was similar to the roar of a furious dragon…

With the swapping of arms, the numbness in his right arm finally eased up by a little. Although he could not wield the heavy sword as freely with his left arm, the frequency of his swings and the power behind them slightly increased. However, the energy exhausting rate, was also evidently faster than when he wielded it with his right arm.

The Stone Dragon Warriors swarmed together towards Percy, and they shattered together by him as well. If these were not Stone Dragon Warriors, but actual living human beings, Percy's entire body definitely would have already been dyed in fresh blood.

His left arm then began to feel heavier, gradually reaching the point of unsustainability. He once again returned the heavy sword to his right hand, which had eased up slightly from the numbness, and continued the close quarter combat.

The amount of time he took to clear this wave, to him, was very much longer than the previous wave, to the point where he did not even know the total amount of time he used. When the final Stone Dragon Warrior was destroyed, only heavy panting came out from his mouth. When he finally stabbed his heavy sword into the ground, and when his right hand left its handle, that sense of relief, was basically as if he was soaring into the heavens.

"Hu… hu… hu…"

Percy's entire face was flushed red; he was panting extremely severely, and the hot beads of sweat on his forehead were so fine that they looked like raindrops. Piper, who was hooped before his chest, could clearly feel the shivering arm hugging onto her.

Ziiing~~~

Not even three breaths' time after Percy let go of his heavy sword did an even larger number of yellow light flash around him. These rays of light caused Percy's ragged breathing to abruptly stop. He forcefully raised his head, abruptly stopped the shuddering of his right arm, and firmly gripped onto the hilt of the heavy sword.

The eighth wave… two hundred and fifty-six Stone Dragon Warriors!

This trial could no longer be described as "difficult", but extremely brutal, and as brutal as hell. Within this brutality, not only did one have to face enemies with the same profound level, and not only did one have to face twice as many enemies after exhausting a large amount of energy, the most frightening thing was that the time between the clearing of a wave and the appearance of the next wave, did not even reach five breaths of time…

It completely did not give the person taking the trial any time for a breather and recover… or even the chance to heal his injuries!

With the appearance of these Stone Dragon Warriors, Percy's hand had returned to the heavy sword's handle. His expression was calm, but his pupils had evidently shrank a little.

There was actually… another wave!

The crowd of Stone Dragon Warriors that appeared charged towards Percy with uniform movements. Percy looked beyond the group, and at the back of the group, he was shocked to see Stone Dragon Warriors whose bodies were entangled with long metal chains, in which ball-shaped stone hammers were suspended at both ends of each metal chain.

Those are… meteor hammers!

The Stone Dragon Warriors swarmed over with their overwhelming numbers like a huge wave that tried to drown Percy within it. Percy's heavy sword was swept back and forth across the crowd of Stone Dragon Warriors but currently, his heavy sword felt particularly heavy. Every single time he swung, he was seemingly required to use his full strength. The Stone Dragon Warriors at the front of the crowd were falling one after another, while the Stone Dragon Warriors carrying the meteor hammers at the back were also quickly approaching.

Swish… Swish… Swish…

Five to six meteor hammers flew towards Percy and Piper, who was in his embrace, from different directions.

Every single time Percy swung his heavy sword, he would always be able to tyrannically blast away the surrounding enemies, and prevent them from approaching too close. But attacks with the meteor hammers basically did not need the users to approach their enemies. These Stone Dragon Warriors were standing about six meters away, but the thrown meteor hammers were enough to accurately crash towards Percy. And, these meteor hammers also came from above, so when he was attacking the Stone Dragon Warriors, he basically could not sweep his sword towards the meteor hammers. If he were to sweep his swords towards these meteor hammers, he would be unable to sweep towards the surrounding Stone Dragon Warriors in time, which would cause them to approach too close…

To Percy, the addition of these meteor hammer warriors were undoubtedly a nightmare within a nightmare. He could not help but use the Moon God's Moonlight Flash to move and cut through the crowd of Stone Dragon Warriors. But, because of this, no matter his energy consumption, attacking efficiency, or the number of dangerous elements, all of them had greatly increased.

Swish… Swish… Swish… Swish… Swish… Swish…

More and more Stone Dragon hammer wielders were charging over, and the meteor hammers flying towards Percy were becoming more concentrated, to the point where, in every moment, there were at least dozens of meteor hammers pounding towards him from different directions. He continuously moved and dodged, and once again, moved and dodged. He basically did not have the chance to retaliate…

Bang!

A good number of meteor hammers smashed together, creating dazzling sparks. Percy leaped high into the air, and when he was the highest point, dozens of meteor hammers came flying over. Percy took a deep breath, and used Moonlight Flash to descend instantly, but when he landed, his right leg stepped on a fist-sized rock… In these type of situations, it usually would not have affected Percy in the slightest, but currently, because of the heavy consumption of energy, and with his mind strained, it was enough to influence his balance… His body leaned towards the left as he landed, and he staggered a distance of two steps… And this opening, was easily caught by Stone Dragon Warriors on his left, for three longblades came cleaving down ferociously at Piper's position.

The approaching blade waves caused Percy to forcefully raise his head. But currently, he already had no time left to retreat, nor did he have the time to use his heavy sword to block them. Watching the trajectory of the three incoming longblades, Percy straightened his left arm, which was holding onto Piper, at lightning speed, and took the three stone blades head on…

Sss…

Three stone blades cut onto Percy's left arm at the same time. The sounds of the impact allowed Percy to know that, not only did the three blades cut into his flesh, they even cut into his bones. Percy's eyes widened. With a loud roar, he used his profound energy to push out the stone blades cutting into his bones. He wildly swung his heavy sword, smashing away all of the Stone Dragon Warriors that approached him. This sweep was exceptionally ferocious; although he was able to sweep away all of the surrounding Stone Dragon Warriors, it also revealed a large enough opening. A meteor hammer suddenly flew over, and with a loud bonk, it smashed into Percy's head.

Percy's mind was currently shaking as his vision became a field of white. He quickly bit the tip of his tongue to recover his calm… But this split second of dizziness in this heavy encirclement, was enough to cause him his life.

Swish…Swish… Swish… Swish… Swish…

The moment his vision cleared up, he heard piercing sounds come from close proximity; a total of seven meteor hammers were currently flying over… Without even thinking about it, Percy instantly took a lowered body stance, and at the same time, used his two hands to firmly embrace Piper.

BANG BANG BANG…

Seven meteor hammers struck Percy's back at the same time, immediately smashing Percy onto the ground. Percy's complexion paled as a large mouthful of blood welled up and gushed out of his mouth. He did not stand up. While releasing a roar similar to that of a wild beast's, a huge ripple spread from him into the ground and the surrounding dragon warriors.' Bring all of Creation to Ruin! Earthshaker!'

The ground shook, and all the warriors shuddered and shattered. He rarely used Earthshaker, which had a large radius, because the consumption of this move was enormous. Within a short period of time, he could only use this ability once, and once used, he would definitely be close to total burnout. Hence, this was his final trump card. In the predicament earlier, he had no choice but to use it… Right now, he could only pray that the eighth wave was the last wave.

Since the eighth wave was already terrifying to this degree, it's impossible for a ninth wave to appear, right…

Unless, this Primordial Azure Dragon was simply just a crazed beast that liked to toy and deliberately murder the challengers taking its trial!

As the EarthShaker's ripple slowly extinguished, more than two hundred Stone Dragon Warriors were shattered as they broke and fell into pieces along with their weapons. Peace returned to the area once again as only Percy's heavy gasps for breath and the "drip" sounds from the fall of his sweat and blood could be heard.

With a "boom", the heavy sword fell onto the ground. With great effort, Percy straightened his back to allow Piper to lean on his shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you injured?"

Piper was unharmed. Let alone injured, those creatures couldn't even touch her. Looking at Percy's pale face, she knew clearly that if it hadn't been for Percy protecting her, he wouldn't have been injured at all, and the two hundred or more Stone Dragon Warriors from before wouldn't have almost pushed him to the edge.

"Your… hands…" Piper mumbled with difficulty.

Percy's left hand was in unbearable pain. Although he could barely embrace Piper, wielding the heavy sword was already impossible. He shook his head and laughed effortlessly, "I'm fine, their blades are made of stones and are blunt. I'd only received some superficial injuries."

"Let me go… or else… you will die!" Piper's voice was cold and weak. Although her body was crippled and her aura was weak, her five senses were fine. The sound of the three swords cutting into bone had rang by her ears just now, so how could she not have heard it clearly?

After popping an Intermediate Profound Recovering Pellet into his mouth, he reached for some ointment and spread it across his wounds on his left arm. Without the body strengthening from the Blood of Poseidon, his left arm would've definitely been chopped into pieces. Upon hearing what Piper had said, he shook his head. "Unless I'm dead, I will never abandon you. Don't think yourself as a burden. In this situation, the will to protect you is my greatest motivation to move on. Besides, haven't we already managed to pass? This trial's first stage, we should have already…"

Before he finish his sentenced, a large wave of Stone Dragon Warriors…. larger than the one previously, appeared after a bright flash of yellow light.

Dragon God Trial's first stage, ninth wave… five hundred and twelve Stone Dragon Warriors!

Percy's voice stopped there, as he was unable to continue saying a single word. His hand pointing downwards, he grabbed at the heavy sword's hilt, pulling the heavy sword that had sunk in from the ground again.

Within his line of sight, there were twice the number of Stone Dragon Warriors as before, and there were even more than the total of the previous eight waves…. If this wasn't a delusion, then it was a nightmare; a well and true nightmare.

Amongst these Stone Dragon Warriors, the ones in front held broadswords, swords, and spears, while those at the back no longer wielded meteor hammers. What they held in their hands were obviously especially massive longbows!

Stone Dragon Archers!

Bows and arrows that could shoot further and were a bigger menace than the meteor hammer!

"…..Piper, can you tell me….. if you regret coming with me now?" Percy asked as he embraced Piper, supported himself up with the heavy sword, and watched the streaming group of Stone Dragon Warriors closed in.

The surrounding noises informed Piper of the unfavourable situation they were currently in. She had already lost track of how many years it had been, but she had never felt anyone better than her. But at that moment, when hearing Percy's voice, she couldn't muster the strength to reject him no matter what. Within the footsteps that cause the ground to shudder, her weak voice slowly spread:

" No….I…..Don't.….."

"Piper..…." Percy recited softly. Then, he started smiling, "then if you truly do not regret it then I shall not let you die!"

Piper: "…"

"Now that it has reached to this point, I'm already unable to tell if this is a trial or a completely unsurpassable trap." Percy lifted the heavy sword, and pointed it at the Stone Dragon Warriors that had reached a distance within fifteen meters from them, "But, whether it's me or you, we can't die for nothing here….. I won't die, nor will I let you die…. So, you'll have to use your strength to… give me strength!"

"Haah!"

With a loud roar, Percy's aura went berserk in a split second; his gaze grew extremely blood-thirsty and the blood in his body frantically boiled. His spirit, willpower, conviction, and soul also seemed to come ablaze all at once….. In these two lives, the number of dangerous situations he'd encountered had been too many to count; the number of impossible situations, had also been far too many. But the formation in front of his eyes that made men despair, made his heart palpitate….. But the reason for this throbbing was all because of Piper; throwing away the need to protect Piper, a flame ignited in his heart with unexpected slivers of excitement.

A sort of twisted excitement rose in his soul after encountering countless thrilling impasses…

"Come as much as you want… No matter how many that come, I'll kill them all!"

Percy gave a low growl, and after releasing the "Earthshaker", a berserk energy that came from somewhere unknown, was produced once again from his originally exhausted body. He didn't retreat. Rather, he hugged Piper tight and rushed into the massive procession of Stone Dragon Warriors.

Bang!

In a swoop, an entire four Stone Dragon Warriors were sent flying.

Boom!

Another strike, and five more Stone Dragon Warriors were chopped into ten segments, and even a section of Stone Dragon Warriors in the rear were knocked down.

He, who should clearly have been exhausted, was currently actually wielding his sword even faster than before, and his strength had actually grown more ferocious. His heavy sword was like the Death God's scythe that did not stop rotating as it crazily reaped the lives of many Stone Dragon Warriors.

Artemis, who was within his Inner World, felt a burst of shock. She was the clearest on Percy's body state. How could he, who previously could not even hold the heavy sword steadily, suddenly explode with this force that far outmatched his previous output. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she delicately perceived Percy's current condition. Her small face revealed shock, and her shock also expanded subsequently.

This wave of energy was actually from his willpower; it was actually squeezed out forcefully from his vitality!

Artemis had no way of knowing how exactly he managed this; to have extracted strength from his life force. It was unknown what a gigantic amount of willpower and perseverance it would take to achieve this, but she was clear that this would have incomparably severe consequences….. Because Percy's current actions, was clearly using up his life crazily! The most direct consequence would be that his lifespan would reduce greatly, and after today, he would fall gravely ill and if lucky, he would even be completely powerless for as long as months without being able to leave the bed. But if he was unlucky, all his bodily functions and organs would fail and never recover.

The current Percy, was just like an enraged lion rushing into a flock of sheep. Wherever he rushed to, large piles of carcasses would be left behind.

The skies were filled with piercing sounds and a large volley of arrows spread through the skies as a large range of arrows rained down.

Swoosh…..

Percy's right arm was shot by three arrows.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh…..

Percy's back was hit by another three arrows, and amongst them, one of these arrows dangerously hit the vital center of his back.

Reaching this sort of impossible situation and facing more than five hundred Stone Dragon Warriors, Percy made the most correct, as well as the most crazy decision; that was to concentrate mostly on his attack, and as for defense, it basically stopped at Piper. Because the faster he killed, the less pressure there would be. Traveling through the enemy ranks, he crazily chopped and cleared the Stone Dragon Warriors like a hurricane rushing through fallen leaves. The sounds of roars, crashes and explosions were ear-splitting, yet they never ceased.

Before two minutes had even passed, Percy had already been hit by twelve arrows, pierced by twelve spears, and hacked at by nine swords and thirteen blades at his back, shoulder and chest. More and more wounds opened up, and following his violent actions, these wounds no longer just bled, but were continually gushing blood. Horrifyingly, his shirt had long been completely dyed red by his blood.

The greatest threat to Percy was undoubtedly the Stone Dragon Archers in the rear. The wounds on Percy's body were mostly the outcome of trying to escape lethal attacks from the arrows. These Stone Dragon Archers were also the most critical targets to be killed. However, there were layers after layers of Stone Dragon Warriors, and he was inhibited from directly rushing to the Stone Dragon Archers. Out of all the profound skills he had, the one that could attack the furthest, was the Divine Sea Tsunami… but the Divine Sea Tsunami's consumption was far too large. If he really used it, he would be completely spent through and through.

He had to dispose of these Stone Dragon Archers. If he didn't, and continued to get injured this way, he would die before killing all the Stone Dragon Warriors here…..

Fixating his gaze on the Stone Dragon Warriors outside, Percy's gaze grew more and more solemn. On the surface of his body, a sea breeze began to swirl and the air trembled with vibrations. Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and the vibrations on his body all rushed towards his heavy sword. Following which, along with the brandishing of his heavy sword, the vibration was flung out far away.

Scree~~

In its wake, a resonant Dragon Roar sounded and an enormous Sea Dragon flew from Percy's heavy sword. Passing through the Stone Dragon Warriors' carcasses, it fell sixty five meters away in the middle of the pack of Stone Dragon Archers, and then exploded; in the Shaking space, a dozen or so Stone Dragon Archers were sent exploding into the sky as their bodies smashed into powder in midair.

"He….. He went as far as to merge the Sea Gods Vibrations into the Heavy Sword Slash fundamental formula… to give rise to a profound skill that combines the heavy sword with Poseidons Power over the waves!" Artemis blurted out in surprise from within his Inner World, and then mumbled, "To actually combine the two divine arts that normal people might never be able to fully grasp in their lifetimes, and to do so in under this nearly impossible situation, and to be successful on the first try… How much of a monstrous perception does he possess!"

This was Percy's first self-made profound skill. Watching the dozen or so Stone Dragon Archers that had exploded, he mumbled this profound skill's name quietly…

"Wave Break!"

The Wave Break was a large-scale Vibration attack that was no different than the EarthShaker. Although it had a much smaller range, it could attack from a long distance and its consumption was much less in comparison. The corners of Percy's mouth lifted. A wave of energy that came from who knows where, yet again welled up throughout his body and ignited the brandished heavy sword. He flung out a Roaring Dragon that gave off a low roar one after another. These Sea Dragons rushed close to the Stone Dragon Warrior's body and flew to the Stone Dragon Archers far away, exterminating wave after wave of Stone Dragon Archers that were originally already not many in number.

As the injuries on his body grew more and more severe, the blood that had flowed out from his body had unknowingly become a third of the total amount of blood in his body. His clothes had been completely dyed and a large portion of Piper's clothes were also dyed red, yet his expression was terrifyingly calm. His movements were still fierce and it was as if he completely did not feel any pain, let alone know that his body had already sustained so many horrifying injuries.

Him squeezing out his life, was also squeezing at his limits. Where his limit was located… perhaps even he himself did not know.

This almost miraculous profound skill that was self-made by fusion, became a light of hope to the Percy who was in despair. His focus of attack switched to the far away Stone Dragon Archers; following the brandishing of the heavy sword, the close by Stone Dragon Warriors were blown away. What's more, the Dragon shaped Ripples that were shot flying out also blew up the Stone Dragon Archers one by one.

Percy's resounding roars, the heavy sword's howling, the rumbling collisions, and dragon's low Roars weaved into a dreadful sonata in this isolated valley. Percy's vision gradually grew hazy. His body almost became entirely numb, to the extent that he almost could not feel the existence of his arm. But his right arm that tightly gripped the heavy sword, still continued to swing mechanically. After a few tens of Dragon Roars, all of the Stone Dragon Archers fell, and more than half of the Stone Dragon Warriors that had numbered over five hundred also fell at this time. Nevertheless, the dancing of the heavy sword still did not stop, and made the numbers of fallen Stone Dragon Warriors higher and higher… Three hundred…. Four hundred…. Five hundred….

Boom!

Following the sounds of an explosion, the earth broke apart. Mustering up the last of his strength, Percy attacked. All the Stone Dragon Warriors were blown far away, and a fifteen meter radius void of nothingness instantly appeared around Percy. After this blow, Percy was finally going to black out as he knelt down… If it weren't for the heavy sword's support, he would have already collapsed to the ground. However, in his left arm, he still tightly held onto Piper… His entire arm was covered in more than twenty blade, sword, spear and arrow injuries. His arm was blood red and there was essentially no area that was left unscathed. Piper, who was under the protection of this arm, did not suffer any injuries although her clothes had been stained red with fresh blood.

Under the Percy's last strike, the group of the Stone Dragon Warriors that was likewise the last, fell. The breath he had held on to with all his might, also exhausted along with the falling motion of his body. Let alone standing up, he couldn't even heavily pant. Even though his eyes were open, he could only see a field of white…

Even he himself could not believe that he actually trudged through this ninth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors. However, he was already incapable of remembering how he did it.

Crunch…

A burst of heavy sounds came from his front and made him subconsciously raise his head. In the midst of his blurry vision, he saw one Stone Dragon Warrior that fell down from his last attack, actually slowly stood up. It then wielded its spear, and pierced toward him at a running pace.

There was… one more…

Percy's teeth viciously bit onto the tip of his tongue as he abruptly lifted his body…. However, his current body felt as if it weighed millions of kilos; under all his strength, not only did he fail to stand up, it also instigated an acute and heart-drilling pain in his entire body instead. It was simply impossible for him to lift the heavy sword; even nudging it was an impossibility.

The Stone Dragon Warrior was already a foot away as it came piercing in a straight line…. He had already killed an entire nine waves of Stone Dragon Warriors, which amounted to over a thousand. But this last one, instead, became a turbulent river that was seemingly impossible to cross.

If this spear strike was pierced toward Percy, it was quite possible for it to directly take Percy's life. However, it aligned the head of its spear, at Piper.

The stone spear that stabbed toward Piper, heavily touched a certain very sensitive nerve of Percy's. With strength that he mustered from who knows where, his left hand shot out like a bolt of lightning, and firmly gripped onto the spear's tip. His right hand grasped into a fist, and violently smashed out. With a heavy sound, it directly smashed through the Stone Dragon Warrior's chest.

With a 'bam' sound, the Stone Dragon Warrior heavily crashed down onto the ground. Percy's vision also went black once again, and he couldn't even keep his kneeling posture. After letting out a wheeze, he fell onto the ground facing upwards.

His entire being had already turned into a bloodied person through and through. Countless wounds and bloody holes dispersed throughout his entire body. Even he himself didn't expect that after receiving so many injuries, losing so much blood, and even exhausting his life on top of that, he was actually still alive.

No wonder all the previous challengers had died here… Percy closed his eyes and let out a powerlessly bitter laugh. This was only the trial's first stage and it had not even ended yet. Even though Percy had the aid of several divine skills and god's secret arts, he was already in such a predicament. If it were anyone else, he might not even pass the fourth wave or even just the third wave. The later stages were definitely a nightmare or abyss that became scarier and scarier.

Is this really just a trial? How could there be such a scary trial in this world… This trial, compared to the Battle Qi Institute Trial, was not just ten times more difficult. It was at least a hundred or even a thousand times more difficult…

"Percy… Percy!" Piper shouted gently, but did not get a response from Percy.

Suddenly, the voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon rang from above.

"Very good, young human. The fact that you were able to reach this stage is already an unimaginable miracle. If it weren't for the lady by your side, this trial would be several times simpler; at least you would not be in such a desperate situation. However, the first stage of the trial has not yet been completed. The last wave, which is also the most difficult challenge, is going to start soon. But before that, I will give you sixty breaths of time of rest… No, with your injuries, this sixty breaths might not help you rest properly, and might instead even worsen your injuries, causing you to lose more life force… Everything, will be decided by your own fortune."

Percy laid down on the floor motionless. Even though his eyes were open, they were lifeless, as though he had not heard the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice. Just as his consciousness was about to fade into stillness, Artemis's voice seemed like a wake-up call, shocking him back to life.

"If you do not want to die, hurry up and use water to stabilize your injuries!"

Percy's eyes sprang back to life as his body slightly moved. A small water bag floated out from his inner world space and exploded over him. In just less than ten breaths of time, all the bleeding on his body had stopped.

"Piper, don't worry. I'm fine…" While stabilizing his own breathing, Percy turned around and revealed a smile to Piper to comfort her: "You also heard it just now… There's only one wave left… Victory, is just before our eyes. W… We, will definitely endure through this together!"

"If… it weren't for me, you… at least… would only suffer some slight injuries… At least, you would still have thirty percent of your strength left… to deal with the next trial… You're… really… stupid…."

"Haha…." Percy started to laugh. This laugh, instantly affected the countless wounds on his body, and made the muscles on his face intensely cramp from pain: "Since I've already been stupid for so long, then let me be stupid till the end. But you definitely cannot say such words like leaving you behind anymore. Otherwise, wouldn't I have suffered all these wounds on my body for nothing."

Sixty breaths of time silently passed.

At this time, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the mountain cliffs directly in front of him. Along with the sound, a gate that was near ten meters in height suddenly opened in the mountain cliff. Within the mountain gate, a towering silhouette slowly walked out with heavy steps. As it fully walked out, the stone gate behind him also closed amidst the rumbling sound.

This silhouette's outer shape was very similar to the Stone Dragon Warriors, however, it was much bigger than an ordinary Stone Dragon Warrior. Its body was over three meters, and its entire body was covered in thick and heavy golden colored armor; the weapon in its hands was more so extraordinarily eye-catching… That was a colossal sword with a completely grey body, and was even a size larger than the Overlord's Colossal Sword in Percy's hands. The sword's shape was twisted, as if it was an oddly shaped dragon bone. As for the sword's tip, it impressively displayed the shape of a ferocious roaring dragon.

Whether it was this enormous Stone Dragon Warrior, or the sword in its hand, both emitted an extremely terrifying aura… An aura that was even more terrifying than the five hundred Stone Dragon Warriors that appeared altogether at the same time.

The last trial of the first stage of the Dragon God Trial, only had one opponent — Stone Dragon General!

A.N.: my plan had been a 10K chapter. But this is what you get. Well the next battle is a major boss battle! Hope you guys enjoy!


	10. The Stone Dragon General

**Second Arc: The Stone Dragon General**

The last trial of the first stage of the Dragon God Trial, only had one opponent — Stone Dragon General!

Percy laid Piper down delicately, then stood upright, both hands grasping onto the hilt of the heavy sword. If there was only one opponent, all he had to do was pull it away a little, so he wouldn't need to hold Piper anymore, and he would be able to fight with both his hands and all his strength.

Every part of his entire body, every ounce of energy from his cells was forced out with all his might. With a low growl, he stood up once again, and grasped the heavy sword horizontally in front of him with both hands.

"You are not its match… Level eight Warrior, even if you were in peak condition, there is simply no chance that you would be able to defeat it, let alone the you in your current state." Artemis said with a gloomy voice: "And… Do you see the sword in its hands? That sword is even more frightening than the enormous Stone Dragon General itself because it is a heavy sword, and a genuine… Dragon Clan Divine Weapon!"

Percy: "…"

"Even if I can't defeat it… I still have to fight! I've already gotten to this point, I don't have any reason to give up and resign!" Percy growled in a low voice. In order to have the fight as far away as possible from Piper, he took the initiative to face the Stone Dragon General. In order to save a bit of energy, he dragged the heavy sword as he moved forward, and the heavy sword's body plowed a deep indentation through the ground.

The Stone Dragon General did not show any emotion and did not speak; it only attacked. When Percy entered its range of perception, its eyes suddenly lit up under the golden-yellow helmet. Its footsteps abruptly sped up and it swung the heavy sword out, smashing straight at Percy.

This was the first time in Percy's life against an opponent that also used a heavy sword. But he firmly believed that this Stone Dragon General's ability to control a heavy sword definitely could not compare to him, because he possessed the Sea God's Bloodline. And because he was proficient in the fundamental stage of the Thousand Layered Waves, Percy was well-acquainted with all the advantages of the heavy sword, as well as all the disadvantages of the heavy sword. He must not forcibly clash with the Stone Dragon General's heavy sword; the only chance of him defeating it relied on speed and guerrilla warfare, attacking whenever there is an opening.

When the Stone Dragon General's heavy sword came swinging by, his eyes flashed as he swiftly retreated with a Moonlight flash and completely dodged that strike. Although he managed to dodge it, he was completely spent and weakened. The wind wave brought about by the sword strike made him lose his balance and narrowly missed the floor.

The Stone Dragon General stepped forward and brandished the heavy sword in a chain of four or five successive strikes that were all dodged by Percy's use of the Moonlight flash… However, the only thing he could do was evade, because his weakened body had become slow and it was fundamentally impossible to find any opening for a chance to counterattack.

Its body was too heavy, the sword was too heavy, and the Stone Dragon General's speed was not fast. In the few times it attacked, it didn't touch Percy at all. Thus, it seemed to have been enraged. It suddenly raised the heavy sword in its hands high in the air, and emitted an extremely harsh screeching sound.

In the wake of the screeching sound, several chaotically flashing yellow lights appeared at random places of the area. In the midst of the yellow lights, around thirty or so Stone Dragon Warriors wielding all sorts of weapons appeared in different locations… A few that were near Piper's location immediately charged straight at her.

No matter what, Percy would never have expected that this Stone Dragon General could actually summon Stone Dragon Warriors. Looking at the Stone Dragon Warriors that rushed toward Piper, he maniacally roared; energy surged from his entire body as he dashed over with his fastest speed. He then swung out his heavy sword and blew away all of the nearby Stone Dragon Warriors. While quickly passing ahead, he once again held up Piper to his chest.

At this time, a terrifying whirlwind suddenly pressed toward him from his backside. As he rushed backwards, the Stone Dragon General also closely followed behind him. When he lifted up Piper, the Stone Dragon General's terrifying heavy sword also violently smashed toward Percy's back. The Percy in this current situation could not evade, and it was impossible for him to even fully turn his body around. He could only firmly hold Piper with his left arm, turn his body halfway and tightly clench his teeth; carrying all of his strength, his right hand that gripped the heavy sword greeted the Stone Dragon General's heavy sword.

BOOM!

Before today, Percy had never encountered a weapon more powerful than the heavy sword he wielded. However, the moment the heavy sword slammed into the Stone Dragon General, he felt as if an enormous mountain had fallen from the heavens to slam into him…. He suddenly lost all feeling in his arm, and the heavy sword flew up into the air. He himself smashed down into the earth, shooting like an arrow across the surface of the ground, leaving behind a nearly sixty meter mark in the dirt.

Bang! The heavy sword descended, miraculously slamming down next to his feet, penetrating the hard-packed earth. Shockingly, a two inch nick had appeared on the blade of the sword.

After Percy slid to a stop, everything was still. His arm was bent backward at a horrifying angle. It was hard to tell if it was just severely dislocated, or simply broken.

"Percy… Percy!" Piper cried at the top of her lungs as her heart filled with anxiousness. Just now, when Percy had been thrown backwards across the ground, he had held her tightly up against his chest. She hadn't been hurt even the slightest bit. However, Percy had clearly suffered a severe injury. Such a blow would have been fatal to anyone other than him.

Piper knew that she was the reason Percy had been injured. If he hadn't been attempting to protect her, he could dealt with the Stone Dragon General with speed. Perhaps he wouldn't have achieved victory, but at least he wouldn't have been so quickly put into such a miserable situation.

"I'm… okay…."

Percy struggled to sit up. His voice was hoarse and a bit muffled as he spoke. By the time he sat up, the Stone Dragon General was roughly thirty paces away. His right arm was still twisted back, and he couldn't feel it anymore. The only thing he could feel was a sharp pain in his shoulder.

"Let me go… If you don't wish to die, hurry up and let me go!" Percy's miserable condition caused Piper's vision to swim. She just couldn't understand why he would risk his life to protect her… risk his life and not hold anything back! People were selfish by nature. Cherishing life was an instinct. She really didn't understand why this mysterious young man could hold such disregard for his own life and his own benefit just to protect her.

"No… no way!" said Percy gravely, gritting his teeth.

"If you don't let me go… I'll bite off my tongue and kill myself!"

Piper's words caused Percy's pupils to constrict. He tilted his head to look at her. Seeing her determined face, his mouth twitched, and then suddenly he roared at the top of his voice: "Shut the hell up!"

The furious roar knocked Piper virtually senseless. When had anyone ever dared to speak thusly to her; she, who stood so arrogantly at the apex of the profound strength pyramid, who looked down at all creation?

Percy's entire body trembled. While staring at Piper, he grated, "Piper, you need to listen to me carefully. At the moment, you are not a revered practitioner half a step away from the Level Eight Warrior! You are not set above the masses, nor are you a DeGrest Society Disciple who can look down on everyone. You're just a weak little girl who can't even protect herself! As a weak little girl, there's only one thing you can do. And that is, to let a man protect you!

"Now I get it. You kick men away, you basically hate them down to your bones, disdain them…. Well, there probably aren't any men your age in the Hope City who can measure up to you. One day you might well become the most powerful person in all of Hope City, but that doesn't mean you can despise all men! Even the most powerful of women must have a man to rely on sometimes. That's obviously why women and men both exist in the world! If throughout her life, a woman rejects all the men who wished to protect her, then she'll end up with no one! If that happens, then even if she stands on top of the entire world, she's still nothing but a someone all alone… even a man relies upon his wife for strength!.

"In terms of status, I may be thousands of times weaker than you, but here you are, relying on me! You can seek death, you can try to kill yourself, or even give up. But I won't. Because I'm a man. When a man must protect someone, only death can stop him!"

Percy slowly stood up. Without his arm to support him, it was a bit difficult. "You want to die, but I don't… I selected the heavy sword so that I could take care of the people I chose to protect. The first person to fall under the protection of my heavy sword is not a family member, or a loved one, or even a friend. It's you…. If I'm not capable of defending the very first person to come under my protection, then how can I continue to use the heavy sword?

"Today, I'll bet my life and my dignity to show you, you who hates men… what is… a true man!"

"UAHHHHHHH!"

Percy opened his eyes to its extreme limit as he let out his hoarse cry. He jerked the right side of his body, causing the dislocated arm to snap forward. It clicked back into place with a popping sound…. It only took a moment, but the pain was unimaginable. However, Percy didn't so much as frown. His arm was now back in its original position, but couldn't be moved forward. He gripped the hilt of the heavy sword and looked at the approaching Stone Dragon General. He laughed, a laughter grim and shrill.

"Divine…Surge!"

As the two words erupted from his mouth, his eyes suddenly filled with a light red color. Poseidons blood had granted him the ability to erupt with godly power. The first level was always open, granting him the power of waves and vibrations. Poseidon's bloods' second level — Divine Surge, a gate that he would never dare to open under any circumstances, was forcibly opened by him in his most weakened state.

Inside his Inner World, Percy's action caused Artemis to turn pale in shock. She opened her mouth, but then immediately bit down the words that nearly left her mouth. While accessing Percy's current condition, she went into a daze; her vision became hazy as an indistinct figure that she always yearned for appeared before her eyes. Then, it slowly overlapped with Percy's current form…

His personality seemed very, very much like that of her older brother…her brave brother Apollo

In order to protect those he must protect, in order to protect his own pride and honor…he had risen against the limits of his power to protect and shield her…

He knew what he had to do, and he knew what would happen if he did… However, he would never hesitate. Furthermore, there wasn't anyone who could stop him…

When "Divine Surge", the Poseidon's second level, opened, the previously exhausted body was suddenly filled with an incomparable vigor. But at the same time, it also gave rise to unstable energy ripples. Percy gripped the heavy sword and let out a roar of rage. He hurled the heavy sword toward the incoming Stone Dragon General…. The blade of the sword shook space itself, causing space to suffer minute cracks!.

"Wave Break!"

This Wave Break did not send forth a Roaring Dragon. but rather, a Deadly heavy sword!

Ripples danced madly upon the surface of the heavy sword's blade as it transformed into an enormous steel Dragon. It shot forward toward the Stone Dragon General as Vibrations filled with unstoppable power rippled. Percy flew along behind it. As he did, his bones cracked and rumbled. The space burst out around him, as a pair of resplendent illusory Dragon wings sprouted from his back.

"Thousand Layered Waves, Final Move: Divine Sea Tsunami!"

They flew through the air, sword and man!

Bang!

The heavy sword stabbed into the chest of the Stone Dragon General, sending ripples bursting out. Massive vibrations engulfed the Stone Dragon General, shoving its torso backward. The force of the explosion caused Percy's torso to also bend backwards. Thrown off balance, he lost control and spun down towards the ground.

He spun in midair, while keeping one arm encircled protectively around Piper. His other hand reached out to grab the heavy sword as it flew back toward him. Vicious violence glittered in his eyes as he raised the heavy sword high into the air…

"Poseidons…Sea…..Dragon…..…Storm!"

"Haah!"

A massive wind chaotically sprung up, and a blue Dragon howling at the sky flashed behind Percy. As Percy brandished the heavy sword, the Dragon shot forward, carrying with it power seemingly sufficient to collapse the heavens and crush the earth.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM…..

The Dragon charged, leaving a deep gully in its wake as it shot forward. It reached the fallen Stone Dragon General in the blink of an eye, slamming into it and sent the Stone Dragon General flying up into the air. The immense power of the attack knocked the Stone Dragon General a full one hundred meters away. It slammed into the side of the mountain, then slowly slid down toward the ground. Crumbling rocks and debris rained down onto it, burying it completely. Only its heavy sword remained on the outside.

Piper watched mutely as all of this happened, seemingly having lost the ability to even think.

"Did… did it… work?" she said. She felt as if she were in some sort of dream. Despite such a serious injury, despite being drained of energy, Percy had suddenly erupted with a shocking amount of power…. He was like some sort of monster. It was as if his body didn't have any bottom line.

The only answer she received was the ear-splitting drone of the heavy sword.

Piper forced her tiny head to look up. When she caught sight of Percy's face, her eyes instantly grew wide.

Percy's eyes were closed, and two thin streams of blood seeped out from their corners. Blood also oozed out of his mouth, nose and ears.

Drip… drip….

Faint but intense cracking sounds could be heard, emanating from Percy's skin, blood vessels and bones. The skin on his face, arms, and body… were slowly being filled with cracks. Blood oozed out of the cracks. Over a few breaths of time, his face began to fill with similar narrow cracks. It looked like parched, dry earth… beneath his clothes, cracks covered the rest of his body. Beneath his skin, his blood vessels and bones also seemed to be splitting apart.

Using the Divine Surge in a normal situation was dangerous enough. But to use it in a weakened state was even worse. Percy had predicted that something like this would happen. The three moves he had made after using Divine Surge had completely sapped him of all energy and will. Perhaps it would turn out to be his final blaze of glory before dying.

Ba-thump….

Percy's left arm went limp and Piper dropped to the ground. Then, Percy fell flat onto the ground, unmoving. He didn't even have a chance to utter a single word to Piper.

"Percy… Percy… Percy!"

Piper's cried out as loud as she could and reached out to touch him with her right arm, the only arm she could move. However, she was simply too weak. The half pace that existed between them was a gap too far to cross. She looked at Percy, who laid there motionless, hemorrhaging blood, and her heart began to throb with pain…. It was a pain she had never felt before, mixed with a deep dread — dread that Percy might die.

Before she realized what was happening, her vision began to grown blurry. This fact filled her mind with numbness and confusion, because… she was crying. A Dozen years had passed in which she never imagined that she would cry, especially not for a man so beneath her. What was unfamiliar, were not only her uncontrollable tears, nor the unbearable pain which stabbed into her heart like an arrow, but also deep fear.

Here she was, crying. She didn't know why she was crying, or why she felt pain, or why she was scared…. She began to weep; great billowing waves of weeping that she couldn't prevent, and couldn't stop.

"Percy… Percy!" she cried with a voice filled with helplessness and sorrow.

Boom!

Her shouts did not provoke any response from Percy. However, over at the base of the mountain, the sounds of crumbling rocks suddenly sounded out. The Stone Dragon General suddenly emerged from the pile of rubble. Debris showered off its body as it stood up once more.

The Stone Dragon General lifted its heavy sword and walked forward step by step; each step was like the approaching footsteps of a Death God.

Piper motionlessly stared blankly. In this certain death situation, the Percy who was completely covered in blood, made her, who had been wholeheartedly seeking death, suddenly possess an intense will to live. Because her current life was desperately protected by Percy's own life and conviction. If she died, all of Percy's efforts and injuries would have all been for naught. Whether it was for herself, or for everything he had done for her, she did not want to die anymore… and even more so, did not want Percy to die.

But at this moment, this enemy that she would've never taken a glance at previously, had become a Death God that she was incapable of opposing. Every step the Stone Dragon General took to draw near, her expression became all the more ice-cold and unwilling… At this moment, her eyes suddenly flashed and she remembered something that she had long forgotten for many years.

She struggled to open her right hand and took out an extremely small glass bead from her spatial ring. Then, she used every inch of her strength to pinch it into pieces. Immediately, the shattered bead released an expanse of an ice-blue brilliant aurora. After that, the blue radiance flashed and formed a flowing ice-aurora barrier around Piper and Percy.

The Stone Dragon General currently within five steps away. Its body rammed against the barrier and was bounced back by the tough barrier. The Stone Dragon General took a step back, raised the gigantic sword in its hands, and heavy smashed at the barrier.

Boom!

The Stone Dragon General exploded with power yet the ice-blue barrier only rippled faintly and did not show any signs of being damaged. However, the Stone Dragon General's body was repelled by the tremor and was knocked two steps back. Unresigned, it continued onwards and repeatedly attacked the barrier with its heavy sword but it was never able to make any sort of crack on the barrier.

The bead that Piper had shattered was called the "Frozen Soul Bead". After breaking it into pieces, a "Frozen Soul Barrier" would be released. The longest duration a Frozen Soul Barrier could last was ten hours. Not only that, any warrior lower than the Level Nine Warrior was incapable of damaging it.

This Frozen Soul Bead was given to her by her grandfather when she was around the age of five to use during a life-threatening situation. But only a few years after that, she had forgotten about it. Ten or so years had passed so she simply had already forgotten about the Frozen Soul Bead's existence. However, just a moment ago, when her passion to live ignited once more, she suddenly remembered it.

Although the Stone Dragon General wielded a heavy sword, its own strength was merely at the Level Eight Warrior; it was fundamentally impossible for it to split open this Frozen Soul Barrier. The surrounding Stone Dragon Warriors that were summoned by the Stone Dragon General all charged forward and all sorts of weaponry bombarded the barrier. But even if these Stone Dragon Warriors came again a hundred times, or a thousand times, there was no way of making even a sliver of an dent on the barrier.

Inside the Frozen Soul Barrier, they were safe for the time being. Although Percy was motionless, bleed from all seven apertures on his head, and was riddled with scars, Piper still faintly sensed his extremely weak life force. Under the temporary protection of the Frozen Soul Barrier, she silently watched Percy and waited for a miracle to happen… Which was Percy standing up again. Since he was able to stand up so many times before, he was definitely able to stand up once more.

Percy indeed had not died yet, and he was actually completely conscious the entire time. He just could not feel his body, couldn't see anything, and could not hear anything. His completely awake consciousness was also especially fuzzy. If it weren't for the support of his unwavering willpower, this wisp of consciousness would have long since dissipated.

The single drop of Poseidon's blood actively circulated near his heart and protected the last of his life force within its flames.

"I can't… die yet…"

"How can… I die… here…"

"Calypso's waiting for me… Senior sister Aphrodite's also waiting for me… Artemis gave me a new lease in life, and I haven't even fulfilled a single one of my promises to her…"

"I absolutely… cannot… die!"

His barely remaining consciousness had completely transformed into a will to live. He knew clearly, that in order to live, he had to forcibly suppress the rupturing of his body brought about by Divine Surge right away. It was just that the current him was incapable of mobilizing his internal energy. The opening of Divine Surge, had also completely paralyzed his profound veins. The only thing he could arouse was the Healing Power of Poseidon's blood that was within his consciousness.

He was incapable of sensing anything from the outside world, so he was naturally unable to be disturbed. Under this sort of state, his mind reached a sort of concentrated peak. Suddenly, his understanding of Poseidon's healing power intensified. He recalled the soothing feel of water, and fused it with the scene of artemis's body healing with his blood. This was a moment of deep enlightenment. Artemis was astonished." This feeling from within his body….. is it the Great Way of the Buddha?!"

Inside his mind, the profound formula for the Great Way of the Buddha clearly surfaced…

"I, am the master of everything in this world. Buddha exists in my heart, so I am worthy of the Great Way…"

The Great Way of the Buddha slowly began to activate. Using his consciousness as the starting point, it slowly spread toward his broken body and gradually began to absorb in nature's essence.

The Great Way of the Buddha's fundamentals just happened to use the essence of nature to temper one's own body. It would bestow the body with an enormous strength that was extremely resilient and could also rapidly quicken an injury's recovery. At the lowest of levels, the Great Way of the Buddha could absorb the essence of nature. At the intermediate level, it could then take in the origin of nature's essence. And at the later stages, legend has it that it could absorb the original essence of Primordial Gods. And make even the mortal body a god's.

Percy's current injuries were too severe and was a fine line away from death. The activated Great Way of the Buddha was no more than a cup of water on a flaming cart of firewood; the speed at which it recovered his injuries was completely incapable of catching up to the speed of his injuries worsening. His body's vitality left him at a quicker rate than it absorbing the essence of nature. However, Percy was completely unaware of everything that was happening; he merely clung onto his will to live. While tenaciously refusing to allow the last of his consciousness to fade, he desperately channeled the Great Way of the Buddha.

The Great Way of the Buddha's profound formula slowly drifted in Percy's consciousness. Percy's entire consciousness concentrated upon it… Suddenly, these profound words became indistinct and then rapidly scattered about. Then, a slowly rotating silver colored pagoda appeared in its place… Afterwards, the slowly rotating pagoda enlarged, and then enlarged again, until it filled his entire consciousness…

Ping…

This silver colored pagoda in his consciousness shattered into pieces after slightly trembling, and became brilliant silver rays of light that filled the sky… At the same time, a faint layer of silvery radiance also surfaced upon Percy's body that was riddled with scars.

The Great Way of the Buddha's circulation suddenly became quicker; as if pulled in by an immense force, the essence of nature in the surroundings was quickly absorbed by Percy's body. At the moment, his body that was currently riddled with ghastly cracks suddenly became the most optimal state in which he could take in the world's elements.

The operation of the Great Way of the Buddha became faster and faster, and the absorption of nature's essence also hastened with it. Gradually, it reached the extreme limit of the Great Way of the Buddha's first stage, yet it still did not stop and operated at an even faster rate than Percy at peak condition.

The different aura was sensed by Piper. She tilted her head and stared blankly at Percy… Currently, his entire body was covered in a thick layer of silver light, and this layer of silver light still continued to faintly expand as every crack that could be distinguished by the naked eye, slowly healed. Those minute cracks from before had now completely disappeared without a trace.

Piper's gaze shook as she silently watched this inconceivable scene. Even with her knowledge of the world at her level and several years of extensive observation, she still did not understand what was happening to Percy's body.

The silver colored radiance grew even more brighter than before. A current of air chaotically swirled round and round in his surroundings, as if something was wildly entering his body.

Percy's consciousness became clearer and clearer. He gradually started to sense the existence of his body, head, chest, and limbs… What came to him was not acute pain, but was rather a sort of wild joyfulness; it was because this signified that after the opening of Divine Surge, these places in his body had not been destroyed.

Immediately, he silently concentrated and calmly continued to operate the Great Way of the Buddha, letting it circulate within his body over and over again… Once, twice… ten cycles… a hundred cycles… three hundred cycles…

After thirty complete cycles of the Great Way of the Buddha, he was finally able to feel all of his body parts. Pain and their existence were felt clearly, and a continuously sort of striking sound was heard beside his ears. After a hundred cycles, his profound veins awakened from their paralysis. He felt an external force from the outside world quickly enter his fifty four profound entrances via his profound veins, and rapidly restore his profound strength at an extremely shocking rate. The feeling of having a powerless and stiff body, slowly faded away.

After two hundred cycles, the pain in his entire body completely disappeared.

After three hundred cycles, Percy slowly opened his eyes that radiated a penetrating brilliance similar to the cold edge of a blade.

The second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha was miraculously attained during a near-death experience in which he was clinging to life!

The Great Way of the Buddha was a profound art that belonged to the Healing powers of the sea. The oceans gave life to all. Chaos itself was one primordial ocean. Percy had used the first stage till now, but now after an entire lifetime, in his second life, he grasped the second stage! every stage's breakthrough required an extremely long period of mental and physical comprehension, as well as lucky opportunities that could only be discovered by chance. It took Percy not even three years time to perfectly master the first stage of the Great Way of the Buddha. In Artemis's eyes, this feat was already a miracle. To her, even if Percy's comprehension was shocking, in order to reach the second stage, he would at least need a decade's worth of time. Never would she have thought, and never would Percy have thought that being on the brink of death, while in extreme concentration, while not hesitating to do anything to live… Under these dangerous key circumstances of when Percy could not even sense a single thing, the Great Way of the Buddha had actually broken through to the second stage.

And every time a stage had been stepped across, it was also accompanied by the shedding of one's body and bones.

Percy's every injury, whether they be internal or external, were all completely healed that not even a single sliver of a scar remained. His hair grew longer by half a foot, his eyes became even brighter, and his hearing became even more acute. His organs, bones, skin and flesh, all brimmed with an incomparable toughness. Even his blood became a bit more thicker as the throbbing of his heart's pulse became even more robust. The previously weakened body that could not even lift a single finger was now brimming with incredibly powerful strength… This powerful sensation was actually felt under a state in which he had not used the slightest amount of profound strength!

Artemis had told him before that the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha would give the body strength that totaled four thousand kilograms!

The Battle qi in his body exploded. Percy's aura climbed ferociously, rising through the Level Five, then breaking through into Level Six Warrior!

Percy hopped up from the ground like a carp flipping out of the water. Looking at his hands, he felt power bubbling throughout his entire body, as if he was in a dream.

Percy's sudden leap up undoubtedly startled Piper. She watched Percy, and said weakly: "Percy… you…"

At this time, from the time Percy lost consciousness and the opening of the Frozen Soul Barrier, six hours had already elapsed. With Piper's current state, she had unyieldingly resisted falling asleep, and painfully waited for Percy to wake up and stand up again. Only, she never would've thought that not only did Percy stand up once again, his entire person, in the short span of six hours' time, had completely recovered from all its injuries, replenished all its strength, and had been completely reformed.

"I'm alright now." Percy put both hands down, then said with a slight smile. He looked at the Stone Dragon General outside, which was firmly isolated from the Frozen Soul Barrier, and said in a low voice: "Was it this barrier that protected us?"

"Hmph, you don't say! If it wasn't for this barrier, don't mention breaking through, you would've died a hundred times already!" Artemis said snappily.

"This is a Frozen Soul Barrier; it can still sustain for four more hours. You… are you really alright?" Piper looked at Percy, and said with a voice still filled with disbelief.

Percy smiled lightly, and did not speak. Profound energy spread outwards, dispersing all the bloodstains on the exterior of his body. In an instant, not even a trace of bloodstains could be seen on his face, hands, and skin revealed through the holes of his clothing. His skin was as bright and clean as jade, with absolutely no sign of scarring.

This scene caused Piper's eyes to reveal some uncertainty. Percy bent down, and sent a gust of profound energy into Piper's body to protect her heart veins, and said with a gentle expression: "Wait for me here. We'll leave this place immediately."

After speaking, Percy grabbed the heavy sword on the floor, and charged out of the Frozen Soul Barrier… The Frozen Soul Barrier was a protective ward, and also an isolation ward. One could not enter, but one could leave.

Breaking through to the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha had allowed the strength of Percy's body to increase greatly. The one thousand nine hundred fifty kilogram heavy sword in his hands felt so light that it was almost as if it didn't exist. It also felt much lighter than an ordinary profound practitioner holding a light sword. Once he exited the Frozen Soul Barrier, he swept the heavy sword horizontally outwards. With a string of explosions, those Stone Dragon Warriors were smashed to bits and pieces like pulverized beans… Crushed with incomparable thoroughness.

At this time, the strength contained in one strike was completely incomparable to before. More than twenty Stone Dragon Warriors were completely destroyed in just one sweep. Then, his body turned and jumped high in the air. With a low growl, he struck straight at the Stone Dragon General.

Before, he had been beaten half to death by one strike from the Stone Dragon General… And this time, he wanted to verify if his current reformed self could compare to the power of this Stone Dragon General head-on.

Boom!

The two heavy swords collided ferociously. With an enormous sound, two intertwining gorges formed in the ground underneath their feet. The Stone Dragon General moved backwards while Percy shot outwards. After landing, he slid a distance before stopping with great effort, and his hands felt numb for a while.

On the body of the Overlord's Colossal Sword, another nick around an inch long appeared.

The Overlord's Colossal Sword had clashed with the enormous sword in the Stone Dragon General's hands twice, and both times, a huge nick had been smashed into it. This was the disparity between two levels.

Percy's eyebrows sunk slightly. Although his strength had increased greatly, the Stone Dragon General had attained the Level Eight Warrior Realm. Even Hercules, who could fight Level Seven Warriors, when he was a Level Six Warrior, couldn't fight a Level Eight Warrior when he became a Level Seven Warrior! The Gap between Level Seven Warrior and Level Eight Warrior was just too big! Also it wielded an extremely powerful Divine Dragon Clan heavy sword. His thoughts of facing it head-on was still a little naive.

However, Percy's expression didn't reveal any unease. Possessing the Sea God's Bloodline, he was least afraid of opponents that wielded heavy swords, because he was simply too familiar the main principle behind brute strength. His own fists were very similar. His gaze landed on the oddly-shaped heavy sword in the Stone Dragon General's hands, and an unusual expression flashed repeatedly in his eyes.

Divine Weapons; there were probably only ten in the entire Gaia Continent! As for Divine level heavy swords, they simply did not exist.

But today, there was actually one right in front of him!

Although the current setting was the realm of the trials, since one could die or break through the realm, this meant that everything in this place was real. This also meant that the Divine weapon in front of him was real as well!

With this thought, Percy raised his head and lifted the heavy sword up. He charged at the Stone Dragon General like lightning, but this time, he didn't continue attacking the Stone Dragon General head-on. Rather, as its heavy sword came forward to receive his strike, he shifted his position using Moonlight Flash. He flashed to its left side, and smashed down with all his strength using the heavy sword.

The physical strength and power of the Stone Dragon General's body, as well as its weapon, were both incredibly frightening. But it had one great flaw, which was its speed. Percy had clearly figured this out in his half-dead state before his breakthrough.

Along with a "boom", the heavy sword smashed heavily onto the Stone Dragon General's right shoulder. The golden-yellow armor on its shoulders fell off in an instant, but its body only stood askew to the left for a moment; it didn't even lose its balance. The sword in its hands chopped horizontally, sweeping towards him.

Percy fled far away, escaping the Stone Dragon General's counterattack. Then, he bared his teeth… This fellow's body is too sturdy, even this heavy sword can't injure it… It's no wonder it didn't die after receiving the combined strike of Wave Break, Divine Sea Tsunami, and Poseidon's Sea Dragon Storm under the effect of Divine Surge.

"I just don't believe you'll be able to continue resisting so steadily!" Percy's eyes flashed, and he charged forward once again. He flashed around the Stone Dragon General's surroundings with Moonlight Flash, leaving behind several afterimages. Every attack from the Stone Dragon General was extremely frightening, but all of them struck the afterimages Percy left behind, while every one of Percy's strikes landed accurately on its body.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…

After being pounded heavily by Percy several tens of times, the golden-yellow armor on the Stone Dragon General's body became riddled with holes, but its body was still basically uninjured. The Stone Dragon General turned its body half-way, and swept its heavy sword horizontally towards Percy. But this time, Percy didn't jump backwards to escape.

"Thousand Layered Waves, Final Move: Divine Sea Tsunami!"

BOOM!

For this strike, Percy selected the Stone Dragon General's head as the point of attack. Following the sound of an explosion, a lump of rock exploded from the center of the Stone Dragon General's head. The Stone Dragon General's helmet directly shattered, and it emitted a painful howl. Its body finally lost its balance for the first time, and it stumbled backwards for a while. Under its body's current condition, its left hand unconsciously let go of the heavy sword in order to maintain balance.

And what Percy was waiting for, was precisely the moment when one of its hands left the heavy sword; when it was only holding onto the sword with one hand.

Another weakness of the heavy sword was the wrist! Because the heavy sword was too heavy, when brandishing it, one must use both hands to grasp it. Only with both hands grasping could one exhibit the maximum strength of the heavy sword. But it also due to its immense weight that when the wrist receives a heavy strike, it was very easy for the heavy sword to leave the hand… especially when only one hand was grasping the sword!

While focusing tightly on the location of the Stone Dragon General's right wrist, the moment Percy landed, he shot forwards like lightning, and the aura of profound energy surrounding him abruptly became incomparably chaotic.

"Hundred Layered Waves!"

Just as the Stone Dragon General's body stabilized, Percy's heavy sword that frantically brought about ten times its usual strength, struck heavily and accurately upon the Stone Dragon General's wrist which was holding the heavy sword.

Bang!

Within a deafening collision sound, the Stone Dragon General emitted a painful howl once again. It's entire arm was lifted up, and the armor covering it was also completely shattered. The oddly-shaped heavy sword flew out of its hands, just as Percy expected. After flying for several tens of meters, it landed heavily… Right before it landed, accompanying a sound akin to a landslide, a ravine several meters long appeared in the ground.

Percy dashed over, arriving in front of the heavy sword which had flown out of the Stone Dragon General's hands. With both hands, he grabbed at the dragonbone-like sword hilt, gripping it within his own hands.

Although he had expected this heavy sword to be heavier than the Overlord's Colossal Sword, once it entered his hands, he became shocked for a long while. This was because its weight was at least one-fold heavier than the Overlord's Colossal Sword, which meant it weighed at least four thousand kilograms! If he hadn't broken through the Great Way of the Buddha, even if he could pick it up, he shouldn't even fancy the thought of wielding it freely like the Overlord's Colossal Sword.

Although they were both heavy swords, the feeling Percy had when holding this sword could be said to be as different as the heavens and the earth compared to when he held the Overlord's Colossal Sword. The aura of his entire person also underwent a complete change, and became a fierce Dragon with claws and teeth open waiting to pounce, ready to burst out with earthshaking strength.

His profound energy flowed into the heavy sword, and the name of the sword appeared within his mind…

"Dragon… Fault… What a good sword, what a good name!" Percy said in a low voice, and a slight smile appeared in the corner of his mouth. Although there was only one great realm of difference between a Divine Weapon and an Quasi Divine Weapon, the difference in its weight, power, and aura was like the difference between the heavens and earth. The Stone Dragon General's aura decreased more than one-fold after losing the Dragon Fault, just like a fierce tiger that had its talons and teeth pulled out. This made it so that Percy couldn't feel any threat from it at all.

His gaze turned to the Stone Dragon General, and said with a cold laugh: "Using this sword you've given me, I'll send you back to the underworld!"

Just as his voice landed, he charged towards the Stone Dragon General. Following a screaming gust of wind, within Percy's hands, the heavy sword Dragon Fault displayed its cutting edge for the first time. In the midst of a rumbling sound, Dragon Fault slashed across the Stone Dragon General's body. Only an incomparably ear-piercing "rip" sound could be heard, and the layer of golden-yellow armor disintegrated like a layer of thin paper. The Stone Dragon General emitted a low roar, and its body took many steps backward. A scar that was over an inch deep and over two feet long remained on its solid body.

The result of this one strike caused Percy to smile in delight. Without waiting for the Stone Dragon General to recover its balance, he jumped high in the air as his entire body lit with the Blue-Green Light and a swirling trident appeared over his head. His gaze locked onto the head of the Stone Dragon General, and he said with an ice-cold voice: "Let's see if your head can withstand the power of this Divine Weapon!"

" Divine Sea Tsunami!"

RIP!

Percy's Glowing body tore through the air, striking the head of the Stone Dragon General from high up in the sky. With a "boom", the rock exploded, and the power of the Divine Vibrations, in conjunction with Dragon Fault, erupted. Along with the Stone Dragon General's thick and heavy helmet, its solid head also shattered in an instant, filling the sky with fragments of stone.

Percy flew downwards and steadily landed on the ground. Both hands held Dragon Fault horizontally in front of him, and his eyes revealed an incomparably excited light. Behind him, the Stone Dragon General, with its head completely shattered, slowly fell backwards. Then, with a muffled "bang" sound, it fell on the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust in the sky.

RRRumble…

Along with the collapse of the Stone Dragon General, the enormous stone gate in which it came from slowly opened. Subsequently, the Primordial Azure Dragon's pleased voice came from overhead:

"Very good. Young human, you have allowed me to see a shocking result. In these ten thousand years that I've stayed on this continent, you are the first person to pass this stage of the trial. During these ten thousand years of wait, I have regretted multiple times about leaving a trace of my soul and strength on this piece of land, because the level of strength within this continent is just too low; it made me gradually realize that the trial I had left behind was something that humans on this continent could never pass… Fortunately, I met you."

"You have already passed the first stage of the trial. Not only did you pass with a two-fold difficulty level, you also accomplished this while being tied down; you have allowed me to see the greatest of hope. The second stage's trial ground gate has already opened. After making sufficient preparations, go in the opened stone gate and you will enter the second stage's trial ground. I wish you good fortune."

The opened stone gate was the second trial's gate.

The first stage of the trial was so terrifying that the second and the third stage were bound to be even more challenging… It was unknown as to what degree of brutality awaited.

The Frozen Soul Barrier was still in place because Percy had eliminated the Stone Dragon General in a span of fifteen minutes.

"It's finally alright now." Percy went back to Piper's side and helped her adjust to a more comfortable laying position. He extended his hand, slowly guided his profound energy into her body, and helped her circulate her internal energy and blood.

Piper's half opened eyes blankly stared at him for a long while. Then, she softly asked: "How did you recover from your injuries and regain your strength so fast?"

Percy did not want to lie to her, so he replied immediately: "The profound art I cultivate is capable of speeding up the recovery of my injuries and can restore my strength."

"Can you tell me the name of this profound art?" Piper asked softly. At her level, profound arts that piqued her interest were indeed not many. She knew many profound arts that could speed up the recovery of injuries and restore strength like Recovery Arts, Nine Cycle Recovery Arts, the Divine Art of the Fleeting Flowers and Snowy Moon, and so on. But the injuries Percy had received were severe. It was extremely clear to her that he had used up too much power, so much that it had been critically overused to the point that it affected his lifespan… Yet it only took six hours to fully recover. Even added together, all the powerful recovery profound arts that she knew of were incapable of displaying such a shocking result.

Percy slightly hesitated but still said it out loud: "You probably have never heard of this profound art's name. It is called the Great Way of the Buddha."

"Great Way of the Buddha…" Piper pondered lightly as her eyes flashed with confusion. She indeed had never heard of this art before.

"A profound strength at the middle of the Level Five Warrior… in such a short period of time… slaughtered a thousand opponents of the same level… And even easily executed an enemy whose level far surpassed his own by Two Whole Levels … Even though your cultivation exceeds your age and you can only be considered an ordinary genius, your innate talent in using your profound strength… Perhaps even my grandfather… is inferior… Your master must be… a very extraordinary person." Artemis gave a small smile at her words.

It was the first time she said that many words, and Piper was already out of breath. For her, who treasured words more than gold, to suddenly say so much, also revealed how much Percy had shocked her.

"Mn, I have Two masters, and they're both very extraordinary." Percy nodded as he smiled: "One of my masters taught me how to battle and how to be human. The other master taught me all kinds of profound arts. Both of them gave me a new lease in life; without them, the current me would not exist." Artemis's ears glowed red with delight, then she frowned."two masters? Who's the other master Percy?" Percy frowned and a headache stabbed his temples again. He recalled the image of a kindly face… a centaur…? Then the memory disappeared. He shrugged slightly then replied" I don't know, slip of tongue?"

Piper closed her eyes and spoke no more. She relaxed and then the feeling of weakness and exhaustion came at the same time. Not long after, she fell fast asleep.

With completely destroyed profound veins and meridians that were almost all broken, it undoubtedly took an enormous amount of perseverance to have remained conscious for so long. And what made Percy exceptionally happy, was the fact that he no longer felt the desire to die from her body.

Percy did not immediately enter the second stage's gate. Instead, he calmly watched over Piper at her side. Dragon Fault was still in his hands, and had not disappeared along with the Stone Dragon General when it died.

When Piper awoke, it was already the morning of the second day. Although her body was still weak after being treated by a night of Percy's profound energy flow and warmth, her complexion had already improved greatly.

"Here, drink some water first." Percy lifted Piper's upper body and allowed her to lean against his chest. After passing the water over her lips, he watched her take small little sips. Perhaps he had never thought that there would come a day in which he would be holding this Piper, who was at summit of the City of hope, and helping her drink water in the same way one would carefully feed an infant. Piper herself would never have thought of this happening either… And at this moment, even Piper herself was not aware that she had not strongly rejected Percy's intimate touch, but instead had a very strange sense of security. But all of this was summed up to be because of her completely crippled body; it was fundamentally impossible for her to take care of herself, and she didn't even have the ability to resist.

In her current state, Piper could only eat plain watery food. Fortunately, Percy had purchased a few grains at in the city before leaving. He boiled a little pot of porridge using a small fire he prepared with the help of some supplies and then helped her drink it. After all preparations were in order, he lifted Piper and headed toward the gate of the trial's second stage.

After slowly entering the stone gate, his vision became pitch-black. Then, he took two more steps forward and it suddenly lightened up; it was as if it only took two steps to completely step over from one world into another.

What appeared before his eyes was a vast expanse of an endless plain. Grass covered the ground and there were also trees that gave shade; even the faint sound of running water could be heard. There were short hills in the distance that rose and fell. Occasionally, the cries of all kinds of birds and animals could be heard.

This place's refreshingly delightful atmosphere and smells were also completely different than the previous location's. Percy turned around and still saw the endless plain; there were simply no signs of any mountain walls or stone gates. He immediately understood then, that he did not walk through some stone gate, but rather a transportation formation.

"This is… the next trial ground? It doesn't seem… to have any hint of danger." Piper said softly.

It was also at this time that the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice sounded.

"Young human, welcome. This place, is the Dragon God Trial's second trial ground. This trial ground has no limit, and also has no exit. You can only leave this place after you have successfully completed the trial. Or perhaps you would be buried here before completing the trial."

"There are an innumerable amount of profound beasts here in this endless plain. The level of the profound beasts here have all been adjusted with your strength as the benchmark. Also, as a result of the two-fold difficulty level you have to bear, every single profound beast here is not lower than the Level eight Warrior. As for some of the more powerful profound beasts, their strength far surpasses the Stone Dragon General that you had killed."

"To these profound beasts, this place is an endless paradise. But to you, this place is extremely dangerous; it is an abyss filled with countless shadows of death. This is because once the profound beasts here sense your aura, they would all immediately unleash an endless barrage of attacks. At the same time, under my soul's guidance, profound beasts near you would all be led in your direction. You would be hunted at all times by profound beasts and would never be able to sleep soundly or eat in peace."

Percy: "…"

Percy did not have any obvious reactions to all of that, but the Primordial Azure Dragon's following words almost made Percy spit out a mouthful of blood.

"And your objective in clearing this second stage of the trial is also very easy. It is to kill ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts, within one year!"

A.N.: another chapter with a hot blooded battle scene! And so the second trial commences! Also piper is finally opening to Percy! How will their journey end?! Btw This fight was mostly based of a similar trial in Against the gods, and I was really inspired by that story's emotional backdrop. In a way, I depended more on the light novels than the Percy jackson series itself to write this trial.

The Great way of the Buddha was an idea taken from against the gods, and I based it on Percy's inhuman healing through water.


	11. The Dragon God's Second Trial

**Second Arc- Dragon God's Second Trial**

While being hunted by countless profound beasts, he had to kill ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts, and these profound beasts' levels were all higher than his. This trial's difficulty and troll level wasn't even just cruel. It was practically at a crazy and unreasonable stage.

What made Percy the most angry was… You might as well add one more to it to make it a round number, okay?! What's the meaning of insisting on 99999!

The Primordial Azure Dragon's voice fell, and the surrounding atmosphere suddenly turned from fresh to gloomy.

The howls of innumerable profound beasts sounded from far away. Surrounding Percy, the shadows of a dozen or so profound beasts also started to move. Their aura kept Percy firmly fixed, and then they all rushed towards where he was.

Out of all the profound auras these profound beasts were releasing, none of them were below the Level Eight Warrior Realm.

In the blink of an eye, Percy was already surrounded by a large number of profound beasts. The Primordial Azure Dragon's voice said that the profound beasts here would actively move towards Percy under the guidance of its aura. When they discover him, they would then commence a do or die hunt. These words were obviously not said in jest!

Percy quickly drew out Dragon Fault with one hand and rushed towards these profound beasts. As Dragon Fault danced, it brought about waves of surging Ripples, causing the surrounding profound beasts to back away again and again. However, the strength of these profound beasts far outmatched the Stone Dragon Warriors he had defeated in the first stage of the trial. When ten of them charged over, the pressure far exceeded the attack from a few hundred Stone Dragon Warriors. Also, following Percy's kills, the number of profound beasts did not decrease. Rather, they quickly increased. At every moment, there were large amounts of profound beasts rushing over from the surroundings.

In a few dozen breaths of time, the pressure on Percy was already enough to nearly cause him to suffocate. In another dozen breaths, he was already surrounded all around by peril. He firmly protected Piper and beseeched Artemis for help, "Artemis, what do we do now!"

"There's only one way." Artemis said calmly.

Percy's spirit was roused, "What way?"

"Of course it's to escape!" Artemis got angry, "If you don't want to escape, do you want to wait to die here! Did this princess teach you the Moonlight Flash just to set you up to fail!"

"…"

"Haah!" Percy's body exploded with vibrations and a scaled down version of the Earthshaker blossomed layer by layer, forcing back the formidable crowd of profound beasts around him. Taking advantage of the disruptions cover, he leapt up high. Dashing for a distance with the Divine Sea Tsunami, he then used the Moonlight Flash for a few times consecutively, and finally broke away from being encircled within the profound beasts. He withdrew Dragon Fault into the Inner World Space, and suddenly, his body became extremely light. Following which, he concentrated his profound energy into the bottom of his legs and rushed away madly; all while holding Piper.

"The trial this time, be it the strength of the opponents, the level of danger, or the amount of time needed, it will all be far greater than the first stage of the trial." Artemis said with a heavy voice, "Even though you have to kill 99999 profound beasts to pass the trial this time, with the degree of scariness here, the moment you touch a single profound beast, it will alarm the rest of the profound beasts nearby. Then, you will fall into dangerous circumstances — Besides, you're also bringing a useless woman around! Therefore, most of the time you spend in here will not be on killing, but on escaping!"

"These few months, all your training has been concentrated on your heavy sword and the Great Way of the Buddha, but you haven't attended to the Moonlight Flash I'd taught you! If you want to get past his trial, you'll first have to ensure that you have the ability to survive. If you want to preserve your life in this dangerous place that's filled with profound beasts, you'll have to train your Moonlight Flash to the second stage, 'Twin Stars', in the shortest amount of time possible!"

"I'll give you a month's time. Within this month, you have to stop at the safest place, and unless it's absolutely necessary, do not attack any profound beasts. This way, you'll at least, be much safer. Within this period of time, you have to train your Moonlight Flash to at least the second stage."

"Since it was possible for you to reach the second stage for the Great Way of the Buddha in such a short time with your perception, it shouldn't be too difficult for you! When you can fluctuate to form the second shadow, and be more capable of escaping and saving your own life, you can then begin to kill these profound beasts….. Do you understand!"

"….Understood." Percy wasn't opposed to Artemis's words in the least. After being surrounded by a dozen profound beasts, and feeling the immense pressure and danger he was in, it made him still have lingering fears even until now.

There was one line that Artemis had spoken that wasn't wrong at all….. If he wanted to pass this stage of the trial, the first thing he had to do was to protect his own life!

—

The city of Hope, The Grand Alchemist Association.

Dressed in her finest clothes, Director Aphrodite stood beside the Lotus Pond and stared at her own incomparably beautiful reflection. Her eyes were fixated, and nobody knew what she was thinking of.

A palace maid walked in quickly, bowing slightly while saying respectfully, "Director, Grand Alchemist Master Qin requests an audience."

Aphrodite's gaze moved from the water's surface, "Bring him in."

Not long after, Qin Wuzong, grandson of the president of the association walked in by himself and bowed to Aphrodite, "Qin Wuzong pays his respects to the Director."

"Qin Wuzong may spare the formalities…. Chief Qin, did you come this time because you have information on Percy?" Aphrodite's voice was clearly urgent.

Qin Wuzong shook his head slowly and then sighed, "Ashamedly, until today, I still have yet to find the least bit of information on him….. Sigh, DIrector, please forgive my bluntness. The Wasteland of Death is a place even I would not casually step into. Five days ago, many people saw him enter the city and face the dragon, but since then, nobody has seen him come out. The number of geniuses who have died there is simply too many. Five whole days… Sigh, director, you should stop being so attached to him."

"No….. Absolutely not! I believe that he'll definitely be fine!" Aphrodite's voice began to tremble slightly. Even though she had always been striving to repress them, she still lost control of her emotions and her eyes began to grow misty, "He promised me before….. He's definitely be safe and sound… He'll definitely return within half a year… He'll definitely be fine….. It's definitely because he doesn't want to be found…. It must be….."

Continuously, she said "definitely" six times with an additional "absolutely". It wasn't known if she was saying it to convince Qin Wuzong, or to convince herself.

Not long after Percy had left, she became unable to contain her thoughts, and began to send Sound Transmissions to Percy. But whether it was from the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman, or the incomparably precious Ten Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman, there was no reply. Then Grandholme had returned with the other members and brought the bad news. Everyone had seen Percy come face to face with the dragon after entering the city center.

Yet nobody had seen him come out.

If she had known back then, when she had dropped him at school, that Percy was going to the Wasteland of Death, she would never have let him leave no matter what. This was because that place was a place of nightmares which stank of death in all respects. Every year, the number of people who die in there was innumerable, including many talents who had reached their pinnacles and had absolute faith in their abilities.

This sort of news caused Aphrodite's expression to be on the brink of crumbling apart….. Up until now, five days had already passed, but still, nobody had seen him walk out of there and even those expert teams that went deep into the mountain territory had not seen any trace of him before.

To enter the Wasteland of Death for five days and not come out without a single trace, the only possibility was that his corpse had been buried within, or that his corpse had been destroyed, or was eaten by a profound beast.

Qin Wuzong sighed silently in his heart. As for Percy's death, he also felt extremely regretful. He immediately changed the topic, "Director, I saw the President just now and I consulted with him about issues regarding the coming Crisis with the shadow association. The president has allowed me to discuss it directly with the Director. There's only a month of time left to the start of the battle. We need to choose the Warriors who will represent the Alchemist Association. May I know if Director has already chosen a person, or will it be through choosing an inner court disciple from a competition like what had been done in previous years?"

Aphrodite looked to the side. After she had finally calmed down somewhat, her eyes flashed and she said, "Chief Qin, wait a little…. wait for half a month more. If…. If there is still no news of him, then we will choose from within the inner palace just like we had in former years."

"But, if it's that way, the timing would be….." Speaking halfway, Qin Wuzong saw the distressed expression on Aphrodite's face and his heart lamented and he swallowed back the two words "too rushed", respectfully saying instead, "I understand. Everything will be as the Director wishes. As for Percy, I hope Your Highness will be able to cheer up. Nowadays, the shadow association as well as the serpent society are causing problems. The DeGrest Society is busy with the Shadow Association, we must restrain the Serpent Society before they become too rampant. You are the president's last pillar of support, so you must definitely take care of yourself…. Sigh, if I may be excused."

As the Vice Chief of Alchemist Association, Qin Wuzong was naturally not a fool. When Percy had just joined the Alchemist Association, he could still see Aphrodite's special care towards Percy as a respect to his talent. However, later on, she would specially visit him at home and became his bodyguard . Nobody else knew of these things, but as Vice Chief, he naturally could not have not known. Her reactions after finding out that Percy had died in the Wasteland of Death let Qin Wuzong understand more and more that she had obviously fallen in love with Percy, and this wasn't just a simply "valuing him".

"…Take care, Vice Chief Qin."

After watching Palace Chief Qin leave, Aphrodite turned around and slowly closed her eyes…

"Junior brother Percy, why must you go to such a dangerous place… Are you really staying in that Wasteland of Death forever and never coming back…"

"The crisis and battle with the shadow association is approaching. You once said that you wanted to directly participate in any battles fought by our alchemists association… But now, where are you… You've made me become used to your presence, made my originally undisturbed spirit depend on, have someone to return to and hate leaving. So why would you disappear from my world so hurriedly…"

"If you don't appear in the to fight for us again this time…. Then, after the battle is over, I will personally go into the Wasteland of Death to find you… If I can't find you, then I'll accompany you… and stay there forever… I won't let you feel lonely…"

Two delicate hands clenched quietly under the luxurious Dragon gown and coronet, as slivers of melancholy overflowed from her aura.

Realm of the Dragon God Trial, an endless plain.

Five months have passed since Percy entered this place.

Up ahead, was the sound of a little creek. The creek's water was so clear that one could see its bottom. Inside the creek's clear water, were schools all different kinds of little fish that cheerfully moved about.

Percy laid Piper on the grass next to the creek delicately, then crouched at the edge of the creek. Watching the fish swimming in the middle of the creek, he said while beaming: "Piper, we can drink fish soup again… Hmm, what flavor should the fish soup be today?"

Just as his voice landed, Percy's left hand penetrated the surface of the water like lightning, catching a large fish nearly a foot long. And at this time, a river boulder to his right suddenly tumbled, and a huge crab, its body half the size of Percy's body, shot over. The pitch-black huge crab's pincers opened, and it snapped fiercely at Percy's neck… The barbs on this crab's pincers glistened coldly, even steel would be snapped instantly, let alone a person's neck.

Percy threw the fish in his hands onto the grass. Without even raising his head, his right hand extended like lightning, and grabbed onto the edge of the crab's pincers. He forcibly clutched onto the Murderous Kingcrab and suddenly flung it into a river boulder.

Percy's arm strength was not just terrifying. With a loud "bang" the river boulder smashed into pieces and the Murderous Kingcrab was smashed into unconsciousness. This sound was like alerting a hornet's nest. Tens of Murderous Kingcrabs simultaneously scuttled out. Their humongous pincers were opened guillotine style as they sliced out along with a glittering cold radiance. Lightning quick, Percy took out Dragon Fault. He shifted his body once and three indistinguishable illusory silhouettes appear in three different positions. The four thousand kilogram Dragon Fault was as light as a large feather. In a few breaths of time, a dozen or so strikes were made, and each strike heavily attacked each Murderous Kingcrab's back.

The Murderous Kingcrab was a dangerous profound beast at the Level Eight that possessed two terrifying pincers, and its shell was even more incomparably hard. Even for ordinary Level Eight Warrior, it was hard for them to injure it. However, under one of Percy's heavy smashes, after the bursting of thirteen consecutive sounds, the backs of thirteen Murderous Kingcrabs were completely split open as a berserk profound strength immediately charged straight through and powerfully snapped their life veins in a flash.

With a flick of his wrist, Dragon Fault returned onto Percy's back. In order to completely adapt to Dragon Fault's weight, after cultivating Moonlight Flash to the second stage, he constantly carried Dragon Fault on his back.

"Eighty-three thousand nine hundred and forty-seven." After exterminating the thirteen Murderous Kingcrabs, the numbers in Percy's mind also refreshed. After seeing the ground covered dead crabs whose legs lifted into the air, Percy pinched his chin and muttered: "I wonder if I could make these huge crabs into soup…"

Percy finally gave up this tempting thought and returned to Piper's side with the fish in hand. Then, he set up a pot rack and put in the creek's water along with the fish before boiling it with fire….

Once the fire was raised, trouble followed shortly after. The grassland beneath his foot abnormally shifted. Not waiting for the underground thing to surface, Percy suddenly thrusted his hands into the ground and forcibly clutched at the Level Eight Armor Plated Earthworm that was about to attack. After two or three strikes that had beaten it into tight knots, it was then thrown away into the distance… It was sad that this Armor Plated Earthworm was only a low level Level Eight. Although its body was as hard as fine steel, in Percy's hands, it was no different than an ordinary hemp rope. Even though Percy's profound strength was inferior, his arm strength was something that not even a high level Level Eight Warrior could match.

The Armor Plated Earthworm that had been coiled into tight knots chaotically twitched about on the grass. But after losing too much blood for a long while, it was no longer capable of movement.

"Eighty-three thousand nine hundred and forty-eight." Percy said aloud in a low voice. Right after he finished counting out loud, his arm suddenly swung up and Vibrational waves shot outwards at the two Fierce Storm Hawks overhead that were about to dive down, making them fall after an explosion.

After these five months of comprehensive mastery, he no longer needed the heavy sword to unleash Wave Break, and could also activate it with a wave of his arm, because even his arm, could be treated as a heavy sword.

It didn't even take sixty breaths of time for the fish soup to be ready.

After ladling the fish soup, Percy carefully blew at it to keep it cool and arrived at Piper's side. Supporting her upper body, he lifted the little bowl against her lips: "Here, it's not hot anymore."

Piper opened her beautiful eyes and parted her soft lips. Using what little strength she had, she lightly sipped and drank the fish soup. Right as she swallowed her first mouthful of soup, an unearthly cry came from up above. Six extremely long tailed dark green monstrously large birds dove down from six different directions at Percy.

Without raising his head, Percy swung his left hand upwards and clutched Dragon Fault between his fingers. After locking onto the positions of the six Verdure Great Birds, Percy continuously swung Dragon Fault six times in two breaths of time. On the third breath, he had already withdrawn Dragon Fault and placed it back on his back.

Scree Scree Scree Scree…

Amongst the chaotic Dragon cries, six Wave Breaks soared into the sky, accurately blasting onto the Verdure Great Birds that were in the midst of their attack, and exploded on them one by one. During this entire process, not a single drop of the fish soup in the little bowl spilled out. Piper was also not startled, and her snowy lips never left the little bowl. When all six of the Great Birds dropped down, half of the fish soup in the little bowl had already been devoured.

Since they had encountered this type of situation everyday for the past five months, she had long become accustomed to it, and was even more certain that Percy could perfectly hold them off.

In this five month period, they were subject to all kinds of profound beast attacks at nearly every moment. The period in-between varied, but it never stopped. The "never be able to sleep soundly or eat in peace" that the Primordial Azure Dragon had said was not the least bit exaggerated or made up in order to scare them.

The difficulty level of this stage of the trial was more than ten times harder than the first. What was scary, was not that the level of profound beasts were too high, nor was it the shockingly quantity of the profound beasts. It was rather the unceasingly barrage of assaults! They came from the ground, underground, in the water, from the skies, and any profound beast could attack at anytime. If one relaxed his mind for even a second, it was possible for him to lose his life. In this sort of situation, it was perhaps likely to persevere through two days. Even three or four days could be endured, but when the period of time continued to lengthen, even if one's body could handle the pressure, the collapse of one's mind was also possible… If another person with profound strength that was stronger than Percy's by one-fold was swapped in, it was still nearly impossible for them to continue on.

Yet just for Percy, this trial's difficulty level wasn't that much higher than the first stage's.

Because in his past life, he precisely spent his time being hunted down. Being hunted down by this endless plain's profound beasts was undoubtedly terrifying, but in his past life, he had actually been subjected to being hunted down by weird monsters since he was a child! This had formed an innate experience in his bones and even now, he still had this sharp skill.

After reincarnating, there was no chance for those abilities to surface. But being hunted by this endless plain's endless amount of profound beasts, his abilities were aroused once more.

Under Percy's recuperation, although Piper's meridians were still not recovered, the state of her body was already much better. Her face, which was originally as white as a sheet of paper, had already recovered some of its original color. However, her entire body was still paralyzed, and only her right arm and right hand could move a little. In this extremely dangerous place, for Percy to protect her well, he had to stay right by her side.

For each meal, Piper could not eat much and a small bowl of fish soup would already suffice. Piper, who had finished drinking the fish soup, closed her eyes gently and lay on Percy's chest with a peaceful expression….. Even she herself did not realize, that this ease she felt, surpassed what she had felt when she was meditating in seclusion in her sect.

In these five months, a large part of her time was spent in slumber. The only thing she spent more time in other than sleeping, was in Percy's arms. From the first rejection, to gradual acceptance, and finally completely accustomed. After she was used to it, she would unknowingly come to hate to leave him….. But this concept of "wanting to stay near" was completely foreign to Piper, because before Percy, she had never lived alone with any man before, let alone come into contact intimately. But this time, they had actually lived inseparably and close to each other for almost five months. To Piper, this was absolutely unimaginable.

Nobody knew what frame of mind she had in interacting with Percy, and even she herself did not know.

"Sleep peacefully for a while. Soon, we'll be able to leave this place. And by then, all your strength will be recovered." Percy patted Piper's pale back lightly, his voice soft, like he was coaxing a baby to sleep.

Not too long after, Piper's breathing became light and even, and she had fallen asleep.

Percy kept the thing by his hand, and stood up while carrying Piper. Looking forward, he spoke, "Artemis, how long have we been here?"

"Today is the hundred and forty first day." Artemis answered precisely.

Percy frowned in worry." Everyone probably thought we've died. And who knows what troubles have popped up by now!"

Also, after the second stage of the trial, there was still the third stage.

After exiting the trial grounds, it would still take a long time to walk out of the Wasteland of Death…

"It looks like I'll have to speed up. Even if I die, I still have to finish killing the profound beasts here within ten days!" Percy frowned and said.

"Ten days? Hmph, what joke are you cracking! To complete this trial, you still have to kill sixteen thousand profound beasts. If you want to finish it in ten days, you'll need to kill at least a thousand and six hundred of them every day! In these five months, you've only killed an average of six hundred profound beasts each day, and this is already your maximum speed after you'd gone all out. Killing sixteen thousand profound beasts in ten days is absolutely impossible….. If you get ahead of yourself in your impatience and lose your cool, you might get reverse killed by profound beasts instead." Artemis warned.

Percy had no way of countering that.

"ROAR!"

Suddenly, and ear-splitting growl came from far behind him. This sound made Percy frown, and then mutter darkly, "Damn! Why is it this guy again, it's practically like a lingering spirit that won't leave!"

At that, without even thinking, Percy ran. Not long after, a gigantic single horned profound beast rampaged past the spot he had been at, bringing a berserk aura as it rushed towards him.

Even though he had stayed here for the past five months, and had been surviving by killing profound beasts which far surpassed him in levels every day, Percy's strength had still stayed at the Level Six Warrior. It wasn't that his profound energy had not shown any signs of breaking through, but rather that he kept pushing it down forcefully, not allowing it to break through. This was because, when Battle qi made a breakthrough, he would be incapable of moving for a short period of time, and could not be disturbed by anything, or else his meridians would be easily damaged. In this endless wilderness that was fraught with dangers, not only could he not be guarded by anyone when he was breaking through, but Piper would also be exposed to the same dangerous environment. Therefore, the breakthrough in his profound strength had forcibly been suppressed all this time.

Otherwise, with how he was killing far above his level every day and night, and how all he had the blood of poseidon, in five months, it wouldn't be an exaggeration if his profound strength could rise to the Level Eight Warrior!

Although he had not broken through all this while, his profound energy grew progressively, and even if he did not have the power of Two great gods, his profound strength far surpassed the average practitioner in the Level Six.

This profound beast that was chasing him was named Overlord Single-Horned Beast, and it was a profound beast of the Eight Realm. It had great strength and an extremely tough body. That, in addition to its strong and solid profound defense made it difficult for Percy to harm it even with Dragon Fault. If Piper hadn't been at Percy's side, he could still deal with it, but with one arm around Piper, he could only hold the sword with one hand and it was impossible for him to even be a match for the Overlord Single-Horned Beast.

That was why Percy would run every time he met this guy.

Moonlight Flash was a single instance profound movement skill and not a long term speed increase type of profound skill, so it would not cause Percy's speed to increase by much. However, Percy would usually be carrying a sword that weighed four thousand kilos. Therefore, when he needed to escape, all he had to do was to throw the sword into the Inner World, and his body would feel as if it were floating. Escaping would also be as fast as lightning, and shaking off this Overlord Single-Horned Beast would only be a matter of minutes.

Percy ran forward with all his might and the dirt underneath his feet were sent flying back as he increased the distance between him and the Overlord Single-Horned Beast. At this time, Artemis's warning suddenly came from his mind, "Careful, there's a cliff up front!"

Just as Artemis's voice fell, a cliff appeared in front of Percy's line of sight. His brows furrowed and his speed suddenly decreased as both his feet planted onto the ground firmly. After sliding for a short distance, he finally stopped dangerously at the edge of the cliff. But instantly, he let out a silent breath of relief.

Because looking down, the cliff was actually not high and it wasn't even one hundred fifty meters tall, so he could easily leap down. There wasn't any place dangerous below the cliff either, it was only extremely dense woods… Perhaps forest would be a better term for it, because before his eyes, each tree was joined to the next, and even though he was standing at a high vantage point, he still couldn't completely see the edge of it.

"It's a field area, why would there be forests." Percy muttered and was about to jump down, when suddenly, a sliver of dangerous, strong wind came from his right side.

Percy glanced to the side and his right arm stretched out like lightning as two fingers pinching forcefully onto a thin, cold and slippery thing.

It was a Black Thread Snake that wasn't very long and was only as thick as half of his finger. Seven inches of it was grabbed onto tightly by Percy and it struggled in pain, spitting blackness.

"Emperor Black Thread Snake!" Percy, who was proficient in all poisons that existed in the world, recognized the poisonous snake in an instant.

The Emperor Black Thread Snake was very thin and short, and its body was very weak. Even if a normal child were to accidentally step on it, it would also be stomped to death. But such a small and weak snake like this was crowned an "Emperor", and was actually an expensive Level Eight Beast! This was because it had an extremely frightening toxicity and speed despite its size. All that come into contact with its poisonous fangs, as long as they were below the Level Eight Realm, would undoubtedly die within ten breaths of time. Even if those in the Level Eight Realm were to be bitten by it, they would not be able to live for longer than an hour without the antidote. Also, because of its small size, it was very hard to discover. When it moved, it resembled a streak of black lightning, so people had no chance of guarding against it. All Level Eight Beasts, and even Peak Level Eight Beasts that encounter it would have to take a detour, lest they're too late.

Of course, after suffering styx essence, Percy was immune to all poisons, so didn't fear this beast.

He suddenly turned around to face the Overlord Single-Horned Beast that was already chasing towards him. Shifting the Emperor Black Thread Snake from his right hand to his left, he used the Inner World to instantly suck out all its poison, and then, throwing it away, he took out the a small cooking knife and wiped the poison onto the blade of the knife.

His gaze quietly darkened by a tad, and he subsequently rushed toward the Overlord Single-Horned Beast like a gale.

Seeing that this human who normally ran away the moment he saw it unexpectedly rush up to it this time, the Overlord Single-Horned Beast paused in confusion for a bit, and then, with a roar, it exposed its fangs and pounced towards Percy

Whoosh!

The Overlord Single-Horned Beast's claws streaked across one of Percy's illusionary shadows, while Percy's moved horizontally from where it had been. Rushing up to it from its right side, he gathered his profound strength onto the Knife and ruthlessly slashed at its right side, leaving a streak of two inches of so, leaving an injury that was enough to draw blood.

Percy stopped and the Knife in his hands had already been kept, and swapped for Dragon Fault.

With the Overlord Single-Horned Beast's large size, this small injury didn't even count as an injury at all. The Overlord Single-Horned Beast, which had leapt into the sky, turned around and opened its large mouth as its body pounced towards Percy again. But midway, its front leg suddenly twisted, and its entire body fell onto the ground firmly. After that, it began to twitch, and its four limbs began to stamp on the ground, yet it was able to stand back up no matter what. Gradually, waves of pained yells came from its mouth… From that tiny wound, drops of pitch-black blood flowed out slowly.

Percy rushed up, and with a single blow, crushed its profound defense that had already been weakened under the extremely poisonous corrosion. After which, he continually rained seven to eight blows on its head, until it no longer made a sound.

Percy couldn't help but sigh. Relying on just a little poison, he had practically finished off this Overlord Single-Horned Beast that he could only escape from previously without sparing much effort. On how formidable poison was, he was clearer than anyone else. That year, he hadn't even been ten yet, but a full god had almost died of poison before him.

"If I could use poison, then within this trial ground, as the poison spreads, let alone ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts, even if it was ten times that number, they would all still be poisoned to death by dusk." Percy said with extreme emotion.

Wait… poison spreading?

Percy's mind suddenly turned, and he looked towards the boundless forests beneath the cliff. In a while, he slowly began to smile.

"Artemis, do you believe that we'll be able to leave this place today if we're lucky."

A.N.: what idea does Percy have?! And guys, seriously review! With so few reviews, its discouraging. I type out so much everyday, but such a weak response? Seriously not cool y'know. Plus I asked for ya'll to review who you want reborn. The current list is here:

Ares, Drew, Hestia, Demeter, Persephone, Athena, Hera, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Zoë, Thalia.

Also the wait is still up for who ends up in Percy's harem!

Yeah Aphrodite is really heartbroken. Calypso as well. But currently we have Percy and piper developing their relationship! Wait, the best is still yet to come!


	12. The Dragon God's Final Trial

**Second Arc: Dragon Gods Final Trial**

"… What are you going to do?" Artemis asked with suspicion.

The wind screamed past Percy's ears as he stood near the cliff and stretched out his hands to feel the wind. He faintly smiled, then took a deep breath. Facing upwards, he used all his strength and shouted loudly:

"AHHH~~~~~~"

"Enhanced by profound strength, this shout was transmitted quite far, and directly scared Artemis. Immediately after, countless profound beast roars sounded from the distance. For all the profound beasts living in this endless plain, Percy was their target. Previously, Percy hid whenever he could, so this was the absolute first time that he dared to behave in such a flashy way… And to actually do it in this place, was essentially the same as seeking death.

Very quickly, the roars of profound beasts grew in number as the sounds came closer and closer. From far away, no matter whether it was from the skies or the ground, more and more profound beast silhouettes began to surface as they all rapidly charged in this direction.

The sleeping Piper was shaken awake by Percy's yell. She opened her eyes slightly and asked: "Percy… What are you doing?"

Percy looked down at her and gently answered: "Piper, you might've never seen the ocean right? After all, snow city is tucked away to the top of the mountains, so you all you really see is just ice and snow right? You must have never seen much water… Today, I'll show you an ocean. Remember to keep your eyes wide open."

Just as he had expected, the profound beasts in this nameless forest was even more concentrated than the one's in the plains.. At his rear, the dozen or so profound beasts all made unearthly sounds. Bringing along a berserk aura, they sprang out from either the bushes or the trees and chased after Percy.

Percy closed his eyes, letting his heart turn as tranquil as a still pond. A deep blue green glow appeared from within his bones. He was shining from inside! This was going to be a very dangerous trick. Usually he could only maintain the Divine Sea God's Transformation for at most ten seconds. Beyond that, he would be completely exhausted. But today, he had to summon the ocean itself, in the middle of this plain.

The roars behind him got louder and piper was getting worried. Then suddenly, the trident hologram appeared above his head. But this hologram was over a thousand feet tall, like a divine gods weapon. The aura was heartstopping and all the monsters around Percy were immediately alerted to him and began rushing in his direction.

The trident suddenly descended with a loud screeching sound and even as they watched, it exploded with a torrent of sea water. Percy felt a thrill buzz through him as he watched the flood rush down and slam into the cliff. The cliff groaned and collapsed. There were roars and shrieks as the monsters were all ruthlessly swept away, and crushed under the rocks. But Percy and piper just floated motionlessly in midair, supported by the water.

"Piper, I didn't lie to you right?" Percy asked while beaming. Standing in the midst of the flood, he had a sense of security that he didn't have for a long time. At least, when he stood in the middle of the ocean, there were no longer any sneak attacks from profound beasts that came at him.

"I like it. But… so much…. Scares me" Piper softly said with closed eyes. The profound art she practiced was that of a pure-ice attribute. Water and ice were compatible elements, so she naturally had an instinct to reflexively accept water.

"That's because you were always alone back then." Percy smiled, "Now that you're with me inside this ocean, if we look at it together… Would you still not like it?"

"…" Piper opened her eyes and stared at the boundless sea of water before her. She stared blankly for a while and did not say a single word, but she also did not shift her gaze.

"So that's it. You actually wanted to collapse the cliff and flood the forest. This forest ought to have existed here for a long time, so the moisture here is quite heavy. If this continues, the entire forest would have drowned and turned into a sea. The profound beasts in this vast forest would also be drowned to death. But are you sure that the profound beasts being drowned to death here, would be counted as being killed by you?" Artemis asked.

"I'm sure!" Percy nodded: "The Primordial Azure Dragon only said that I had to eliminate ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts, and didn't say how I had to eliminate them. Death by assault is fine, using poison and using water is also fine. As long as I am the reason why these profound beasts are dying, then it would obviously be counted as my kill!"

The huge ocean wildly spread like a gigantic blue beast that proceeded to swallow up the entire forest filled with countless profound beasts. It didn't even take an hour's time for the water to spread to a distance of fifty kilometers. Fifty kilometers the land turned into an ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The fifty kilometer splashing and waves sound was extremely fierce, but it was unable to drown out the miserable despairing howls of countless profound beasts. The number of profound beasts that died in this sea of water was increasing at a rapid pace…

At this time, the scene before Percy's eyes suddenly distorted. The sea that filled the ground disappeared within the fuzziness, and became a field of blackness. The sounds near his ears had also completely faded away, and became tranquil. While carrying Piper, he suddenly entered a completely dark world.

Above this dark world, a pair of gigantic azure blue eyes slowly opened.

The Primordial Azure Dragon's eyes.

"Primordial Azure Dragon, since you took us out of the second stage's trial ground, does it mean that we have already passed the second stage of the trial?" Without waiting for the Primordial Azure Dragon to speak, Percy spoke first.

"Right." The Primordial Azure Dragon answered: "Although your method was a bit cheap, but you did indeed pass. Not only that, you also passed before five months of time. I believe that even if you do not use such a method, you would still be able to successfully accomplish your goal of exterminating ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts in at most a month. As a lowly human, you have yet again shocked me greatly, you are truly extraordinary. Your performance within the trial realm has made me completely incapable of believing that you are a mere Twelve year old youngster."

The Primordial Azure Dragon's voice was filled with emotion. And to let a divine beast like the Dragon God feel such emotion, was undoubtedly a kind of supreme honor.

"And it also looks like you seem to urgently want to leave the trial realm. Otherwise, you would not chose to use your last divine transformation method."

"Yes," Percy nodded: "I must return to the place I had previously settled in. Thus, I hope that the third stage of the trial would not take that long."

"However, you don't need to be too nervous. The third trial is a trial of the heart. It does not involve fighting, but instead involves the choices within your heart. If you are firm enough towards the pursuit for power, then even if you possess weak profound power, there is a chance you can easily pass. What depends is if you are willing to make sacrifices. Are you willing to let go of unnecessary things? In pursuit of perfection, you must be prepared to kill your own allies if they become your enemies. Do you have that conviction? On the other hand, if you do not possess enough determination, then passing your life in the mundane world can also be an option. After all, power is not everything in life. If you aren't willing to sacrifice everything for power, then you are unworthy."

"You, are you prepared? Be careful, remember, if you die in my trial, you will die in real life as well!"

Trial of the heart?

As a man of two lives, after experiencing the boundary of life and death so many times, what he should be least afraid of was a test for the heart, right?

"Trial of the heart"; these few words caused Percy's heart to become tranquil. Even when facing the extremely low passing rate the Dragon spirit had mentioned, he was not as nervous as when he was facing the first and second trials. Without any hesitation, Percy immediately nodded: "Let's start."

"As you wish… I wish you success."

The Dragon spirit's eyes disappeared and the pitch-black world started to distort once more. Percy felt as if his body had been swept up by a storm and started to float within the distorting space. He closed his eyes and muttered in his heart: "Let me see what this trial of the heart exactly is. The only thing that could truly break my mental state…. Should not exist anymore.

Within the darkness, he could feel his consciousness start to gradually blur. This caused him to suddenly open his eyes alertly, but the heaviness in his mind was irresistible. His vision and awareness became more and more blurred until his mind stilled completely.

When he regained consciousness, slight pains transmitted from various parts of his body. His body was also extremely weak, as if recovering from severe injuries. The tip of his nose overflowed with a faint smell of blood… That was the scent of his own blood.

What is going on? Why is my body so weak? It's like I just received serious wounds… Also, this feeling, this scent… Why does it seem so familiar?

He opened his eyes slowly. Within his gradually clearing sight, he realized where he was. He was lying in a soft bed, that seemed incomparably familiar." This place… is a camp…?" Percy frowned. A severe headache was making it almost impossible to think.

'Creaaak'

The cabin's bamboo door was pushed open cautiously, and a girl of fragile stature walked in carrying a bamboo pot of washed laundry. She looked tired, yet she had the delicate and charming air of a fifteen or sixteen year old teenage girl. She was as quiet and charming as a hibiscus under the glowing moon. She was garbed in rough grey garments, but they were unable to tamp down her star-like and eye-catching beautiful disposition; it was as if they were rain on a mountain side. Her eyes were especially so. They were clearer than the purest of crystals, beautiful enough to make the rest of the world lose their color in comparison..

For a moment, she seemed to have blonde hair, curled blonde hair, then his eyes blurred with tears. Percy quickly blinked them away and she was in fact a girl with auburn hair. It was artemis.

He quickly searched his inner world, and it was empty." Artemis…?" Percy asked with doubt in his heart. Wasn't he in the trial?

The bamboo basket in the girl's hands fell to the ground. Seeing the Percy that was sitting up on the bed, her beautiful eyes revealed heartfelt happiness and surprise. Rushing to the front of his bed, her expression was frantic, yet she forced her voice to become so soft and gentle: "Percy, you're awake… Does your body still hurt? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

With the girl's face mere inches from his, the girlish air that belonged solely to her heavily impacted Percy's soul. Her eyes were brimmed happiness, worry, anxiety, a deeply hidden sorrow and longing… he'd seen this look in her eyes once… when he had saved her life from the poison, by giving her his blood. Her eyes had sparkled just like that when they'd opened. Then he'd fallen unconscious.

"Artemis….? What's going on….. the trial….. where… am i?" artemis frowned gently." Percy…. You failed the trial…." Percy felt shock resound through his mind." I-i…. I failed!?" artemis nodded sadly, tears sparkling in her eyes." Percy you went back to hope city, but it w as already destroyed in the battle between the shadow association and the city. And ever since then, you've been trying to hunt down the head, seeking revenge. Don't blank out on me again. Can't you remember anything again?"

Percy shook his head, confused. Artemis kissed his forehead gently." Maybe it's better. If you remember, you'll want revenge." Percy stiffened." Wait, my family! My parents! Calypso, piper? What happened?" artemis bit her lip and tears spilled from her eyes." P-Percy… please don't do this to me again…"

Percy slowly slumped back into the bed." I'm sorry artemis…. I didn't mean to hurt you.." She hugged him."Percy…" Artemis's whisper came from beside his ear, with a light and haziness that seemed almost like a dream, "Don't think about revenge anymore, okay? Your family's souls in heaven also definitely wouldn't wish to see you like this… No matter what it is, I can promise you that as long as you promise you won't pursue revenge any longer… The two of us can stay in this bamboo forest. You'll accompany me, and I, you, forever… A lifetime… I'll be your most gentle wife… and never leave you… okay?"

Without any hesitation, he nodded his head in extreme vigor; nodded five or six times in a row and insisted in a hoarse voice: "Yes! Yes! Artemis, I'll listen to you. I promise you, I'll no longer seek revenge anymore. In the future, you'll be my life; your life, will be my life. Wherever you are, I'll be there by your side forever, watching over you and we'll never part through life and death!"

Every sentence, every word, and every slightest bit of emotion came from the depths of his soul. He could see actual pain in her eyes and it broke him to see her so sad, so worried for him

Artemis cried in happiness, her jade-white hands tightly hugged him, "Percy, do you mean it? Is what you're saying for real?"

"I'm serious. Every word I said was real. If anything I've said was false, may I be destroyed by the heavens." Percy said every word with determination.

She smiled and stood up, heading back to pick up the basket. Percy frowned as he saw the hilt of a dagger tucked into her robes. She leaned forward and picked up the basket, then turned back and started walking towards Percy. He couldn't see the dagger anymore. A cold feeling crept over his neck. Her right hand was inside the basket, and the dagger had also been on the right side of her robe.

The words of the dragon god came back to him." If you are firm enough towards the pursuit for power, then even if you possess weak profound power, there is a chance you can easily pass. What depends is if you are willing to make sacrifices. Are you willing to let go of unnecessary things? In pursuit of perfection, you must be prepared to kill your own allies if they become your enemies. Do you have that conviction? On the other hand, if you do not possess enough determination, then passing your life in the mundane world can also be an option. After all, power is not everything in life. If you aren't willing to sacrifice everything for power, then you are unworthy."

An ally becoming an enemy…? Percy looked at artemis as she walked towards him with that gentle smile.

 _-the real world-_

The pitch-black world was completely isolated from the outside world, and no external forces would be able to interrupt him. Because of this, Percy was able to concentrate fully without any worries. Beside him, Piper was under the protection of the Primordial Azure Dragon's power, as she was enveloped by a layer of light-blue colored aura.

Outside the pitch-black world, in the dim pit where Percy encountered the Primordial Azure Dragon, Artemis slowly revealed her figure. Raising her pair of cold eyes, she stared at the azure blue eyes in the sky. "You're actually able to find out about this princess' existence!"

"How can I not recognize the power of the twelve Celestial Gods?" The Primordial Azure Dragon's gentle voice sounded. "You, as one of the twelve Celestial Gods, actually appeared in this world, and you're even harboring the Absolute God Slaying Poison, the styx essence itself! It seems something big must have happened in the God Realm. "

Artemis snorted, and coldly replied. "Hmph! You're nothing but a residual soul that will disappear in a few years. Your role, is to watch over and conduct the trials and bestowals of your blood inheritance. As for the things happening in our God Realm, you do not need to be concerned about them. But what's this trial Percy is in!?"

The dragon god chuckled." You can see it all for yourself, why are you asking me?" artemis frowned." So you made me the enemy and he believes that is the real world….. and the enemy is about to kill him. So to survive… he must kill me…" artemis's eyes flashed as she stared down at the still form of Percy, still watching the trial.

"Since he believes it is the real world, and the trial requires him to sacrifice his allies, if he's smart enough, he'll soon figure out what to do." The dragon god chuckled.

 _-inside the trial-_

Percy watched artemis approach him. She stopped before his bed and then tilted her head." Percy, you still look tense. Don't think so much." Percy swallowed and then asked her the question on his mind." Artemis…. Your poison..?" she smiled." It's been healed.. but well…" her eyes flashed with a hint of anger." Since I'm bound to your body, I can only return home after your death." Percy shook slightly.

She sat down next to him and he stiffened, muscles tensing for action. She turned to him and then said." Percy… I feel so lonely… can I have a hug..?" Percy looked at her. the basket was still around her hand and he could even sense a slight killing intent now.

Then he remembered the look in her eyes when he'd saved her, and suddenly another memory surfaced. She'd kissed him back. Her hand holding his cheek, trembling. When he'd given her his blood, she had kissed him.

That trust they had in each other…

He didn't hesitate and embraced her. he heard the sharp snick of the blade and then felt the sharp pain as it s tabbed into his back. He relaxed then softly whispered." i….. love…. You…. artemis…" the world went black around him

 _-the real world-_.

Artemis covered her mouth with one hand, eyes sparkling with tears. Even the dragon god was silent. Percy shook then awoke. The scene before his eyes distorted and disappeared as the world once again returned to darkness. Percy opened his eyes. To the front of his view, there were those two giant, Blue eyes.

"I've failed." Percy laughed self-deprecatingly, but steadily. "Originally, I'd thought that, with my state of mind, I'd be able to pass through the third stage easily. But I had thought too highly of myself. Heh heh, I must have disappointed you. My pursuit of strength isn't that resolute after all."

The Dragon spirit's voice floated over, "Your soul's response tells me that you already guessed it was only an illusion from the very start, and that you had obviously seen the dagger in her robe. You also clearly knew that if you were to hold up this dagger and stab the girl, you'd be able to escape the illusion and easily pass this test. Why would you rather stay in the illusion and even tricked yourself into believing that it was real? You knew it was an illusion, but then thought it was real… and yet you were willing to take the risk to die? Unless, within your heart, the great strength that you can immediately obtain can't even compare to that temporary illusion?"

"I could not do it." Percy shook his head slowly, "This illusion came from the most precious memories in my soul. Even though it was merely an illusion, it's deeply imprinted in my soul as what true happiness is. You won't be able to understand how dear that girl is to me, nor will you understand how much I owe her. Even if that was only a dream, even if I have to lose my greatest strength as the price, I would never be willing to harm her."

Artemis was completely silent inside his inner world.

"Even if that is so, why did you not dodge, or even push her away when you obviously sensed her pick up the dagger to stab at you?" The Dragon's spirit asked in a puzzled tone of voice.

Percy laughed; but it was a laugh of sadness, "I knew that it was an illusion you'd forcefully created based on my memories… My Artemis, even if she had to die herself, she wouldn't be willing to cause me any harm. However, I'm willing to die by her hands because what is a life compared to what I owe her? "

The Dragon's spirit was silent for a long time.

"I thirst for power, but in this world, there are many things that are much more important to me than strength. Me needing strength was also because I need to protect the things that are important to me. It seems I am neither fated, nor qualified to obtain the power of the dragon god… However, even though I have failed the trial, I'm already satisfied. …"

Percy laughed; he laughed very warmly, without any trace of unwillingness or regret.

The dragon god laughed as well." Young human, you did the impossible… you passed my trial!" Percy stared at the dragon in shock." I said those words to mislead you! What I had said before about how only those with an appropriate amount of ambition towards achieving strength can pass the third stage of the trial, was a deliberate hint in the wrong direction. The Dragon is a divine creature and the trials it had left behind is a gift to the Gaia Continent. But the Dragon is never willing to have his strength to be inherited by those who are evil and heartless. The third trial is constructed through the practitioner's most pleasant memories from in the depths of their soul. Prior to the trial, I would give a hint that only through a strong desire for power would one pass the trial."

"Right, those illusions originated from your own memory, and were not replicated from other sources. It is exactly the same as the real person, item or event and they'll have to face it as if everything was real. If they hurt the person who they loved the most just to achieve strength, even if that is a sort of dedication, and even if it doesn't mean that they're evil, they will still be missing the most important requirement of a soul: affection. If such a person were to receive great strength, it would only be for their own self-growth, and not to protect others. This would go against the Dragon's original intention in leaving behind this trial ground."

"We would never let our bloodline be passed onto a human of inferior morals. And the last stage of this trial, just happens to be a trial of character. When you were passing through the two stages, you were always doing your best to protect the woman by your side, even if it meant that she would burden you with an increase in trial difficulty. Even when you were nearly unable to complete a trial, you never had a single thought of abandoning her. And the reason why you brought her into the trial ground, was also to personally protect her from danger. These actions of yours, is sufficient proof of your character. Thus, there was no need to carry out the third stage of the trial, for you have already passed. But I was curious to test your limits."

"in all my years of guarding this trial ground, the closest someone came to passing was a man who didn't notice the knife until it stabbed him. Then even he tried to resist and escape. But you let her stab you over and over, you just so you could keep embracing her….. remarkable…."

"Congratulations young human, you have become this land's sole person who has passed the Dragon God Trial."

Percy's expression relaxed, and then he asked somewhat excitedly, "Since I have already passed, then doesn't it mean that you can now tell me how to restore Piper's strength?"

Piper's eyes trembled… His first question was not about the Dragon God's bloodline, but instead was about her strength restoration method. Even if her heart was as cold as pure ice, it would still be shaken by his dedication.

"Of course I'll tell you that method. But before that, I have to first grant you something that you deserve."

"Challengers who have passed the Dragon God Trial could obtain three drops of the Dragon God's blood. And since you two have entered this trial as a pair, you may obtain six drops of Dragon God blood. Young human, the true person who had completely the trial is only you, and what you had completed was a trial with a two-fold difficulty, so I will grant all six drops of Dragon God blood to you."

Percy stared dazedly, then immediately shook his head. "No! We entered the trial together and completed the trial together. The process is insignificant, but the outcome, was something we passed through together! How can I possibly monopolize the six drops of Dragon God blood. I should get three, and she should get three."

Piper: "…"

"Heheheheh, I guessed that you would say that. But currently, her profound veins and meridians are all broken, and she simply cannot fuse with the Dragon God blood at the moment. Instead, the power of the Dragon God blood would destroy her in an instant. Furthermore, the method to save her has to be executed by you. However, the prerequisite, is for you to possess at least six drops of Dragon God blood. If you really want to save her, then you must completely fuse with six drops of Dragon God blood, not one drop less.

Percy lowered his head and looked into Piper's eyes for a little while, and then nodded his head: "Alright."

"I will give you seven days to completely fuse with the six drops of Dragon God blood. After seven days, I will then tell you how to save her. At the same time, within those seven days, you have to stabilize the profound strength breakthroughs that you had been suppressing for a while as well. You forcibly suppressed your breakthroughs for so long, so it is very likely to bring harm to your profound veins; if it is serious, it may affect the breakthroughs you will have later on. Carefully stabilize it… As for this woman, in these seven days, I will use my power to protect her life veins. You need not worry."

As the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice fell, a speck of azure blue light suddenly came flying from the darkness, and accurately touched the spot between Percy's eyebrows. Afterwards, it directly entered the space between his brows.

Six drops of the Dragon God's blood entered his body, causing Percy to instantly feel as though six balls of flames exploded within his body at the same time .

Percy immediately calmed himself. He sat down, and submerged his entire consciousness within his inner body. With his profound energy fully released, he began the slow and difficult process of fusing with the Dragon God's Blood. As he felt the tremendous bloodline power hidden within the Dragon God's Blood, he started to suspect himself if he was actually able to completely fuse the six drops of blood within seven days.

Under Percy's careful release, the profound energy which he had suppressed in the endless plains for nearly five months, was like a flood bursting through a dam; he made rapid breakthroughs. In a single day, he continuously broke through to the peak of Level Six Warrior!

After that, with the fusion of every single drop of the Dragon God's blood, the power of the Dragon God's bloodline that was stored within, allowed Percy's profound strength to increase rapidly as well.

He gathered a powerful momentum, then broke through the barrier between Level Six and Level Seven, finally becoming a Level Seven Warrior!

As Percy broke through, the dragon god began speaking to artemis." You've been infected by such a strong poison…." Artemis snapped back" what do the affairs of the realm of the gods bother you for? You're just a remnant!". She was still angry at how he had tried to manipulate Percy's emotions.

Towards her cold tone, the Primordial Azure Dragon did not mind in the slightest, and still retained his calm tone. "In the World of Gods back then, many Gods were still extremely fearful of the Absolute God Slaying Poison, the essence of styx. I did not expect that, even until now, within this realm, this frightening god-killing poison still exists. It seems, some individuals must have found the inheritance left by that 'Demon'. And in this realm, the only thing capable of cleansing this poison, is a soul that has already bathed in the styx… but then this boy… how did he….?. Your body currently resides with the inner world of his soul, and as long as you do not use your battle Qi, within three years, the poison will be cleansed… However, you're harboring a very deep hatred and killing intent within your soul. Even though the power restriction brought about by the Absolute God Slaying Poison, and the existence of this youth which you might have developed some form of feelings for, have completely suppressed these deep hatred and killing intent of yours, if you manage to fully cleanse your body from the poison one day, and leave this youth… It's hard to imagine, just how many lives will be taken by your hands."

Artemis's thin brows slightly sank, and her charming and tender small face was filled with hideousness, like a demon from hell. "People that this princess wish to kill, are people who deserve to die! These people who ought to die are spread throughout Three star realms, and they total to twenty-six billion people! As long as this princess is still alive, there will come a day, when all of them, will die!"

The Primordial Azure Dragon grew solemn, and then heaved a long sigh. "You once possessed the purest and kindest of souls, but nonetheless, the deep hatred and killing intent that were born and grew within this purity, were also extremely pure. I can only hope that there will be someone who will save you from within this deep hatred and killing intent…like this boy… I am only but a residual soul, which indeed do not have to know too many things that I do not need to know. But the reason why I wish to converse with you, is to find out… whether that sword, has already been found."

Artemis seemed to be really clear what "that sword" was referring to, and coldly laughed. "Many gods have died because of that sword. Even though you're only a wisp of a residual soul, you actually still have deep memories of that sword. This princess, however, can tell you this. Although countless people have risked their lives to find that sword, it has yet to be found by anyone."

"… The reason why I asked about that sword, is not because of the deep memories I have for it. Rather, residing within that sword, is a spirit that's extremely important to me."

Artemis: "?"

"I have no idea just what kind of answer I wished to hear as well. No matter if it's been found by someone, or has yet to be found, either answers will bring about hope, and at the same time, worry. I hope that it has been found, but I worry that it's been found as well…

Artemis furrowed her brows. "What's the meaning behind what you just said? Unless there's still a special secret kept within that sword?"

"It's not really a secret, but a worry that will never be relieved even if I were to perish… Little girl, I thank you for being willing to reveal yourself and converse with me, and even frankly tell me about some things. Your existence, have given me a few other ideas for this youth who have passed my trials. But you need not worry, I will not harm him, I will only bestow him a few more gifts, and then, entrust him with a part of my wish…"

On the eighth day, Percy finally opened his eyes. The world within his profound veins had been expanded by several times, and an unbelievably strong force was surging through every drop of blood and every cell within his body. At the same time, he felt that the level of tyranny of his meridians, profound veins, bones, and skin, had long surpassed before, and these changes did not come from the Great Way of the Buddha. They evidently came from the Dragon God's bloodline!

The Primordial Azure Dragon's power did not possess an 'element', its physical body and strength, could be described with one word, "tyrannical". With the infusing of the Dragon God's bloodline, it had undoubtedly changed Percy's physical body and strength, causing them to become incomparably tyrannical. At the very least, they had long surpassed the realms of a mere human.

Piper had always been by his side. When he opened his eyes, the blue power that had been protecting Piper slowly dissipated. He hurriedly carried Piper's upper body, speedily poured his profound energy into her body, and said with concern. "Piper, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Piper replied softly. "You actually broke through…to Level Seven Warrior?!"

Although she had lost all her profound strength, her ability to identify the intensities of profound strength was not lost. According to the intensity of Percy's profound aura, she was able to instantly discern that he had actually reached the peak of Level Seven Warrior!

"Mn!" Percy nodded with a smile. "Don't worry, I have already completely fused with the six drops of the Dragon God's blood. The Primordial Azure Dragon told me that, with this done, I'm able to completely heal you, and you might even gain a breakthrough into the Level Eight Warrior!"

He raised his head, and asked loudly. "Primordial Azure Dragon, I have already completely fused with the bloodline, it's about time you tell me what I should do to heal Piper."

Just then Artemis sighed. She already guessed what the dragon god was going to say." Percy…. Do what you have to…. I know why you try so hard..". Percy smiled at her words." Oh artemis, you worry about me too much."

Just then, the dragon god spoke up.

A.N.: let's get down to the second round of healing, with a little more intense moments! And even artemis has given her permission! So down to a little PiPercy smut!


	13. The Dragon Yang and The Virgin Yin

**Second Arc: Dragon Yang and the Virgin Yin**

"It's very simple." The azure blue eyes opened in the skies above, accompanied by the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice. "Although you have only assimilated with six drops of Dragon God's blood in your veins, with just the dragon's system alone, the intensity of your bloodline has already long surpassed the average True Dragon. Her meridians have snapped, and her profound veins have been broken; staying alive is easy, but to recover her former abilities, is extremely difficult. And the only way to allow her to heal completely, is to obtain a way to breakthrough and that is, your virgin dragon seed. You only have a single virgin dragon seed in your entire life, and it possesses an extremely mystical ability. With you, being a virgin male, and her, being a virgin maiden, your Yin and Yang are extremely compatible. Your virgin dragon seed will be completely absorbed by her Yin element as a virgin maiden, healing all of the injuries in her body, and she will even obtain a certain degree of the Dragon God's bloodline. Reconstructing a new set of profound veins has a high possibility of directly breaking through the bottleneck, and reaching an even higher realm."

As the Primordial Azure Dragon narrated this, Percy, who was initially filled with high expectations, was momentarily stunned. He subconsciously turned to look at Piper, only to find her face blushing red; her eyes flickered with deep resentment. He said with a little stutter, "Primordial Azure Dragon, you're saying… you're saying…"

"Hoho, I have already described it really clearly. This was also why I only told you about this after you completely fused with the Dragon God's blood. To restore her profound strength, this is the only way. As to how you're going to go about doing it, it's up to both of you to decide… Summon me whenever you're done."

After the Primordial Azure Dragon left these words, the blue eyes slowly disappeared, and its aura completely disappeared without a trace.

In this dark world, only Percy and Piper was left. Within this extreme silence, both of them could hear their intense pumping hearts.

Percy slowly took a deep breath, and his state of mind quickly became calm. He was very clear that, in this situation, Piper basically could not move a single inch, and nor would she accept it. So, he had to be the one to take initiative. As for the blame and the consequences that followed, he had to take responsibility for all of that as well.

Percy once again carried Piper, and moved her to his body. "Piper, the method the Primordial Azure Dragon spoke of earlier, you clearly heard it as well, right?"

"No…" Piper's emotions were in a state of severe unrest. "Even if I die, I will never…"

"I know." Percy calmly said. "You women from the DeGrest Society are as clear as ice and as pure as jade for your entire lives, unless you get married; no matter your body or spirit, they are both pure and clean like ice and snow. Even in death, you will never be willing to have your body tainted. But, we have already been together for so long, and especially, in this five months, we have nestled in each other's embrace at every single moment. Ask your inner heart, do you really hate the way I'm hugging you right now? If I'm the only person in your entire life who takes away your chastity, are you really that… against it?"

Piper's eyes froze. Right after, they turned completely misty, and not long after, they once again started to shake violently.

"I'm well aware of the sect's taboo that has been passed down for generations in your DeGrest Society, and the way of thinking that's deeply ingrained in your mind for tens of years; you're basically unable to get past that barrier in your heart… Then, I will help you get past it. You did not make any mistakes, nor did you break any of your sect's taboos, everything was because of me. If, after today, you're willing to become a real woman, I will take responsibility for my entire life, and if you choose to leave, I will definitely not stop or pester you either. I don't know which choice you will make, but there's one thing I'm sure of, and it's that you're definitely unwilling to stay a cripple for your entire life."

After saying that, Percy placed Piper on the ground. He stretched out his hands and slowly pulled off the clothes in front of her chest, revealing her ice-snow skin.

"No… don't…" Piper's eyes were trembling with shock. Using all her strength to raise her right arm, she grabbed onto his wrist. "If… you dare to do that to me… I will definitely… definitely… kill you…"

Percy took hold of her hand, bent his body over, and forcefully kissed her fragrant lips, preventing her from making any other sounds.

Piper's beautiful eyes widened, as she emitted out whimpering sounds. But as her extremely beautiful upper body was being completely exposed under Percy's body, her whimpering sounds became more powerless as time went by…

Under Percy's forcefulness, Piper's weak struggles amounted to an exercise in futility. In the blink of an eye, her flawless, snowy white body that looked as though it had been sculpted from jade or ice, had become completely uncovered in front of Percy…

He quietly admired her beauty and grace. She closed her eyes and turned away, unwilling. Percy sighed and draped her clothes back onto her. she opened her eyes in surprise." P-Percy…?" she whispered softly." Percy gave a hollow laugh." I didn't expect that after everything we had been through…. You would still… that all my effort…" Percy sighed. Piper took a deep breath and seemed to steel herself." Percy… if… it's… you… then…"her voice trailed off and her skin turned red. Her hand softly tugged at the cloth covering her, slowly pulling it aside.

Percy bent and again softly kissed her as he completely undressed her, revealing her flawless body. Despite having taken care of her for five months, now that he saw her, and realized what was going to happen, Percy felt extremely timid. He quietly undressed as well.

Both were inexperienced virgins and didn't know where to look. Percy cleared his throat and slowly climbed onto her, pinching her tender breasts. She moaned out loud and then clenched her teeth with embarrassment. His member was completely erect now and he gently pressed himself into her. she trembled, instinctively trying to resist, then fell silent with a moan of pain as he thrust past her barrier, finally claiming her.

He made awkward thrusts, hands fondling her breasts as they kissed, tenderly at first, then slowly deepening.

This was a world separated from the outside world; it was incomparably silent. And thus, the sounds of a man and a woman joining together were exceptionally clear, striking against their ears and souls. In this place, nobody would be able to bother them; there wasn't even any wind.

Her agitated attempts at resisting slowly transformed into increasingly charming sounds of panting. Her minute struggling movements slowly, unconsciously transformed into a welcoming acceptance. After several tempestuous, emotional rounds, at the location where their bodies pressed tightly against each other, his virgin Yang and her virgin Yin finally completed their perfect union.

Percy lay there, his mouth open as he panted roughly. His hands were holding Piper's soft, slick white back. Piper quietly lay there against his chest, her beautiful eyes shut, seeming to have fainted. The quiet, sorrowful tears that silently leaked out had left tear stains that had yet to dry.

Only, although he was a virgin as well, physically speaking, he still had his innate experience from the past life and this had still 'tormented' Piper quite a bit. This was because his body possessed the Great Way of the Buddha, and had also just fused the Dragon God's bloodline, making the strength of his body far superior to an ordinary person's. He had spent more than two full hours entangling Piper's charming, fragile, virgin body before finally releasing what the Primordial Azure Dragon had referred to as the 'virgin Dragon seed'. Piper had been ravaged like a tender lotus in a tornado. Her upper body, her lower body… every part of her body was covered with traces of the storm.

After the wind and the rain, the two remained tightly coupled to each other. Percy secretly looked at the quiet, silent Piper. Even after a long period of time passed, he didn't say anything. He didn't know what he should currently say to her. In his head, however, now came the bellowing shouts of Artemis.

"You BASTARD! Lowlife! Pervert! You actually caused me to see this sort of a scene! And hear those unmentionable sounds for so long… If I didn't have to rely on you for now, even though you are my disciple, I would definitely kill you!"("a tsundere will always be a tsundere" quote by Apollo) Artemis's voice was filled with anger, and it was even quivering slightly. Percy rolled his eyes; his face started to redden slightly. He replied quietly, "All you had to do was seal off your six senses and make it so that you couldn't hear or see anything."

"Bastard! Lowlife! Pervert!" Artemis began to bellow again.

"…Haha, this is a type of normal human behavior. The first time, perhaps you might truly be unaccustomed to it, but after you see it a few more times, you'll naturally grow accustomed to it."

"Pervert! Pervert! PERVERT! You are exactly what my mother and big brother told me about, a PERVERT who I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely can't get close to!"

After finishing her howling, Artemis said nothing else and paid no more attention to Percy.

At this moment, from the place they were conjoined, he suddenly sensed an icy aura violently surge into his body, causing his entire body to grow stuff. His consciousness instantly was dispersed, and he fainted. As he fainted, that powerful, icy energy moved from the inside to the outside, quickly covering his entire body and causing tendrils of icy, misty energy to rise above his form.

—

As Percy lay in his coma, he didn't know how much time had passed.

He remained within that dark world, but Piper's form was no longer by his side. The only thing remaining was a red 'blossom' on the ground and several marks, which testified that what happened had been no dream.

"Young human, you have awakened."

Within the darkness appeared two blue lights. Two enormous azure blue eyes had opened in the air above.

"Why did I…faint?" Percy pressed against his head. His body didn't feel strange at all; his earlier sudden fainting had caused him to feel very confused.

"After the two of you joined your Yin and Yang together, she gained your True Dragon's virgin seed. Her wounds were completely healed, and, as I anticipated, her newborn Profound Veins allowed her to make a huge breakthrough, and she directly entered the Level Eight Warrior. As for you, after you gained her virgin Yin, your body gained a powerful ice-attribute profound energy. Unfortunately, your profound energy was originally of the Water-attribute. Water and ice just so happen to counter each other, and so the ice-attribute energy of benefit to you, but it actually clashed against your Poseidon's Blood. The reason why you suddenly passed out was because these two types of closely related energy suddenly began to fuse with each other.

"Your ice-attribute energy has now been completely suppressed by the Blood of Poseidon. If my guess is correct, you have already gained the ice-attribute profound energy that woman had on her."

The words of the Primordial Azure Dragon caused Percy to be stunned. He somewhat calmed himself down, then suddenly discovered that within his consciousness, there was a powerful ice-attribute Profound Art…

The Frozen Cloud Arts!

In addition, it was the Frozen Cloud Arts that had already reached the Seventh Level, of being able to "activate the celestial snow"!

This discovery greatly shocked Percy. Of course he had heard of the saying, 'dual Yin Yang training', but the true essence of 'dual Yin Yang training' lay in harmonizing Yin and Yang, helping them make up for each other's deficiencies. Perhaps the attribute of one's energy might be transformed through dual Yin Yang training, but to gain the other person's complete Profound Art after coupling with them…

This was completely unheard of!

Wait a moment! Percy suddenly thought of something. Could it be that the reason why DeGrest Society absolutely forbade the female disciples of the palace from losing their chastity was actually precisely because…the Frozen Cloud Arts could be completely transmitted to a man through the virgin Yin?

As Percy pondered this, the more he thought about this, the more likely it seemed. The results of ten or tens of years of cultivation by the disciples of DeGrest Society… if a man could take away their chastity, then without any effort at all, he could gain it all. How unfair was that! At the same time, it would result in their sect's Profound Arts being transmitted to outsiders. If word of this spread, without question, there would be countless greedy eyes which would stare at every single disciple of DeGrest Society. Despite how powerful DeGrest Society was, they would be thrust into tremendous danger.

So that was the reason why…the women of DeGrest Society were forbidden from developing relationships with any man, and until the day they died, they were not permitted to lose their chastity. It wasn't because love would impact their training of the Frozen Cloud Arts; it was because of this…

"Truly, only the bblood ofposeidon would let you absorb ice powers like this!"

"…You know that my body has the Blood Of Poseidon?" Percy raised his head.

"I can even detect the bloodline of the Fairy Priestess from your friend, so how could I possibly not recognize the aura of Poseidon? He was the god of the seas and I was his loyal general! Aside from that, your body also has the aura of the divine power of the Rage God and of Sirius the Sky Wolf. The reason why you were able to pass these trials was because you relied on these powers. Your situation makes me sigh in amazement, and also makes me, for the first time, desire to see what a human's future is."

Percy frowned" Power of the Rage God? Sirius the sky wolf?" the dragon laughed." Your little master has given you her lifeblood! That's how she sealed her soul to your body! This lifeblood contained her Bloodline, the Sirius Sky wolf Bloodline, the bloodline that granted you mastery over the heavy sword! And the Great Way of the Buddha, is the power of the Rage God. Buddha's power divides into six essential parts: the Path of Hell-Tartarus, the Path of Ghosts- Hades, the Path of Beasts-Pan, the Path of Asura- Warrior, the Path of Mortals- Nirvana, the Path of Buddha- Chaos. You used to use the path of mortals, and in my trial, you gained the path of asura. I would love to train you and see your potential"

The voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon was filled with deep regret.

"The Great way of the Buddha... I will try to follow it." Percy said. Sensing the additional ice-attribute energy in his body, he murmured in his heart, "I won't let the energy that you bestowed upon me with your chastity to forever be sealed…"

He raised his head and asked calmly, "And her? Where did she go? Did she say…when she would return?"

"She left. She didn't say when she would be back." The Primordial Azure Dragon replied.

"…Then before she left, did she want to kill me?" Percy asked in a rather lost manner.

"She raised a sword and pointed it at your vital points, but from the moment she lifted up the sword to when she put the sword away, she never had a hint of a true killing aura. I could tell that she was just struggling in her heart about something… She stared at you for a long time, then left. But when she left, she didn't seem very resolute; at the very least, as she left, she turned to look at you three times."

Percy's eyes trembled, and the lost look on his face vanished and was replaced with a calm smile. "Thank you, Primordial Azure Dragon. You not only bestowed me with power, you truly rescued her as well."

In his heart, he added another phrase:" If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even gotten close to being able to enjoy Piper's body…" if artemis had heard him, without a doubt she would have castrated him

"Heh heh heh heh, you don't need to think me. I simply wished to, for my own sake, find an ideal candidate for the transmission of my lineage. However…if you truly do feel gratitude for what you have gained, then can you agree to a request of mine?"

The word 'request', when spoken, carried a slight tremble to it. As the Primordial Azure Dragon, the leader of the countless divine beasts of the Divine Realm, how often had it ever 'requested' anything from others? A request from the Primordial Azure Dragon…this was something that a normal person couldn't even fathom.

Percy nodded solemnly. "Speak. Although I cannot guarantee that I will definitely be able to assist you, as long as it is within my powers, I will definitely try to do everything I can."

"It is enough for you to answer me in this manner. My request is indeed far too difficult for you. You might spend your entire life without being able to even come close to the borders of this request, but the strength in your body, as well as your soul, makes it so that I can't keep myself from feeling hopeful… I hope that you, sometime in your life, will be able to find a sword."

"A… sword?" Percy was stupefied. "What sort of a sword?"

The Primordial Azure Dragon didn't directly answer this question. Instead, he said slowly, "Have you heard of the place known as the 'Realm of the Gods'?"

"Realm of the Gods?" Percy shook his head. "I've heard of it a little."

"The Realm of the Gods is also known as the Divine Realm. In the Primordial Era, the Gods dwelled there. That is an incomparably enormous plane, ten thousand times greater than the Gaia Continent you currently reside in. Afterwards, the Gods fell, but the Divine Realm didn't grow empty because of this. It became filled with countless humans, who took over this world that was formerly of the Gods and who searched for and fought over all the things which the Gods left behind… Relics, weapons, spiritual medicines, lineages, profound arts, and more. Afterwards, by relying on the divine relics that they found, they erected increasingly large and powerful clans, forces, lands, and even miniature worlds."

A dazed look was in Percy's eyes, as though he were hearing the words of the heavens.

"That place also has the lineage that I left behind. I learned these things only through the remnant spirits that remain in that place. The current Divine Realm is no longer a world of the True Gods; rather, it has been chopped up into many spheres of power by the countless inheritors of the lineages of the Gods. It has become the plane with the highest levels of power in this era. In addition, the Divine Realm is incomparably large. Everyone continues to imagine that there must be more divine relics that have yet to be discovered, and so every day, many people will go to search for them…and in particular, they are searching for a sword. That sword has already disappeared countless years ago. Ever since the Gods were annihilated, not even a hint of it has appeared. However, its power and might made it so that people are unable to give up the search for it.

"That sword's name is the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword."

" Naturally, you should understand what it means to be in possession of one of the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures. As for that Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, it is ranked as number one amongst the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures! According to legend, its power is enough to annihilate everything. It entirely lives up to its title of being the number one supreme treasure. Even if it falls into the hands of a mortal, that mortal will still be able to easily slaughter True Gods and smite the Heavens!"

Percy gasped." But such a powerful blade…."

The number one amongst Heavenly Profound Treasures!

Even in the hands of a mortal, it could slaughter Gods and smite the Heavens!

Every description pertaining to this Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword caused one to have a kind of deep heartfelt feeling. It was like a sword straight out of the legends; powerful, but like an abstract concept that should not even exist.

It might be an exaggeration to say that it could slaughter Gods and smite the Heavens in the hands of an ordinary person, but the strength it could manifest was undoubtedly extreme.

"Why do you want me to find this sword?" Percy asked in the midst of his shock.

"Because…." The Primordial Azure Dragon's voice suddenly became sad: "Because my daughter is sealed within the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword! Her body and her spirit are both sealed within that sword!"

Percy : "Your… daughter?"

Artemis: "… !"

"After the demise of the gods, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword never appeared again. I wish for it to be found, yet am frightened that it may be found. Because if it is never found, my daughter will forever be sealed within that sword, suffering endless darkness and loneliness. However, if that sword is found… If the person who obtains the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword is greedy and evil, after he unseals the sword, my daughter will become that person's tool… After all, my daughter has the pure lineage of the Dragon God!"

"Then the reason you want me to find the sword, is to…"

The Primordial Azure Dragon replied gravely: "I believe in your character. You are a trustworthy person. If that sword is in your hands, I believe that my daughter can be saved."

Percy laughed self-deprecatingly, "Primordial Azure Dragon, it's not that I want to reject your request, only … you think too highly of me. The place that you speak of, I have never heard of it, nor know where it is. According to you, that place is of the highest level, populated by people who have inherited various abilities belonging to that of True Gods for countless generations. I am only a little practitioner at the Level seven Warrior. The level of the place you speak of is too far above me and is too far away. Whether I even have the capability to leave Hope City is not yet known. There is simply no possibility for me to reach the place you speak of."

"I understand," the Primordial Azure Dragon said gently: "The request that I have is a difficult one, as hard as climbing the heavens. I don't have the right to make you do this. I only hope that, if one day you step into the Realm of the Gods, you will try to look for the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. If you never step out of this continent within your lifetime, then you can forever ignore my request."

The most important reason why the Primordial Azure Dragon made this shocking request to Percy was because of Artemis's existence. Without Artemis, there was no way that Percy would have the chance to encounter that world. He might not even know about the existence of that world for the rest of his life. However, Artemis's life was currently attached to his and his godly abilities originated from Artemis. It could no longer be denied that there was a possibility for Percy to step into that world.

Since the Primordial Azure Dragon was willing to say this much, Percy, naturally, could no longer say anything else. He nodded his head sincerely, and replied: "Alright, I will remember all the words you have just said. If there truly is a day when I reach that place, I will definitely try to find that sword… If I find it, I will try to find a way to break the seal and allow your daughter to see the light of day once again."

"…Your voice is genuinely sincere and your soul does not have the slightest of tremors. It is clear I have chosen the right person. Thank you for your promise." The Primordial Azure Dragon said in a gratified manner. "My clan of Dragon Gods had never owed favors to anyone. I will not let you do this without a reward… This residual soul of mine is attached to some remaining Dragon God blood. Opening the secret trial realm and giving you Dragon God blood has cost me dearly. This residual soul can only last three more years at most. This is also my last remaining soul. The residual souls that I left in other places have all dissipated after passing on their abilities. I want to leave everything else I have left to you, but your inherent strength is far too weak. Even with the godly strength of the Poseidon and Rage God to protect your body, you still will not be able to inherit my strength."

"I will wait for you for three years. If you can reach the Level Nine Warrior within three years, return to this place to find me. I will bequeath you the last of my 'Dragon God Marrow' and 'Dragon God Soul'!"

"However, I will only wait for you for three years. After three years, everything that I am will dissipate, leaving nothing but regrets."

Dragon God Marrow, Dragon God Soul… Regardless of what it was, as long as the two words "Dragon God" were attached to it, it must be something powerful, even if it was merely a hair that had fallen from the Dragon God's body. Percy could not resist this sort of temptation: "Alright! Within three years… No! Within two years, I will reach Level Nine Warrior! At that time, I will definitely come here to find you."

"Haha, good… Good."

The Primordial Azure Dragon gladly assented. Then, his azure blue eyes that were floating in midair, slowly disappeared.

The darkness surrounding Percy quickly dissipated and a dim light appeared. Percy looked at his surroundings and noticed that he had returned to the center of the Wasteland of Death, inside that dark cave.

"It is time for you to leave. Remember what I said. When you reach the Level Nine Warrior, you must definitely come back to find me. I am not doing this for your sake, but so that my daughter can have just a portion more of hope."

"Be at ease. With such huge benefits, I won't forget." Percy replied.

"Your next plan is to return to the place you mentioned earlier? Then I must warn you… time in here flows differently from outside…" Percy frowned, but he could do nothing to change this fact." How long has passed outside?"he asked calmly." About twenty months" the dragon god replied Justas calmly and Percy felt like attacking him. This was almost two whole years!

Percy looked at the cave's exit, and felt the strength his body now contained. Clenching his fists tightly, he said seriously, "The next thing to do is obviously to make it out of the center of the Wasteland of Death alive!"

To him, leaving the Wasteland of Death was nothing compared to the difficulty of the Dragon God Trial's "test". This "test" did not scare Percy at all. His profound strength had continuously risen within the last seven days, and he also needed a large number of battles to stabilize his profound strength. He was a Level Seven Warrior. To him there was no danger here, unless he was unlucky enough to face to Face a Level Nine Monster or a Legend realm Monster.

"I wish you a smooth journey."

Percy grinned and nodded. He bid farewell to the Primordial Azure Dragon and then head towards the cave entrance, stepping into the Wasteland of Death, where dangers abound…

In accordance to Aphrodite's wishes, the Inner Palace Selection Competition, was soon held again. The battle was getting worse. The shadow association was now launching direct attacks on the city of hope. And the serpent society was still one of the three grand societies so the other two societies were forced to work with them and agree to their many conditions. They didn't have enough resources to begin fighting among themselves. And if serpent society broke up, then almost 10% of the cities attack power would be lost!

It was only this evening that the disciples participating in the war were finally decided. With hurried steps, Qin Wuzong personally left for the Aphrodite's Quarters, the place currently occupied by Aphrodite, to let her know the results of the selection competition.

"Director, the results of the Inner Palace Selection Competition between our Inner Palace disciples are out. As expected, it just happens to be the top three on the Inner Palace's Ranking."

Aphrodite calmly received the list of names delivered by Qin Wuzong, but Qin Wuzong could feel the distress underneath her calm… and a kind of apathy, as if her heart had died. He let out a long sigh in his heart. He could only sigh. Not only did that Percy possess a shocking innate talent for profound strength, it seemed as if he had some kind of demonic power; to have actually let the Director of the alchemist society, who firmly rejected even extraordinary elites like Hercules, fall in love with him so deeply she had willingly sunk into the dangerous condition of allowing her heart to die.

Suddenly a guard came running, panting and sweating like he'd seen a ghost." Director! Director!" Aphrodite glanced up. She didn't seem the least bit worried. That is until the guard spoke." The Granddaughter of Sir Grandholme has returned!"

A.N. sorry for the short chapter, but I feel kind of dead right now. I was planning a longer chapter, but I'll just add the details in the next chapter I guess. Maybe no updates tomorrow. Cuz im just kind of tired. Well fingers crossed.

Aaaand how was the very first PiPercy smut scene? Not intense I know and it was so short, it embarrassing for even me to read, but hey, this isn't a smut story so I was kinda vague about the description. Also isn't artemis a cute lil' tsundere?! And no please no reviews for a pregnant piper. She's fifteen years, so no no no! Percy is twelve so I guess it's even more awkward, but hey most of my smut stories have a 12 year old Percy and no one's complained… yet. Well review and pm to encourage me. Yes I'm blackmailing you and yes a long review will bribe me into writing longer chapters. Thanks bunches YoLOMan. This double update despite feeling dead is cuzza your reviews.

Also no one's still tried guessing who Calypso's mom is. If anyone guesses right, then I'll make another smut chapter on calypso and Percy. Hint is in the title of the chapter where she and Percy fight.

Also super powered sword Percy's supposed to find, ring any bells?


	14. Plot in the Shadows

**Second Arc: Plot in the Shadows**

Percy stepped out of the dragon god's Realm and immediately blinked. He was back in the same city center of Snow Song City. Artemis Sent her divine sense out, then laughed." Good news Percy!" Percy smiled." What is it?"." The array formation that changed the time flow in the dragon god's realm is inactive!" Artemis said. Percy frowned." So?" artemis shook her head." Oh gods! It means that the dragon god was wrong. 20 months haven't passed. Instead, only six or so months have passed!"

Percy laughed with delight."that is good news! Well then, lets head home!"

But Percy had no idea about the many schemes occurring in the background to his disappearance.

The dragon god closed its eyes and its soul flew out and merged with Percy. It had told him it would only give him it's soul after he reached Level Nine Warrior. But he had a feeling Percy was going to need it in the near future.

 _-the day of Percy and pipers disappearance, six months back-_

A shadowy figure, wearing an illusory black helmet and black armor sat in a sturdy throne made of dark rock. He was seated in a deep hidden cavern inside one of the tallest mountains right next to Hope city. The cavern was empty except for him and another man, dressed in green robes of silk.

That man stood half in the shadows as well, letting the darkness cover his face.

The man in the green robes spoke first." So has it been done?" the other figure chuckled softly."you worry too much grand elder. An enemy of your serpent society is naturally an enemy of my Shadow Association. my two brothers in the Shadow Sect and the Shadow Triad have both sent out their operatives. The Shadow sect's spies are keeping an eye on the people of Hope city. And the Assassins of the Shadow Triad are probably killing Percy as we speak. Soon, my Shadow Society will launch the first attack on Hope city." The man chuckled." Everything is on schedule. My Demon King told me to assure you that once we've cleansed Hope City, there will only be two Powers left!, My Shadow Association and your Serpent Society."

The man in the Green robes laughed as well." Well then, I shall take my leave." The man stood from his throne." And the item we asked for?" the Grand elder shook a hand and a guard dragged the huge sack he was carrying and dumped it in front of the throne." I still don't understand why you want this trash, but we have no use for it so you can gladly have it!" he swiftly strode out of the cavern.

Once he had left, another man, dressed in identical armor and helmet, only he carried a Black Saber on his hip, appeared from the shadows. He stepped through the shadows and stretched." Did he bring it?" the other man immediately knelt." Your majesty. It is here." He gestured to the sack.

The Demon King Laughed and Beckoned to his General." At ease, General." The general immediately stood and withdrew. The demon king stepped to the sack and opened it. Inside lay the unconscious form of Hercules.

He laughed and nudged him with his foot." How is this trash?! Hahahaha! This is treasure!" he chuckled,then waved his hand over Hercules's face." Ahhh such strong Yang Bloodlines inside his body!" he licked his lips and his hand began to glow.

Hercules's face started to grow was faint at first, then it looked like he was being boiled. Suddenly a tiny crack appeared on his cheek and blood streamed out. It poured from more cracks that were opening up all over his face.

Hercules began to shrivel as his blood was drained. Within a few minutes, he was a dry corpse.

The blood condensed into a tiny bead, then solidified and landed in the demon kings hand. He laughed, then frowned. He kicked the dry corpse with irritation." Damn this foolish boy. He had such strong yang bloodlines, but he's probably screwed over a hundred girls by now. The quality has reduced so much!" he kicked the corpse once, more, just to relieve his annoyance,then watched it crumble to dust.

He popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed it. The pill entered his blood and dissolved releasing pure yang essence into his bloodstream. He sat down cross-legged and began to meditate. An image soon began flickering behind him,a hideous demon with many heads of many monsters, with many mouths and claws and tentacles erupting on every part of it.

This demon was completely deformed and was an embodiment of his true nature. Once he was done integrating with the Yang essence he stood and pulled his helmet off. He seemed no older than nineteen, tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair. He had a sinister smile, made all the more sinister by a thick white scar, that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife scar.

"hehehe." Luke castellan chuckled as he stroked his scar." I should probably head into hope city and find myself some new virgins for use. With this boost to my Yang energy, I could probably go on for a month!"

He strode towards the wall and walked right through it, shadow walking to his private chambers. His private chambers were entirely sealed. There were magic arrays set up supplying fresh air in here. There was no way in or out. The only way was to shadow walk. Therefore, he had built himself a mansion in the heart of a mountain, where no one could find him. Not even his subordinates knew which mountain it was built into. And so, this was his strong hold.

All the maids stood up straight as he appeared, then curtsied to him. They were born in here and raised to be loyal to him. They were the only people he wholeheartedly trusted. He smiled and shook a hand." Please my dears, don't let me disturb your work."

The aura he had been emitting, the heavy desolate aura of the Demon King, disappeared the second he appeared in front of them. They were all normal humans after all. If his aura were to fall on them, they would have difficulty even standing.

The girls laughed and headed back to their work. Luke started towards his cultivation chamber.

The second he stepped into it, his powerful aura came back, bringing with it the stench of death and destruction. He surveyed his room and chuckled softly.

There were thirteen girls, all in their teens, tied up and hung, all around the room. Some of these were as young as thirteen and the oldest was nineteen. Luke walked in and they all looked up Warily. The youngest girl spoke up." P-please s-sir…. L-let m-me g-go….." Luke smiled at her and his aura concentrated on her. she stiffened and her face grew white.

Luke walked towards her, his aura intensifying with each step he took, until the girl was trembling and moaning. Luke reached out a hand the cup her cheek and she whimpered." You'll be perfect for today." He said softly.

He pulled a small coin out of his pocket and showed it to her." heads, you leave, tails you remain tied up there." The girl stared at the coin blankly. Luke flipped the coin and then grabbed it. He looked at it and shook his head sadly." Tails, I'm afraid."

The girl shivered violently as he pulled a small dagger out of his pocket. He placed it at her wrists." This is going to hurt." He told her with a smile.

 _-An hour later-_

Luke took an hour to carefully carve the girl up. He tortured her methodically, making her scream until her voice gave out, placing cut on her body to make it bleed until she fell unconscious with bloodloss.

Then he called one of his maids. She was already experienced and she quickly treated this girl's wounds, binding and closing them. She was done quickly, then Luke tied her up again.

He carefully bowed to the puddle of blood under her and said in a low solemn voice." Illusory devil arts! The path of Slaughter!" the blood bubbled and congealed into a tiny grain of a crystal, then rose up and merged into his skin.

He turned to the next the girl, the oldest one of nineteen years. All the girls were trembling violently after what had happened the young girl. Luke turned to her and smiled admiringly.

"shall we see what your fate it?" he asked. The girl was looking away, her eyes closed, breathing quick and shallow. She was dreading what was coming. Luke flipped the coin and then grabbed it. He smiled widely and showed her the coin." Heads! You get to get out of those chains." The girl shook with surprise and opened her eyes, looking at him with shock.

Luke laughed and started unchaining her. the girl had been a Level Four Warrior, but he'd poisoned her meridians and sealed away her cultivation. He grabbed her wrist and then threw her onto an altar in the middle of the room. It was a light toss, but how could s he resist his force? She shrieked as she flew through the air and landed on the stone altar.

Lukes eyes glowed and he groaned as the image of his Demon Bloodline appeared behind him, a hideous monster that seemed to be formed by the stitched together corpses of hundreds of monsters. This in reality showed all the monster bloodline he had stolen from people.

His demon bloodline swallowed these monster bloodlines and fused with them, and was also capable of sucking away a female's yin energy.

The girls screamed as they saw the monster. The girl on the altar was terrified as the demons tentacles grabbed her, holding her in place. Luke looked down on her and smiled." Unfortunately for you, your yin energy is too weak. If you were a beauty with powerful yin, I wouldn't mind making you my cultivation oven(technical term for person used against their will in dual cultivation.) and personally claiming you. but with your mediocre looks and weak yin energy, I'll let my demon enjoy himself."

The tentacles ripped the girls already tattered clothing to shreds and her screams rose in pitch and crescendo as the monstrous beasts violated her in every way possible.

When the beast was done, the girl had a glassy lifeless look in her eyes. Her skin was shriveled and wrinkled and even her hair had turned white. The young girl of nineteen had become an old woman on the verge of death. Luke smiled at her." go wait outside. We're not done yet."

She obediently sat up and walked out. Luke turned to the remaining eleven girls." Shall we continue?." He flipped the coin as he walked to the next girl, another young one aged only 13.

Luke smiled at her." heads! So shall we get started?" and the night passed on with screams echoing throughout his chambers.

The next day when Luke walked out he looked tired and sleepy. He smiled at his maids." Go in and clean up my mess will you dears?" he beckoned to his favorite maid." Come with me I'm sleepy." The girl giggled and ran off with him.

 _-Later that week, within the serpent society's main hall-_

Luke was the only one seated. There were four other people in the room. The GrandMaster of the serpent Society, Hercules's great grandfather, a man aged more than 200 years bowed his head respectfully as he spoke." Sir, these are three of the greatest talents and most pure virgins of our serpent society. Young master should be pleased with them."

Luke scowled." Cut the crap oldie, and get to the point. All your serpent society talents are going to the dump these days. These three girls are all pathetic. My cultivation technique requires better cultivation ovens. The only ones that match the standard these days are those ice maidens from the DeGrest society. And maybe some of the aristocratic families."Luke scowled again." And I still don't get how that brat Percy killed one of my biggest trump cards last week! All that loss and no gain! Even the girl I wanted, calypso is under surveillance now after she went into that coma. Percy and both his lovely girlfriends are out of my grasp! Even that Aphrodite is a Level Nine Warrior, so I can't rashly target her either…."

The serpent society's grandmaster stayed silent. Luke stood and paced around." From my calculations, that Percy has an extremely Yang Bloodline. If I get my hands on that, I can even break through….." his voice trailed off. Then he turned back to the GrandMaster." I'll be hiding near the city. If any potential cultivation oven passes by, you must inform me immediately so I can quickly and conveniently snatch her!:"

He chuckled softly." That Grandholme has no idea….. how big of a threat is approaching! We'll strike in six months time. And when we do, I should be able to stand up to Grandholme at least toe to toe."

The serpent society bought as many dragon pills and phoenix pellets as they could. Then they began secretly supplying the Shadow Association.

Within a month, the battle had begun. The shadow association was capable of attacking and retreating quickly. But Hope city had a higher Level of warriors and their overall Power was also far greater. They also had a trump card in the form of Grandholme. With his support, it was impossible for the shadow association to gain the upper hand in any battle.

Luke spent almost all his time inside Hope City now. He Cultivated an ancient formula he had found in an old ruins in the heart of the wastelands of death, named the Devils Lewd Dream Formula. Sneaking in between a colony of Legend Realm Beasts, he acquired this great treasure. It was a forbidden art, that defied the heavens and brought down divine retribution on he who cultivated it.

There were two simple paths in this Devils Lewd Dream Formula.

The first was slaughter. To cause the death of as many people and use their blood to strengthen his own body, and as a sacrifice to the Demon Emperor mentioned in the devil arts. This allowed his body to exceed human limits.

So he killed as many people as necessary, and sometimes kept them a live, draining their blood over and over until they died.

The second instruction was Dual Cultivation. Sucking away a woman's Primordial Yin(virginity) in order to boost his profound strength. This gave him explosive Battle qi and a powerful soul.

He walked a path of blood and torture, to reach the heights of power! Of course, in return, the price he had to pay was also much greater. He was struggling to make even a single breakthrough now. Neither slaughter, nor dual cultivation was helping him.

But now a war was on against hope city. Countless innocent, brave lives lost and the earth soaked with blood, all a tribute to the demon emperor. And he prowled through hope city, targeting commoners families, draining away the yin of any woman who caught his fancy.

And so his Demon Bloodline grew ever stronger. This was a powerful Bloodline beyond ordinary levels. It far exceeded monster bloodlines. In fact, it was a bloodline on the level of Artemis's divine bloodline.

His biggest regret was pipers death. such a high level talent, who guarded herself so chastely, would no doubt make a great cultivation oven!

He carefully investigated and planned, trying to figure out if he could survive against Grandholme in six months time.

It seemed unlikely.

Then a huge surprising event occurred." A week before the planned attack, piper herself arrived." Luke was coolly sitting in a small mountain cave, taking a nap when the news reached him mentally from the GrandMaster of the Serpent Society." Young master! Piper is still alive! She has arrived! She's heading to Hope city under an escort of our soldiers! Quick, before Grandholme arrives snatch her! she'll be the perfect cultivation oven for you!"

Luke licked his lips as he shot out of the cave. He could almost taste the victory.

When he arrived, piper was being escorted by a regiment of troops from the serpent society to hope city. Luke smirked and moved in, with a loud bang, they were all thrown aside and he arrived by piper.

Her eyes flashed with anger and an explosive surge of power burst from her. it ripped through her and slammed into him, knocking him back. His eyes widened, and he laughed crazily." Level Eight Warrior! What talent! With you as a cultivation oven, I'm sure to make a breakthrough! Now give me your primordial yin!"

He released the aura of a Level Nine Warrior and dashed at her. before she could even react he was behind her a razor sharp knife already resting against her skin.

Grandholme suddenly flew out of hope city. Flying was a power accessible to the legend realm!

He glared at Luke who was wearing his helmet." Demon King, let her go!"

Luke chuckled softly." Make me to… are you scared I might bite her?" Grandholme started grinding his teeth with frustration. Piper shivered as his breath rattled by her ear." Just being near you is making me so excited you know? Once I claim you, I'll abuse you endlessly night after night, for weeks, till your mind itself breaks! How does that sound?" Luke chuckled and groped her with his free hand.

He was preparing to order his army to attack, to distract Grandholme and then quickly run away, piper in tow. With a pure Virgin like her, no doubt he'd gain massive power.

Then he was hit by the sharpest killing intent he had ever felt. Though it was just killing intent, it made him feel like a sword rested at his back of his heart, the razor sharp tip scratching his flesh. He stiffened, then turned slowly. A solitary figure was walking towards him, oversized sword in hand. The aura emanating from him was just the Seventh Level, but it was enough to make his heart freeze. Luke clutched piper with one arm and tossed a talisman high in the sky. It exploded and the army of the shadow Association swept out of the magical transport Array the talisman released. They ran at hope city in unison. Grandholme growled. Facing so many enemies, even he had to be serious.

Luke dragged piper with him as he hurriedly fled. Percy turned into a blur as he roared." Piper!"

Luke dashed through the mountains at impossible speeds. Then he quickly ran into a magical transport array. And disappeared. However, with artemis tracking him, Percy knew exactly where to run. He dashed into the transport array and appeared on the other side of the mountains.

Luke held a struggling piper, shackling her arms and legs. He didn't even realize Percy was behind him until his sword was swinging at him.

Luke spun as he felt the sword. Percy growled" Divine Sea Tsunami!" the vibrations shot out like a true tsunami, smashing into Luke's body. He stumbled backwards and quickly held a knife to pipers neck, pulling a stalemate.

"look, Percy I'm willing to let her go, if you sign a soul contract swearing to work for my Shadow-" Luke began." Let her go right now or the last thing you'll ever see will be my sword."Percy growled like a wild animal.

Luke swallowed nervously then replied" do you think you scare me? I'm at the peak of Level Nine Warrior. You may be abnormal, but you still can't fight me!"

Artemis sighed in annoyance then made a hand seal. The dragon god soul that had fused with Percy suddenly awoke.

Percy's body filled with power and he realized that Luke was surrounded by a Black aura."that's his soul aura" artemis murmured." The dragon god soul is far more powerful than yours. As of now, you can only use a single ability, and only for around two seconds. That is the Dragon soul somain."

Luke and percy stood at a deadlock, neither moving. Luke hadn't noticed the change in Percy.

Suddenly, Percy's eyes flashed a deep Azure blue.' Dragon Soul Domain!' an image of a Dragon Appeared Behind Percy and spread it's wings, roaring at the sky. It looked at Luke and he felt as if he had fallen into the coldest hellhole in tartarus. Even his soul shook with fear. Percy's body exploded with force and a deep blue green glow arose. A trident swirled over his head, elongating as he attacked.

'Dragon's Blood: Roar!'

'Poseidon's Blood: Awaken!'

The trident pierced Luke at the same time as The Heavy sword 'dragon Fault'. Luke vomited blood as he was thrown backwards.

He flipped and landed, eyes narrowing as he stared at Percy. Percy grabbed piper with one arm, hugging her just as in the dragon god trials, sword in hand. Immediately the fear piper had been feeling since Luke had whispered those sadistic threats to her, suddenly disappeared. She felt like, just as she had always been safe in Percy;s embrace back then, even now he'd protect her the same way.

Luke began chuckling softly. The he burst into loud laughter." Ah why didn't I see it before! Percy, Percy, Percy…. Must be fate for us to stand against each other again! And just like last time, you're on the losing side yet again. How many times will you oppose the Demon Emperor?!"

Percy frowned." We've never met before. So stop spouting bullshit." Luke shook his head sadly." I see. Calypso still hasn't told you has she..? find your blade Percy, or you'll never find your memories. Without that cursed pen of yours, you don't stand a chance before me!" Luke waved his hand nonchantly." Go. I'll give you Three months. Find the blade and master it. Or else… well I'll come kill you and steal all three of the women you love. The lovely piper, the beautiful calypso and the charming Aphrodite. Then I'll kill you… again."

Luke laughed and disappeared.

Percy frowned in confusion." How could I possibly know the Demon King…." Then he let go of piper and stored away his sword. Without another word or glance, he started on his way back. Pipers heart shook and she reached out to him" Percy…"

He looked back at her." yes? piper do you need anything?" His voice was perfectly cold, nor warm. It wasn't friendly or angry. It was like she was someone he had known a long time ago and was meeting again.

Piper faltered." i….. I just…. Just wanted to say….. I'm sorry." Percy raised an eyebrow." You haven't done anything wrong. There's no need to apologize." Piper hesitated" no…. i… im sorry for lying…" she stopped speaking as her grandfather suddenly appeared from the array formation.

He ran to her and enveloped her in his embrace." My dearest! Oh my dearest! I'm so glad your okay! I was so worried all these days. Worried for you and your safety."

His aura wrapped around her and Percy." Lets head home first. Everyone will be worried!"

They blurred and disappeared. Then they were floating above Hope city. They directly descended to the ground and Grandholme turned to Percy." What happened?" Percy shrugged."well, you should already know about the dragon… so well… piper was injured severely… so we had to hide. Then…."

Piper suddenly interrupted, bowing deeply to Percy." Percy. I'm so sorry. All these days I've wanted to tell you, but I didn't. calypso likes you more than as a friend. As her best friend, I couldn't ruin her happiness. But Percy…. I won't lie any longer…" she looked up to her grandfather.

Aphrodite and the other elders of the alchemist association came rushing into the DeGrest society's area. Just then piper spoke up." Grandfather. I've decided. I wish to wed Percy."

A.N.: this is just stuff describing what happens. Don't sweat it bro's, Percy is a bachelor, he ain't getting married so soon. This was just a natural progression of Piper's feelings. She is the type of character who doesn't just want an illicit relation you personality and background are pretty posh so she's got to have some traditional tendencies. Don't worry, with dear old artemis and Aphrodite, the two Ex-goddesses around, there's no way Percy will get married.

Also apologies for the short and screwed up chapter. These were just details that needed to be filled in. such as Luke is a perv who's behind all of Percy's girls, except artemis cuz she'd like just kick him in the nut. Maybe one more filler, than I promise you a jampacked action boss battle between Percy and Luke. And if you guess who calypso's mom is correctly, then you'll get a Percy And Calypso smut.

Oh yeah the reason Luke has such a weird tendency to want to screw girls is basically based on the two paths of the devil are usually described as slaughter and sex. So the ideal villain has to practice both!


	15. Phoenix Nirvana

**Second Arc: Phoenix Nirvana**

Percy's mouth dropped open. Even Artemis was stunned speechless. Aphrodite immediately shook her head." No way! He's mine!" she ran and jumped towards Percy, hugging him.

Grandholme looked more than a little distressed." My dear…. You know… you are the successor…. To the DeGrest Society….. your marriage is a big decision… and it should happen …. When you're older… so that your cultivation isn't affected…." Piper frowned." My marriage is my decision!"

Grandholme pulled his collar with a finger and looked around for support from the nearby people. Everyone started examining their shoes carefully.

Aphrodite stared at piper defiantly. Piper stared back. Even Grandholme was starting to get worried about stepping between them. Piper hissed at Aphrodite." Stop hugging him like that! He's going to marry me." Aphrodite smirked and pulled Percy's head into her cleavage." He's mine so shush!"

Just then a strong killing intent descended on everyone standing there. Even Grandholme froze with fear." Stop annoying me!" artemis growled loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone stepped back with fear.

Even Aphrodite let go of Percy and glanced around. Percy laughed helplessly." That's.. uh well that's my master." Grandholme looked interested at once. From her voice it was clear she was even more powerful than him. Meeting such a great expert was a rare opportunity.

It had to be understood, that though technically speaking, hope city was humanity's last settlement, there still existed Great experts, who roamed the wilderness, living life on the edge. Most of them were obviously powerful Legend Realm Warriors.

Therefore Grandholme felt Percy's master must be someone similar. He looked around eagerly." Percy? Where is your master?" Percy shrugged helplessly. Well.. my master is around. But I can assure you, you won't see her. she's not very sociable."

Artemis:."What!? I'm unsociable!"

Percy laughed and looked around. Suddenly he caught sight of a man who rushed in. he was tall and well built, with heavy shoulders and a domineering aura. Percy felt a familiar aura from him. The aura of thunder.

The man rushed forward, then kneeled in front of Percy.

"Please Percy. I beg you. help my daughter!" Percy ran forward and grabbed the man's shoulders." Senior!? What's wrong?" the man looked up with a stricken gaze." I'm calypso's father."

Percy ran to the Thunder Dragon family compound at full speed. How had he not even thought about calypso? He cursed at himself as he followed her father.

She'd locked herself into her family's secret room and had passed into a coma. No one could approach her, not even Grandholme.

He followed the clan head of the thunder dragon family down the dark stairways and into a hidden basement. The clan head dripped his blood onto the floor and it shook and rumbled as it descended.

Percy felt his Dragon Bloodline Stirring. Something down here was resonating with it. He descended into a dark room, illuminated by tendrils of lightning that flashed and crackled. Percy's dragon blood awoke as well. A huge lightning dragon rose out of the ground and charged at Percy. But as soon as it reached him, it faltered and slowed. Calypso's father stared at him in shock.

Then the shock turned to bewilderment as the dragon lowered it head and submissively knelt before Percy. Behind Percy, the image of a dragon appeared as well, a huge Azure scaled dragon, it's might as terrifying as an ocean storm. It roared and the Thunder Dragon shivered in fear.

Aleck Thundre, the clan head himself felt his bloodline quivering in fear.

Percy was surprised but then understood. In the hierarchy of dragons. The Azure Dragon was one of the mightiest Beings. Before him, the Thunder dragon was nothing but a common soldier. Even if the true thunder dragon was here, he would still feel fear towards Percy's incomparably pure bloodline.

He ignored the dragon and turned to calypso. She was curled up in the fetal position as she floated over a simple sword sheathed in the ground. Percy tried walking towards her, but then encountered the barrier surrounding her.

This barrier was something even Grandholme could not break, much less Percy with his meager strength. He put his hopes on artemis." Artemis, a little help." But artemis was absolutely silent." Artemis?" Percy called out in his inner world again.

She stirred and then spoke in a grave voice." Like I suspected, this girl is not someone simple." She sighed." Percy, ask this man, who her mother really is." Percy frowned and turned to Aleck." Senior… calypso's mother… who is she?".

He stiffened then sighed miserably." She…. Is my biggest regret… and my biggest mystery…" Percy frowned," what does that mean?" he shook his head." She was someone I rescued. I found her unconscious in the middle of the mountains, bleeding and injured. I took her home and nursed her back to health. She had lost all memories, and so I never knew what her real name was. But she loved watching fires, watching them glow in the dark. So I named her Enya, my little fire. But after she bore calypso, suddenly she regained her memories. She only bid me goodbye and then silently left. The last I saw of her was her floating in the sky before disappearing."

He was obviously heart broken after narrating the story. Artemis's frown grew deeper." Percy… your friend calypso's mother…. Is a descendant of a god beast." Percy waited for the surprise. He knew artemis wouldn't be surprised at such a small thing. After all aleck himself was a descendant of the god beast the thunder dragon. She took a deep breath." Enya's Father was the True Phoenix and her Mother was the Golden Crow.".

Percy's heart shook." So calypso's grandparents are true God Beasts?" artemis solemnly nodded." And right now, calypso is undergoing the Phoenix Nirvana. But you must stop her." Percy punched the barrier." Why? And how?" artemis tapped her chin with a finger." If calypso undergoes nirvana with her human body, she will die. Only her soul will be reborn. Because not only is her mortal form weak, the nirvana usually has only the gentle flames of the phoenix. But calypso's nirvana will bring forth even the tyrannical flames of the golden crow! You must stop her and the way to do so is to reach out to her soul. If you are the reason she is undergoing nirvana, your voice can still reach her! call out to her soul and bring her back. Otherwise you will lose her."

Percy closed his eyes trying to sense calypso. After his battle with Hercules, she'd been by his bedside for days, constantly hovering over him, getting him anything he wanted. Even though he had spent five months beside piper, he still hadn't integrated the sensation of her soul into his own, since she had subtly closed off her soul to him.

But calypso, her affection was open to him, and he could sense her almost as clearly as artemis." Calypso!" he called out with his mind. He felt her soul, silently slumbering with a tiny fire burning within it. Soon it would spread and engulf her soul and body, giving her rebirth. But her body wouldn't survive that.

Percy grit his teeth and roared out with all his might."Calypso listen to me!" her soul stirred and he felt her soft voice in his mind."Percy…?". relief broke over him."calypso!, can you hear me?" her soul was brightening now but the flame was still burning." Percy… I feel…. So hot…help… help…. I can't… breathe…"

Percy started punching the barrier for earnest now. He could feel the fire spreading and he was helpless. His fist started bleeding as he attacked it over and over. Artemis was watching him, struggling with herself. This moment reminded her exactly of what had happened back then when Apollo had come to save her. she was afraid, that if she told him how to save calypso, she would lose him, just like her older brother.

But if she didn't... she knew exactly how he was. He would blame himself and drive himself insane with guilt. Both were routes she didn't wish to take… but she had no choice left.

" Percy…" she whispered softly." You have to take the fire along with calypso. If you both share the burden… you both can survive… but if you fail to, both of you will die." Percy didn't hesitate." How do I take the fire from her?" artemis trembled, then went back to her stern personality." This is another test. You have a powerful soul, so you should have no difficulty surviving. But if you falter you will die! I'm serious. You will die and your very soul will be extinguished!"

Percy smiled." I won't die. If I die, then how can help you heal?" artemis stiffened then almost screamed in anger." You fool! This regards your life! You don't have time to think about anyone else! Can't you worry about yourself for once! Is your life really so worthless to you?" she stopped screaming, panting and shivering with rage. Percy rubbed his forehead with a finger." Well if I was worrying about myself, then I wouldn't even do this in the first place. Since I'm doing it, why worry about myself? So the next important thing is obviously you."

Artemis didn't know how to respond to that.

Percy laughed and then asked." So how do I share her fire?" artemis closed her eyes and smiled." You idiot. You just connect your soul to hers. Then when the fire spreads its effect will be weakened. But unfortunately, my powers are sealed ever since that time I attacked that dragon, so I can't help you."

Percy nodded and reached out with his soul. The fire was spreading faster now, covering more than half of calypso's soul. His soul touched hers and for a moment, it felt as if they were holding hands. Then Percy's consciousness blanked as the fire engulfed him.

 _-the palace of nyx-_

The fates were laughing as they watched Percy." That boy is going to kill Artemis with worry." Clotho said with a deep chuckle. "indeed" atropos replied. Lachesis wasn't paying attention, busy snipping away at her yarn. When she was done,she turned. "so did he do it?" she asked.

Clotho laughed again." How could he not! He's the son of Poseidon, and that makes it hard for fire to burn him, also he has already gone through the styx. These two factors make his soul as tough as that of a true Dark Flame Phoenix! He won't even feel a thing!"

 _-real world-_

Percy frowned. The fire didn't hurt even slighty. He exerted his power, sucking up more and more of the fire away from calypso. The tension on her reduced and soon vanished entirely.

Percy's soul burned fiercely but the flames actually felt cozy to him. He investigated the fire with his power. He could sense the presence of someone inside the flames.

"Hmmm a human?"a soft, dignified voice came from the fire." Huh! A human! My granddaughters flames are on a human!" another voice, more tyrannical and harsh rang out as well.

The gentle voice spoke up." Are you helping her survive the nirvana?" Percy replied." Yes, I felt her body couldn't take the strain so I took all the flames onto my own soul." "ehhhh? Aren't you a little ambitious boy? My flames are the Golden Crows flames! How can you bear it!?" the harsh voice sounded again." I just hoped I could help her, but then I managed to take on all of her burden."

The soft voice, who Percy guessed was the phoenix laughed." Such a brave young man. Truly,our grand daughter is lucky to have such a friend." The golden crow chuckled as well." In order to repay you, we'll help you against that Evil God Soul." Percy's smile froze."Evil… God... Soul?"

Another, new voice appeared."that would be me, old friend."Percy's soul shivered as an overbearing aura pushed down on it. Even the dragon God Soul seemed to be suppressed under this aura.

Suddenly, Percy's mind grew blank. He stood in a white expanse. This was a vast space of nothingness. He spun as he heard laughter, then froze. In front of him stood a boy of twelve years. He had windswept black hair and sea green eyes. He was…. Percy?

In his hand he held a sword, an incomparably familiar sword. A bronze sword with a double edged blade. It had a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. The boy spoke up." Recognize me? Your old friend Anaklusmos." Percy shivered. The word came to his mouth before he even realized it." Riptide."

Riptide laughed, then swung the sword in his hands." So you do remember me! Ha! That's impressive. Come on then, show me your new blade!"

Percy shook as dragon fault suddenly appeared in his hands." Dragon fault eh? Not bad, a divine sword! But against me, you won't last even a single sword stroke!"

Aleck looked up in horror as Percy began floating upwards. He stood in midair, then calmly took out his Heavy sword, dragon fault. The blade pointed at the barrier.

 _-inside Percy soul-_

Percy ducked and weaved, bringing dragon fault to bear with tyrannical strength. Riptide had tossed away his sword and was dancing around Percy, dodging every sword stroke smoothly." Is that it?" he roared as he ducked under Percy's strike and slammed his fist into Percy's gut. Suddenly an armor of flame appeared around Percy, burning riptide's fist to a crisp. He retreated hurriedly and then glared at him." Even with the support of the Dragon Soul And the Phoenix and Golden Crow souls, you're so weak! Ha! You don't deserve to wield me! I'll wield you instead! I'll take your body and together, we will be unstoppable! I'll kill all your enemies for you, all you have to do is give me your body."

Percy grit his teeth." never in a million years!" riptide glared at him." I was being nice. Now that's it. You think I need your permission?" he grabbed the floating sword and began to glow.

He raised the blade." A single sword stroke shall end your life" Percy grit his throat. He felt the phoenix soul and Golden Crow souls pouring all their strength into him. His power erupted with the tyranny of a Dragon!' Divine Sea God's Transformation!'

"even If I Die, I will never be used!"

As his words fell, Percy's aura had already expanded to the extreme. With a loud roar, Dragon Fault, which was filled with Phoenix flames, was smashed downwards with all his might…

"Dragon Roar!"

Boom!

The space surrounding Riptide completely sank, as though the entire world had shaken for a moment. Percy had already done the preparation needed to endure the enormous rebound. During that one moment when Dragon Fault and the Riptide collided, his hands began to numb at the same time. Suddenly, he felt that his hands had oddly lightened…

The Trident over his head moved with its own will, stabbing down just as riptide was nearing Percy. Its stabbed straight through the blade and tore apart the illusionary percy

Clang…

Violent forces of energy were sent towards Percy, ruthlessly smashing onto him, causing him to puke out a mouthful of fresh blood. His back smashed heavily onto the space behind, and the crash was much heavier than before. Dragon Fault had once again escaped his hands as well. However, this time, Dragon Fault had split into two, which flew into two different directions.

Within the distorted space, the sound of a long and painful dragon cry stirred…

Bang!

Bang!

Dragon Fault broke into two pieces, landing heavily to the left and right of Percy, and no longer showed any signs of movement. The tip of the sword that was shaped like the head of a ferocious dragon, slowly lost its energy. Light faded completely from the dragon's eyes as it became a dull grey color.

Riptide swirled in the air, then a crack appeared on its blade." Hmph, this God will not let you off so easily! You won't escape my Trial ground so easily!" the sword swirled and disappeared. A soft voice in the air whispered" the styx soul…? Help her….find her…"

At the same time, in the real world, Percy's body turned into a flash of light and was sucked into the sword. Calypso floated to the ground and continued sleeping. The barrier had broken at last.

Percy laid on the ground, blankly staring at the scene in front of him, and did not come back to his senses for a good while. After that, he stretched out his arm, making the gesture to summon Dragon Fault… However, Dragon Fault was destroyed, and the still immature spiritual consciousness within the sword along with it. The sword showed no response to his summons.

Percy stood up, picked up the two pieces of Dragon Fault wordlessly, and then slumped in a corner, mutely staring at the destroyed sword in a daze.

Six Months ago, he had received Dragon Fault from the trial grounds of the Dragon God. Afterwards, it received a power up from the lingering spirit of the Azure Primordial Dragon, becoming a True Divine Weapon. All this time, it had accompanied Percy, braved innumerable obstacles with him, and fought with with him shoulder to shoulder. Dragon Fault had become akin to another limb for Percy, and had also become his most reliable companion, their prestige growing with each accomplishment they achieved together.

But today, it laid broken, and at his own hands no less, snapping due to his own strength.

"Your strength is now already in a different realm as compared to what it was previously. It was, after all, only a Divine Weapon. Against a Sword Spirit, it was far too weak. Your present state of strength is already more than what it could bear. This Riptide has unparalleled hardness and practically reflected the full strength of your blow back, that Dragon Fault would break from that is completely reasonable." Artemis said in a flat voice.

"Ah…" Percy let out a long sigh. He picked up Dragon Fault with care, his hands slowly caressing the ice-cold body of the sword, and softly said, "My old friend, we have already fought together for so many years, little did I expect that you would end up being destroyed by my own hands … Maybe it's better this way, it was about time for you to take a rest anyways. Once I leave this place, I will think of a way to restore you."

After he finished talking, Percy kept Dragon Fault, and his heart soon recovered its equilibrium.

The door to the room he was trapped in was sealed and Percy could sense it was impossibly powerful. He had no idea how Riptide had sealed him here. Artemis spoke up." How did you know that sword spirit?" Percy shook his head numbly." I have no idea… it feels like my memories are blocked." Artemis fell silent, contemplating what that meant.

"Please… find her…"

This caused Percy, who was lost in thought as he stared at the door of the room, to violently snap his head up and look forward.

"What happened?" Artemis asked.

"…I heard a voice, the same voice I heard the day we first entered the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'." Percy said while standing up...

"What exactly did you hear?" Artemis asked as she furrowed her eyebrows.

Percy thought for a while and then said, "The voice before only came intermittently, with long pauses in between. It seemed to be asking me to find someone … and then save him… it also mentioned the Styx Soul Inner World. The same voice that spoke to me again just now, asking 'please find him', still requested that I find someone."

"That voice mentioned the Styx Soul Inner World?" Artemis's eyes flashed, and after she pondered awhile, continued, "Ignore the voice for now. You are currently trapped in here and can't even save yourself, much less going to save someone else. You should figure out a way to leave this place first."

Percy nodded his head and sat down cross-legged on the floor. After racking his brains for a long time, he retrieved the some meat from the Styx Soul Inner World. After using Phoenix flames to cook it, he began wolfing it down.

Percy quickly filled his stomach and followed his meal with a huge bowl of dragon's blood. He rubbed his stomach and sighed in satisfaction, after which he asked: "Artemis, how long have I been in here?"

"a month."

"a whole month… to think that so much time has passed." Percy's face was filled with bewilderment, and he hurriedly turned his head towards Artemis, "If I have been in here this long, then the seal that you had placed upon yourself should already be released right?"

Artemis eyed him coolly, and said in a cold voice, "Why? Do you want to borrow my power to leave this place?"

"If you have recovered your strength, then that would of course be the best method." Percy said, his face was filled with hope as he continued, "It has already been more than Six months since you sealed your strength. According to that , regarding the time frame of this seal, your powers should have already recovered by now."

"If you want to rely on my strength to leave this place, you should give up on that train of thought." Artemis turned her face away and huffily said, "When my strength has recovered, I will naturally inform you."

"So that means your strength still has not recovered yet?" Despair and disappointment flashed on Percy's face, but these feelings quickly subsided. He looked at Artemis and suddenly laughed. He walked towards her and stood in front of her, and lightly hugged her as she looked on in surprise.

It was completely out of Artemis's expectations that he would suddenly perform such an action, and she subconsciously struggled against it, but how could her "powerless" body struggle free from Percy's embrace? She shouted with fury and a hint of confusion, "You… What do you think you are doing?!"

"Of course I am hugging you." Percy said with a grin. "After I decided to save calypso, I thought that I was definitely going to die. Who would have thought that unexpectedly I managed to survive yet again… This feeling of not losing my life, not losing hope, and of course, not losing you is really great, so I suddenly had an urge to embrace you."

"…I am your master! Did I allow you to hug me?!" Artemis said in a furious voice as she struggled weakly.

Percy said innocently, " But… what's wrong with a hug? Back then, I even kissed you, and you weren't as angry with me as you are now."

The kiss he was referring to had occurred when they met the flame dragon, and Artemis had used all her power to eliminate it, aggravating the poison in her body and nearly caused her soul to fade out of existence. In order to save her, Percy had fed her a large amount of his blood mouth-to-mouth…

Of course, Artemis would definitely not forget what had happened. When Percy mentioned it, her body stiffened, and her rage turned into shyness. Of course she wouldn't show it to him. Her rage and killing intent suddenly exploded. She stopped struggling, and instead said in an extremely cold voice, "Let go!"

However, even though she spared no effort to project a frightening aura, in the end, she bore no true killing intent towards Percy, and even her fury arose from shame, so this didn't even arouse any feelings of deterrence within Percy. The corner of Percy's mouth curved into a smile and he uttered a dispirited "fine" softly as he relaxed his hold around Artemis.

Artemis retreated swiftly, stared at Percy with a face filled with anger, and said: "If you dare touch me without permission again, don't think I won't dare to cripple your hand once I have fully recovered!"

Percy pressed down on the tip of his nose and slowly nodded, "Oh… thank you for reminding me. Once you have recovered your powers, I won't be able to hug you anymore, so… shouldn't I hug you more now while I still have the chance?"

Having said that, Percy narrowed his eyes and advanced towards Artemis, assuming a posture that indicated he would hug her once again.

"You!" Artemis ground her white teeth, clenched her small hands tightly, and with a cry, turned into a ray of red light which disappeared from Percy's eyes, immediately returning to the Styx Soul Inner World.

"You are the kind of person who always goes around tricking and bullying girls, that my big brother said was most hateful, a lecher! Now you dare to extend your devilish hands towards the body of this princess! If not… If not for… I would definitely kill you! HMPH!"

After Artemis finished her rant, she fell silent, and no matter what Percy did, she simply ignored him.

Percy sat in front of the stone door, his eyes staring at the tiny crack. Closing his eyes, he concentrated all his energy into thinking of a way to escape. After not moving for a few hours, he suddenly opened his eyes, and they shone with a strange light.

He raised up both his arms and rested his palms on his thighs, facing them upwards. Following this, in the same moment, his right hand began to smoulder with Phoenix flames, while in his left hand there grew a small delicate 'Tree of Divine Frost'.

Percy closed his eyes once more, his chest violently rising and falling. This was followed by slow and steady breathing. The atmosphere grew much heavier than normal. In this thick silence, the heat from the Phoenix flames and cold energy from the Tree of Divine Frost started to pulse chaotically. The hot and cold energies offset each other at first, and this was also in accordance to one of the most basic natural laws of the world. But as time passed, the two conflicting energies which were supposed to offset each other began to separate and isolate themselves.

Two hours later, the tiny space had gradually been divided into two different realms, one half was as hot as lava, the other as cold as abyssal ice.

Two realms which should offset one another, somehow managed to coexist together in a completely open space without interfering with each other in the slightest!

At this time, Percy finally began to move. Slowly, he began to bring his right hand, burning with Phoenix flame, and his left hand, maintaining the Divine Frost energy, together. This was done in an extremely careful manner and from his expression, it seemed that every little movement Percy made, required him to consume a large amount of mental energy and physical strength… A foot of distance required a full thirty breaths before his left and right hands could finally touch one another.

At the moment the Phoenix flame and Divine Frost touched… there was no melting of the Divine Frost or the suppression of the Phoenix flame. Instead the crimson Phoenix flames and the crystal-blue Divine Frost began to blend together, Divine Frost being immersed in the Phoenix flames and vice-versa. After a while, both the Phoenix flames and the Divine Frost energy had completely coalesced together and formed a cluster of bizarre flames which gently swayed in the air, giving off an icy blue light.

At the same time, the space which was divided into two different realms had combined together as well. Moreover, this combination did not mean that the hot and cold energies had suppressed each other. Instead it was the feeling of bone-chilling cold and bitter heat existing simultaneously, chaotically interweaving and interlacing together.

"I succeeded …" Percy opened his eyes and looked at the ice flame which danced upon his palm.

Percy's hands, which were controlling the ice flames, began to shake and it seemed that he might lose control of this cluster of ice flames. This kind of heaven-defying, unnatural combination, manifested as an energy which defied both the laws of nature. Even though what he produced was just a tiny cluster of flames, seventy percent of Percy's profound energy and fifty percent of his mental strength had been consumed.

"Be sure… to not let me down."

Percy muttered as his eyes flared, and he pushed his palms forward, striking the stone door with his cluster of ice flames.

The ice flames left Percy's palm and latched onto the surface of the stone door. There was no roar of power, nor was there any eruption of Phoenix flames or Divine Frost energy; in fact there was not even the slightest bit of sound or light that normally came with the release of power. The ice flames simply slowly extinguished themselves and disappeared, without making a single sound.

However, fist-sized depressions had appeared on the parts of the stone door where the ice flames had landed!

These depressions curved inwardly to form perfectly shaped hemispheres. The surface of these depressions were extremely smooth, comparable to a perfectly crafted mirror; it was as if this surface had been polished using the world's most exquisite craftsmanship.

"Very good!", Percy said excitedly as he clenched both his fists, "If this is the case, I might only need to repeat this process several hundred times until I can create a big enough gap for me to escape!"

Once again, Percy spread out both his eyes, ignited his Phoenix flames, and concentrated his Divine Frost. But this time, before he could even begin to combine the two, his mind swam, and a deep sense of fatigue seemed to have come forth from his profound veins. The reaction of both his mind and profound strength caused him to hesitate for a moment. He released both the Phoenix flames and the Divine Frost energy and began to meditate, focusing fully on recovering both his profound energy and mental strength.

After a while, Percy's profound energy and mental strength had recovered to around their peak condition, and he once again began to fuse together the ice flames. This time, the fusion took slightly less time than it had before. Once again, he smashed the ice flames against the stone door in the exact same spots which he attacked before. After the ice flame had once again done its silent and deadly work, the width and the depth of those fist-sized depressions had noticeably increased, but the surface was still as smooth as a mirror, with no hint of roughness.

Percy's only goal right now was to escape this place where he had been trapped for the past month. So the rest of his time was spent on two activities; the first was the fusion of ice flame, the second was the recovery of his profound energy and mental strength. Every day was spent repeating this process over and over again… Unknowingly, the time he took to fuse the ice flames became faster and faster. Initially, he could only fuse it twice a day. However, this rose to thrice a day, then four times a day… After a month had passed, when Percy was in peak condition, he could even forcibly fuse the ice flames up to five times a day!

Compared to how it was initially, the time required to fuse the ice flames and the profound and mental energy it consumed had all been reduced by several times.

Moreover, after undergoing this process, both his profound and mental strength had been greatly tempered…

Percy sat cross-legged in front of the stone door and stared intensely at that large hole on the stone door. Through this large hole, he could already clearly see the scenery outside.

This was the result of his consecutive fusions of ice flames for a full month. After a total of more than six hundred destructive strikes from the Ice Flame, the hole on the stone door had expanded to a size even larger than an adult's head. However, after trying several times, it was still insufficient for him to leave this place… It was still lacking that small bit.

The Divine Frost and Phoenix flames in Percy's hands once again successfully fused together. Compared to the first few attempts, the time he took to fuse them this time was very short, and even the process itself was a little casually done. In whole month's time, from repeating more than six hundred times without rest, when he fused ice and flames, it was no longer as difficult as before. Speaking from another perspective, his understanding towards this heaven-bending law had gradually become more thorough during this process.

"This time, it will definitely succeed!"

Percy muttered, as he struck the ice flame in his hand towards the side of that hole.

The destruction of the ice flame was completely soundless, and as the demonic ice-blue colored flames dissipated, it could be seen with the naked eyes that the width of the hole had stretched by a small degree. After visually measuring the current width of the hole, Percy took a deep breath. Just as he was about to stand, suddenly, the profound energy in his profound veins stirred for a moment.

This is… another breakthrough?!

Percy hurriedly stabilized his body in a sitting posture, focused his mind, and slowly guided the profound energy in his body. Every fusion of a single ice flame consumed an enormous amount of profound energy. Hence, with every successful fusion, it was a form of refinement to his profound strength to a very large degree.

Just like the one before, the breakthrough this time was, a matter of course, incomparably successful. In less than eight minutes, the profound energy in his profound veins had completely calmed down, and the aura being emitted from Percy's body had undergone an evident change.

He was emitting the destructive aura of a Level Eight Warrior. Scarlet-colored and blue-colored light intersected each other with their glows, causing the entire space of profound veins to look as though it was a dream-like world.

Percy opened his eyes, looked at his own pair of hands, and muttered to himself. " Give me another year or less, and I will definitely accomplish in becoming a Level Nine Warrior!"

Percy stood up. His eyes stared intensely at the large hole on the stone door, before he stuffed his head into it.

Just like before, his head effortlessly crossed through. However, his shoulders were still stuck at inner rim, and were unable to pass through. Percy stretched out his neck, straightened his body, and struggled to fold his arms. Then, leaping with his legs, he greatly exerted his strength… In an instant, with a "boink" sound, his shoulders which had been stuck inside, instantly snapped into the hole.

Su… Success!

Although the snap was very painful, Percy revealed a joyful look. He strongly moved his body, pulled along both of his arms, allowing his own upper body to move forward within the hole, little by little, to the point where he was struggling while grimacing in pain, and his face and neck had turned red. If not because there wasn't anyone in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground', even if Percy had to wait for another half a month, he definitely wouldn't be willing to act like this, which would ruin his image in front of others.

"I simply don't believe that I'm not able to get out…"

Percy struggled for a good long while, before his arms had finally struggled out a half of the door. He widened his eyes, took a deep breath, and exerted his strength with all his might.

With a "swiiip" sound, the clothes Percy was wearing were completely torn apart, while, like an unleashed cannonball, his entire body was suddenly shot out from the hole. Then, his head smashed head-on with the wall at the front not far away.

Percy stood up while holding onto his head. Turning his head around, he saw the stone door that was embedded with a large hole… And that stone door, was actually more than thirty meters away from his current location!

"I'm out… I'm finally out!" Even though his head was in severe pain from the crash, Percy was still celebrating to himself with incomparable excitement. From back then, when he thought that he was in a situation of absolute death, to surviving in incomparably sufferable conditions, he had now just escaped from the place where he was trapped in for two whole years… It would be hard for him to not feel excited at all.

"Don't be happy too soon!" Artemis's voice resounded coldly. "You have only left a small stone room! You're currently still in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'… Do you know how to leave this 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'!?"

Artemis's words caused Percy's emotions to speedily cool down. He pondered for a moment, before replying. "No matter how big this Trial Ground is, it should still have edges. As long as I find the edges, and use the Ice Flame like I did to break open the stone door, little by little, I will definitely be able to get out."

"Hmph, you're really naive." Artemis snorted coldly. "You used exactly half a year to break open a small stone door. The thickness of the walls at the corner of the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' is at least ten thousand times more than the stone door, and their tenacity far surpasses a mere absolutely ordinary stone door in the interior. What are you going to use to break them open?"

"This… I know it's not really realistic either. However, if I want to leave this place, it's not like this is the only way." Percy continued.

"Please… find her…"

Percy halted his footsteps. Ever since the first day he had stepped into the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground', and after he spent a month to break open the stone door, he had heard this voice several times. Basically, every four to six hours, it would voice out again.

However, this time, it was different from every single one before.

Back then, the voice he heard was frail and insignificant. If he did not focus his mind, it would be a little hard to hear, as it seemed to have come from an extremely far place.

While this time, it was so close, as if it was right next to his ear!

A.N.: yes I know, filler chapters are boring. But necessary. So bear with me. Now Percy has gained the Phoenix Soul and Golden Crow Soul as Well! Lets give him a thumbs up shall we! And soon, Percy shall meet the incomparably mysterious spirit hidden here. Spoiler: there's a cute girl involved.

Also in case any of you are confused: Percy spent one month trapped in the soul world burning under the fire and fighting riptide. Then he spent another month trapped in the room. So basically two months have passed. Now Percy has his battle against Luke in one months time!


	16. Mysterious Girl

**Second Arc:The Mysterious girl**

"Who are you? And where are you?"

Percy stopped in his tracks and began to shout in all directions. The voice that had just appeared had sounded like it was right next to his ear.

The space within the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' would only begin to vibrate violently if the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' was going to employ its energy field within the hour. Seeing that the space within the trial ground was completely still, Percy was not in a hurry to leave. During this past month, he had always wanted to figure out the origins of this incessant voice which only he could hear.

Just like always, it would take very long for him to receive a response once he shouted those words.

Percy's gaze began to sweep across all four corners … Just now, he could clearly hear that the voice had originated from a location very near to his own. And the true voice would weaken as the distance grew greater; spirit sound transmission functioned in the same way. He could almost confirm that the origins of the voice was no further than ten steps from where he was right now.

Percy slowly walked to the middle of the stage, his eyes meticulously scanning every corner of the area. At this moment, a weak red light flashed across the corner of his eyes. His gaze froze and landed at portion where the stage leaned against the end of the wall. He had a faint feeling that there was a hidden space underneath the floor.

Percy walked over and stood at the location which he had located just now. He bent down and he observed a tiny fissure at his feet. A sliver of red light was pulsing up from the ground through that fissure, the pulses coming intermittently.

Percy took a deep breath, and focused profound energy within his fist, and threw a punch towards the tiles at his feet.

Bang!

Percy's fist was sent flying away, but the feedback Percy received from the feel and the sound of that blow proved that the stone tiles were not thick… or at least it was much thinner than the stone door he had used half a year to blast open. He stopped hesitating, sat down and began to concentrate. In the left hand Frozen End energy, in the right Phoenix flames… Percy had been repeating the process of fusing both energies near constantly for the last half a year, so the entire process of guiding and controlling the energies came extremely naturally to him.

A short while later, Frozen End and Phoenix flames had merged in Percy's hands to form a blossom of gently swaying icy-blue flames. Percy flipped his hands over, allowing the ice flames to gently float downwards and fall on the stone tiles.

To Percy's surprise, the stone tiles below his feet were much thinner than expected. In fact it seemed to be have the thickness of a single sheet of paper. Once the ice flames had fallen on the tiles, the tiles vanished like swiftly melting ice. The ice flames spread and carved out a perfectly round hole that was about a foot wide before extinguishing themselves.

As he gazed into the hole created by the ice flames, Percy saw that there was indeed a hidden space underneath, and in the middle of this space, a red light swayed and flickered.

What was hidden beneath here?

Did this mean that voice had been transmitted from this place all along.

A foot-wide gap was just big enough for Percy to jump into.

Percy hesitated for while but decided to take the plunge after all, and he jumped straight into the gap.

The hidden space beneath the platform was not deep, Percy had only descended twenty feet or so before his feet touched the icy, hard surface. There were no dangerous presences that he could sense in his near vicinity, but Percy's nerves became pinched when he directed his gaze forward.

This area was not big, it was not even wider than thirty meters. The space was completely empty and clean, save for the middle of the area, where a ball of red light stood.

The ball was about Percy's height; it appeared to be uniformly round, and the red light it released would wax and wane, but the light was generally gentle and did not contain any attacking power.

This was….

Percy strode over to stand directly in front of the ball of light. The red light was not intense, yet it was very thick, and it prevented Percy was from seeing past it. But his instincts told him that there was definitely something cocooned within this red light.

What exactly was it?

The 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' had existed for an extremely long time; using Artemis's own words, it was to the extent that "it was ancient beyond your imagination". Despite having existed since ancient times, this ball of light was still able to emit this red light. This was demonstrated just how unusual it was.

Percy extended his arm, experimentally reaching towards the ball of light.

"Do not touch it!"

Artemis's voice resounded in his head, and caused him to stop his action hurriedly. He retracted his hand swiftly, and his body retreated with the speed of a lightning bolt.

"Hmph, attempting to touch this thing before you have even figured out your current circumstances. Do you want to die?" Artemis snorted coldly.

"What exactly is this ball of light?" Percy asked. A ball of light that had endured for countless eons; what it contained was surely a power beyond his comprehension. His attempt to touch it with his hand had indeed been risky.

"This is not some ball of light, it is an extremely strong protective barrier." Artemis said in a heavy tone, "It may look like it has no ability to attack, but if you had dared to touch it, it would have immediately launched a counterattack… and its weakest counterattack would have been enough to kill you tens of thousands of times over."

For Artemis to use the words 'extremely strong' as a descriptor sufficiently demonstrated how terrifying this red ball of light really was. And Artemis's words that "its weakest counterattack would have been enough to kill you tens of thousands of times over." was definitely not overstated in the least. Percy's heart skipped a beat and he retreated yet another few steps.

" You… have… finally… come…."

A voice as light as smoke slowly resounded in this area. This time, it was not a spirit sound transmission, but a real voice. Moreover, it was a voice belonging to a woman. This time even Artemis could hear this voice clearly.

The voice seemed even nearer than it was before, it was almost as if it came from directly in front of Percy. Percy turned his head swiftly to scan all four directions, cautiously asking: "Who exactly are you?"

As Percy's voice fell, a dim white shadow slowly emerged from the side of the ball of red light… it was the silhouette of a woman dressed in white. Her body was small and slightly bent and half her hair was white as well. All of this indicated that this was an elder who had long ago stepped into her twilight years.

"You… you are? Percy said unwittingly as he startled. The silhouette of the elderly lady in front of him seemed blurry. It was blurry to the point that it seemed like a floating column of white smoke that could be blown away by a gust of wind.

From the day he had entered the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground', Artemis had told him that the entity that had called out to him could indeed be a spirit… a spirit body which was exactly the same as Artemis. But Artemis's spirit body could be seen by the naked eye, and it looked no different from that of a real girl's body. And because she was connected to him, he could even touch her, and it felt no different from touching a real body. But the spirit in front of his eyes was formless and wavering, seeming like a candle in the wind.

"I am a guardian… I am guarding my little mistress…" The old lady said in a light but extremely ancient sounding voice. If she was using spirit sound transmission, it could only be used once in a long time but now that she was talking face to face, she experienced no such obstacles, "I have always been looking for you…. and I have been looking for you…. for so long … so long…."

"You… have been looking for… me?" Percy asked, pointing to himself. After which, he eyed his left hand and continued, "Oh is what you were looking for… the Styx Soul Inner World?"

"Correct… I controlled this Trial Ground… jumping from dimension to dimension… all for the sake of finding the Styx Soul Inner World…."

"Wait a minute!" Percy's expression revealed utter shock, "The Trial Ground you mentioned, is this huge Trial Ground that I am in right now? It is under your control?"

"In the beginning… it was indeed under my control… but… at that time I had also been poisoned with a devilish poison… and every breath would erode my life and very soul… In order to retain my awareness so I could continue to guard my little mistress… I gave up my body and eighty percent of my soul… what is left is only a lingering spirit… who is powerless to pilot this Trial Ground… but the Trial Ground followed the memory imprint I had left at the beginning… relentlessly travelling through a set cycle of dimensions… repeating endlessly… each cycle lasting three hundred years … the Trial Ground's energy… has been continuously depleting… and now… its energy source… has just about dried up…."

"Thank the heavens for being merciful… before my lingering spirit is extinguished… and before the ark's destruction… you have finally arrived…."

Percy's mouth gaped open as he quickly digested this old lady's gentle yet exceedingly shocking words. This incomparably big Trial Ground, was actually controlled by someone.., and the old lady in front of him, actually had the ability to control such an astonishing Trial Ground! And the reasons for the Trial Ground's appearance in the Gaia Continent and the reason for it to appear… was also because of this old lady!

"Her spirit is indeed on the brink of dissipation." Artemis said in dull voice laced with pity, "It might happen at any moment… in fact, this will happen within the span of one hundred breaths! To be able to finally find the person she has been looking for just as she was about to disappear… perhaps she doesn't need to be pitied."

Within one hundred breaths? Percy's heart was given a jolt and as he gazed at the misty form of the old lady, he asked, "Who exactly are you? And why are you looking for the Styx Soul Inner World… What is it that you want me to do?"

The old lady could not detect any evil intent from Percy's person and this was what comforted her the most. She slowly said, "I am only a guardian… my little mistress.. And my race… has long been forgotten by the world… there is no need to mention them anymore… my little mistress… her body has been inflicted with a terrible devilish poison… within all the realms… only the Styx Soul Inner World can cure her… in order to stem the invasion of this devilish poison… our little mistress was sealed into the Coffin of Eternity….."

"Coffin of Eternity?"

The old lady's voice grew more and more ethereal, "Chaotic turmoil… the terrible battle of Gods and Devils… the overturning of the sky… the weeping of the Gods and the Heavens… I brought my little mistress with me into the ark to flee…. The 'Coffin of Eternity' sealed her body and soul… allowed her presence to disappear into the chaotic space… and allowed her to escape that heaven-destroying calamity… if one day the Styx Soul Inner World can cleanse the devilish poison from her body… and she can once again awaken… and my bitter life will finally come to a happy end…."

Devilish poison… devilish poison!? The words that had been repeated by the old lady caused Artemis's breathing to go wild… because the poison she had been inflicted with was also a kind of devilish poison. And it was the deadliest of all devilish poisons — Absolute God Slaying Poison, the Essence of Styx! And similarly, only the Styx Soul Inner World could fully cleanse this poison.

The old lady's voice grew dimmer and dimmer and the contents of her message began growing garbled. She didn't wish to reveal the status and origins of herself or her 'little mistress', but she involuntarily revealed fragments of the previous situation. And it was at this time that her already mist-like form began to grow even thinner.

She was a guardian, and in order to fulfill her duties, she willingly abandoned her body and eighty percent of her soul….. To continuously fulfill her duties as a lingering spirit to the point where she dissipated. How could Percy not be moved? He looked at the lump of red light and said. "Your 'little mistress' is being protected by the ball of light right? The Styx Soul Inner World is indeed on my person, if it can really help to save your 'little mistress', and it will not cause any harm to me, I will do all that I can."

Percy looked at the ball of red light in front of him, and just when he was about to ask a question, the ball of light suddenly stopped flickering and completely froze in position, then suddenly pinged softly.

It was like the sound of glass shattering.

In an instant, a vertical crack appeared on the ball of light that was frozen in position. Soon after, the ball of light instantly evaporated, as though it was a soap bubble being pierced, turning into numerous red shards scattering in the air before breaking into even small pieces, and slowly disappeared in the air.

The red protective ball of light dispelled, but not all of the red light disappeared. Following the disappearance of the red protective ball of light, a crystal coffin that was emitting a weak red glow appeared in front of Percy.

Inside the crystal coffin laid a person… A person who was much more petite than Percy expected… A little girl!

The girl's body was petite and her hands laid crossed in front of her chest as she laid silently in the coffin with a tint of a serene and lonely expression. She had long hair that was naturally scattered behind her. Her hair reached all the way to her lower back and was bright red… It was not a flame like fiery-red, but instead a ruby-like sparkling red.

The girl had a face that seemed like it was carved from jade. Within its perfection, there was a immaturity that only a child would possess. On her cream colored face was a cute exquisite nose that pointed upwards and watery tender lips that were gently closed. Below her similarly red eyelashes were eyes that anyone would believe to be a pair of star-like eyes if she opened them.

She wore a bright red imperial robe, but her clothes seemed to be very thin, bringing out all the contours of her petite body. Only a pair of snow white slender arms and a pair of white and tender legs were revealed, and on her feet were a pair of crystal clear ruby princess shoes. However, the most eye catching thing was that there were ruby bangles on both her wrists and ankles. The bangles were very small and stuck tightly to her skin on her slender wrists and ankles.

…Such a cute girl…

Wait… Why is she a little girl?

"This is the one that person referred to as… 'Little Mistress'?" Percy stared widely. This girl looked to be younger than Artemis, when he had originally met her and at most in her early teens. Although, she was very young, she possessed beauty that would be able to bring about calamity. Perhaps anyone that saw her would think that they had seen a sleeping doll.

"Wouldn't you be more willing to save her now… You Bigggg Perrrrveerrrrtttttttttt!" Artemis replied half-mockingly and half-hatefully.

"…Would she be any danger to me?" Percy automatically chose not to hear the last three words Artemis said.

"Oh? A big pervert like you who specializes in cajoling woman would be afraid of a girl as young as this?"

"You also know that she could possibly be a person from the Primordial Era. What happens if she's as powerful as you?" Percy said as his face revealed his cautiousness. Before meeting Artemis, Percy would never believe a pretty girl that looked like a doll could be linked to the word "frightening". However, having an exception such as Artemis made Percy unable to not raise his cautiousness against the young girl lying in the coffin.

Artemis remained silent for a while before replying: "This crystal coffin should be the 'Coffin of Eternity' that that person mentioned. My consciousness isn't able to enter it and her aura is completely sealed in; not one bit is leaking out. Thus, I'm unable to tell whether she would pose a threat to you or not. If you're scared, you can just ignore it."

Percy did not hesitate as he walked forward, then stood in front of the crystal coffin: "Since I have already promised that person, I should still fulfil my promise. Furthermore… Eh, such a cute little girl, no matter how I look at it, she doesn't seem like anyone bad… And if I save her, I would be considered her savior."

As he spoke, Percy placed one of his hands on top of the crystal coffin and pushed with a little strength… However, he did not expect that such a light push would cause the lid on the coffin to crash open.

Just before the fragmented soul had dispersed, it had obviously dispelled the protective ball of light and the Coffin of Eternity.

"It is indeed the aura of a devilish poison… Quickly, help her detoxify the poison!" Artemis's suddenly said anxiously: "Once the Coffin of Eternity has been opened, the suppressed devilish poison would already be awakened! Quick, cleanse it with the Styx Soul Inner World! Otherwise, with no means of resisting while unconscious, her life, consciousness, and soul will be consumed by the poison!"

As Artemis spoke, a black shroud of fog that was growing thicker with frightening speed, appeared around the body of the red-haired girl.

Percy frowned and nodded slightly as he quickly raised his left hand, placing it on the girl's chest. A jade green glow instantly appeared and enveloped her.

Percy had not heard of the term "devilish poison" before, but he felt an extremely terrifying poisonous aura from the girl's body. Even with his memories from two lives, he had not experienced a poisonous aura like this before… However, it was similar to the frightening poison that was on Artemis, except that it was not as domineering as Artemis's.

In this world, there was no poison that the Styx Soul Inner World could not cleanse, and under the cleansing power of the Styx Soul Inner World, the devilish poison within the red-haired girl was being subdued gradually. Then, it was consumed and cleansed, resulting in the black shroud of fog being dispersed and completely disappearing very quickly.

After thirty minutes, the devilish poison on the girl was finally completely purified… The fact that it took so long for the Styx Soul Inner World to cleanse it meant that the devilish poison was extremely powerful. Judging by the strength of the devilish poison, if it had completely invaded the girl's soul, just like Artemis's situation, it would even be considered short if it was completely cleansed in tens of days.

The Styx Soul Inner World's cleansing light had disappeared as Percy removed his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead.

The girl still remained peacefully sleeping, making one to not bear to make a sound lest she woke up. Percy suddenly seemed to regain his senses and placed his hand onto her chest again… After a while, he removed his hand and his face was confused.

"No signs of life?" Artemis asked.

"Not the slightest bit of life…"

"Does that mean that she's actually already dead?" Beside Percy, a red light shone and the silhouette of Artemis appeared as she stared at the girl in the crystal coffin, using her sense to scan her body but unable to detect any signs of life. She then mumbled: "So it's true… Looks like you have wasted your efforts."

Percy felt a hidden sense of regret in his heart. He had used all his efforts to purify the devilish poison in the girl and didn't dared to allow a lapse in concentration. However, after completely cleansing the poison, he found out that as his hand was on the girl's body during purification, he didn't detect any signs of life from her. Even now that the poison was completely cleansed, there were no signs of life at all… Obviously, at some point in time within the Coffin of Eternity, she had already lost her life but her guardian did not know as she still remained, senselessly and bitterly guarding her. She was so determined that she didn't let her fragmented soul scatter in anticipation for that glimpse of hope.

Now that her desired Styx Soul Inner World had arrived, she finally dissipated peacefully, but what a pity…

It was lucky that her fragmented soul has already dissipated if not, having to see this scene, she would probably be unable to rest in peace.

Percy didn't give up as he used his hand to press at her neck, forehead, wrist and chest… Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was always within the Coffin of Eternity, her body temperature didn't seem cold. Her skin was soft and tender, yet smooth as jade. However, no matter how Percy tried to probe, he couldn't feel any signs of life. There wasn't even the flow of blood either.

Percy had finally given up as he let out a sigh inwardly. He spoke while raising his head and looking at the sky: "Old senior, Junior has already fulfilled his promise and completely cleansed the devilish poison from your little mistress' body, however, things didn't go as planned… All I can do is to let her continue sleeping peacefully."

As he spoke, Percy pressed his hand on the cover of the Coffin of Eternity… Just as he was about to reseal the lid and not interrupt the girl's slumber, the girl's red eyelashes suddenly moved gently. Following that, her eyes that had been shut for an unimaginable amount of time gradually opened.

These were a pair of ruby-like stunning eyes. The moment her eyes opened, it was as though the dark sky had suddenly been lit up by the shine of stars. Artemis's eyes would occasionally turn red as well… However, it was the red of bloodthirst. The red of the eyes in front of him now was like the most perfect color formed from the accumulation of the very essence of heaven and earth. It was so beautiful that it was suffocating.

Percy didn't move at all; he seemed frozen. His eyes still locked with the little girl's opened eyes. It seemed as though he had turned into stone… He repeatedly confirmed that there were no signs of life on her body, and even Artemis came to the same conclusion, but she managed to open her eyes… And they were a pair of stunningly beautiful eyes.

As Percy looked at her with a stunned expression, her beautiful red eyes stared back at Percy. After some time, she finally blinked and eventually sat up within the crystal coffin. Realizing that Percy was still staring at her in a daze, she blinked once again. Suddenly, her eyebrows curved and a pair of thin cute crescents appeared above her eyes. Her face had a unbearably cute smile: "Hi big brother!"

A.N.: yes she's not from the original Percy Jackson Books. But she's still going to be a vital part of the fight against Luke. So just sit by and sigh at her cuteness. Then watch as she reveals her true powers.

Spoiler: for some people. Everything in food is life.


	17. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword

**Second Arc: Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword**

"…"

After suddenly waking from a slumber that lasted who knew how long, appearing at a dark and empty space after seeing only strangers… the girl didn't seem to be nervous or scared, not even lost or puzzled. Instead, she smiled brightly and… greeted him!

This little girl's not dead?

Percy was always extremely confident in his medical skills and never doubted if he could determine whether a person was alive or dead. However, this little girl in front of him obviously did not possess any signs of life, yet… she could actually wake up!

"You're… not dead?" Percy stared in awe at the girl and blurted, asking an exceptionally moronic question.

"Eh?" The girl blinked her eyes as it was still hazy from the long slumber and said softly: "Could it be… that I'm already dead?"

"That's not what I meant… Ugh, what's your name?" Percy asked. The girl's aura was extremely weak… Not different from a completely normal girl.

"Name? Ughhh…" The girl was deep in thought for quite a while before replying with a grin: "Don't know! Does big brother know?"

In normal circumstances, when a person didn't even remember their name, their natural reaction would be to feel lost or confused, but the red haired girl smiled cheerfully instead. The smile was undoubted innocent as even with Percy's ability in seeing through people, he couldn't feel any acting or pretension. It was as if not remembering her own name was just a very very small unconcerning matter.

"You don't remember your name? Then… do you know where your home is? Who your parents are?" Percy asked very seriously.

"Wuaaahhhhhh…" The girl stretched strongly and directly shook her head: "Of course I don't know! I completely don't remember."

"Then you… do you remember your age? How old are you?"

"This…" The girl thought for a while before raising her hand to rest her face and shaking her head: "I don't know… But big brother is so annoying. I'm just a little beauty. How can you just ask a girl her age so casually."

Percy: "~！#￥%…"

"Looking at her, her soul had probably been affected by the devilish poison, or perhaps she has been in slumber in the Coffin of Eternity for too long, she probably lost her memories of her past." Artemis said plainly. Just as she had finished speaking, the young girl's eyes looked towards her and started sparkling brightly like stars: "Wahhhhhhhh! Little big sis, your clothes are so pretty! It's red! Red… I love red!"

Although Percy had bought numerous clothes for Artemis, the one she wore the most was the first one Percy bought for her, the Smoky Red Fairy Dress that was embedded with rubies. This mysterious girl had red hair, red eyes and even wore red clothes. Obviously, she like red just like Artemis. Therefore, when she saw the elegant Smoky Red Fairy Dress that Artemis was wearing, her love for it instantly overflowed… But this was not the main point! The young girl's reaction caused Artemis's brows to twitch intensely, replying in shock: "You can see me?"

Artemis didn't have a body, only a soul. Unless she showed her soul figure on her own, or if the opponent was sufficiently powerful, no one could see her except for Percy. It was obvious that Artemis was now in a figureless state… Yet, this little girl was able to see her existence!

"Of course I can see you, my eyes aren't spoilt." Artemis's reaction caused the girl to turn her head to one side. She found that she was in the Coffin of Eternity and softly said: "Waaah! What a beautiful crystal bed! Was this where I was sleeping in? It's so pretty… But it's so hard, it's not really comfortable. Big brother, can you carry me out? The crystal bed is so tall, if I climb out, it will affect my image as a beautiful young lady."

Beautiful… Beautiful young lady…

Image?!

The corners of Percy's mouth and eyes twitched obviously as he lended a hand to young girl. Seeing her unsuspecting look, he seriously asked: "Little girl, are you not afraid… that I'm a bad person?"

"Bad person?" The little girl's small face looked up as she thought very deeply for a while, before uttering a sudden "aiya" and retreating her body backwards whilst her cream colored face revealed a frightened expression: "Big brother, could you be the legendary Big Baddie? Wahhhhhh… Baddie don't eat me! I'm just a small beautiful young lady, not tasty at all. Eat me when I'm grown up, okay? Then I'll be less cute and more hot! Or is big brother interested in cute girls like me more than older girls?"

"~！#￥%… Of course I'm not a bad person!" The young girl's reaction caused even Percy's heart to spasm uncontrollably.

"Mn…" The young girl nodded her head strongly as her eyes flashed and she spoke pitifully: " I knew big brother couldn't be a Big Baddie. Then can big brother carry me out, pleaseee? Pleaseee?"

Percy stretched out both his hands, using one hand to support her slender waist and another hand to support her small butt, effortless lifting her out from the crystal coffin, placing her down outside. At that moment, Percy face revealed a sense of shock.

Before the girl woke up, him not detecting any signs of life from her body might have been a misjudgement.

But, when he just touched her body, he intentionally probed her body's condition… Yet he did not detect any signs of life at all! Not only were there no signs of life, there wasn't even any sign of blood flow!

What exactly was going on here?

"Wahh… so comfortable!" After leaving the crystal coffin, the girl stretched again strongly before lifting up her face and looking at Percy with her ruby like eyes: "Big brother, where are we gonna play? This place looks so fun."

"…Don't you want to know who I am? Or where this place is? Or why you're here?" Percy asked in confusion.

"This, this… Is this important?" The girl had a face of confusion before raising her small hand up and shouting excitedly: "Playing is still more important! Big brother, little big sis, quick, bring me to a fun place! I want to see the blue sky, the green grass, and all the colorful flowers!"

"…" This little girl's reaction was completely unlike a normal person's behavior, and this caused Percy's human brain to continuously hang. She had been in a deep slumber and lost nearly all her memories. Yet she did not seem to care for all this… not even caring about who she was! Percy had seen numerous innocent people in his two lives but he would never encounter a second like this!

He used a pleading expression and looked at Artemis, but found that Artemis was staring at the girl with a serious expression.

"Guuuuu…"

A strange sound rang from the girl and she started touching her stomach with her small hand. Her originally excited face fell: "Ummm… I'm suddenly very hungry…" As she finished she turned and stared at Percy: "Big brother, I'm suddenly very hungry. Do you have anything nice to eat?"

After sleeping for so many years, suddenly feeling hungry was a very normal thing. Percy searched the Styx Soul Inner World before removing a dried biscuit: "Here."

Percy always kept a large amount of food and drinks with him. The food would naturally be the easily kept dried goods. The girl took the biscuit, smelled it with her tiny nose and blinked her watery eyes before replying softly: "What a weird smell, it doesn't look nice at all… Is this really edible?"

"Of course it's edible. Even though it looks unappetising, it is actually fragrant once you bite it." Percy casually replied.

This girl smelled this biscuit once again and after hesitating for some time, she finally opened her mouth and bit into the biscuit. It was obvious that she then took a lot of strength in order to bite off a small piece.

"So tough, my teeth nearly spoiled." The girl complained softly before carefully starting to chew. Just as she began to chew, the girl's face fell…

"Pupupu… Peipei…" The girl instantly spat out the biscuit that she had not completely chewed, and even spat out the residue in her mouth strongly. Judging from her looks, she couldn't wait to get rid of the taste of the biscuit from her mouth: "Disgusting, too disgusting… I don't want that… So bad! So bad! So bad!"

Logically speaking, even if one used to lead a sheltered life, after being hungry for a long time, anything that is edible would be nice. However, looking at the girl, it was as though she had been fed poison. She had an expression of grievance and her eyes turned watery, as though she was about to cry.

Percy helpless frowned and searched the Styx Soul Inner World again. Eventually, he found a piece of the rose cakes that Calypso had personally made for him… Seeing this piece of rose cake that Calypso had made. Percy became distracted for a little before he snapped back into it and nearly withdrew the cakes. Looking at the face full of grievances the girl wore, he still placed into onto her hand: "Alright, the biscuit before might not suit your taste but this is called a rose cake. It's sweet and fragrant. You'll definitely like it."

"Sweet? Fragrant? Really? It smells slightly unpleasant." The girl took the rose cake that was as big as her palm and looked at it with suspicion. With the "lesson" she gained from the biscuit just now, even if she was very hungry she was still very careful and only took a small bite.

"Puuu… Wah! Disgusting!"

The girl once again spat out what was in her mouth and even the rose cake had fallen onto the floor. Percy hastily rushed over to pick it up. With a pained look, he started to blow the dust of the surface of the cake before keeping it again. Looking at the girl's face, she had obviously found it very disgusting. The delicious rose cake had caused the beautiful small face to turn into a face of suffering. Percy helplessly asked: "It can't be that… you only eat meat?"

Not eating biscuits… Probably means that she likes to eat meat.

"Meat… What's that, is it edible? Delicious?"

Percy removed a piece of smoked bacon from the Styx Soul Inner World and passed it to the girl: "How about you try eating this…"

The girl received the smoked bacon in anticipation and sniffed it lightly with her small nose… This time, without even biting, she threw the smoked bacon far away with a "woosh": "Wuaaaaahhhhh! So smelly! Disgustingly smelly! I don't want to eat that thing!"

"…Then… what do you want to eat?"

"I want to eat something delicious!"

"Something delicious… What's that?"

"Something delicious… I just want to eat something delicious!"

"…"

This little girl did not possess the vital signs of a living being, yet she was very much alive, and even though she was clearly hungry, she did not eat dried rations or meat… Percy was beginning to suspect that this girl was not even human.

But her appearance was exactly like that of a human, and even if she was some kind of spirit who transformed into a human, she should still eat rations or meat!

What caused Percy to collapse was, that even though the little girl's stomach kept rumbling heavily, she herself didn't even know what it was that she liked to eat!

Rumble…

An oppressive sound suddenly rang out, and the space began to quake slightly

"Ah? Such a strange sound… ah, the ground is shaking! Is something fun about to happen?" The unusual vibrations within this space caused the little girl to get excited. Her gaze shot around in all four directions, her scarlet eyes flashing, her excitement allowing her to temporarily forget her hunger.

"Vibrations in space… is the precursor that the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' is about to deploy its energy field! We need to leave this place immediately!" Artemis yelled in haste.

The stirring of the space around them had aroused Percy's suspicions… Once the vibrations began, it would take about an hour for the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' to generate a repulsing energy field. This repulsion field was the only way for him to leave the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'!

And this occurrence could be said to be perfectly timed! If he had delayed leaving the stone room for a day, he would have been unable to use this energy field to expel himself from the ark. The end result would have been Percy having to survive for another eighteen months within the spatial turbulence.

Percy swiftly jumped, turning around to rush towards the gap he had created with his ice flames. When he was about to exit, the frantic voice of the little girl echoed beneath him, "Ah! Big brother, where are you going?! Bring me with you… Bring me with you!"

Percy turned his head towards the girl, and asked suspiciously, "You can't fly?"

"Fly?" The little girl scrunched up her face as she sincerely pondered the question, after understanding the meaning behind the word 'fly', she stamped her little foot and said, "I am still such a young beauty, how could I fly!"

"…" Even though this little girl's constitution and personality were extremely weird, she still seemed to be nothing more than a normal little girl. Even though she had a tsundere personality and was clingy, he definitely could not just leave her here unattended. So Percy had no choice but to jump down and bring her back up with him.

"Wait! Bring the Coffin of Eternity along as well! It is an extremely unusual treasure." Artemis reminded Percy.

Percy flew down again, and deposited the Coffin of Eternity into the Styx Soul Inner World, after that he rushed out of the gap and returned to the first floor of the mysterious ancient fortress.

"Wow! What is this place? It's so big!" the little girl twisted her body while she was in Percy's arms, her gaze running all over the area, as if she was not worried she would drop at all.

"You have no impression of this place at all?" Percy asked.

"Impression? Not at all! I don't remember anything!" the little girl shouted crisply in a lovable voice. And those words "I don't remember anything" seemed to be shouted with a peculiar… pride!

What was up with this girl's personality! Exactly what kind of parents could have raised such a child?!

Forget it!

Everything else could be addressed once he had left this place!

Percy increased his speed, and flew towards in the direction of the ancient fortress gates. This ancient fortress was simply too large; even though his present speed far exceeded his previous speed, it still took him more than fifteen minutes to travel the distance from the end of the castle to its exit. There was still roughly one hour before the repulsion field would appear, so there was still more than enough time. But Percy still rushed forward, as he did not want to chance anything.

In a short amount of time, which was exactly fifteen minutes, Percy could see the castle exit… and all this while, he had to endure the excited yelling of a girl right next to his ear; he was not given a moment of respite throughout. If he did not have enough love in his heart, and this little girl did not have the potential to be a game-breaker, he might have just tossed her there and then.

Percy's body flickered like an arrow, shooting out of the gates of the ancient fortress and reached the world outside in no time at all.

The light had grown bright; Percy slowed down and was stunned by the scenery that laid ahead.

What appeared in front of him, was a vast swathe to yellow-green grass, and at a distance, all he could see was a sea of ancient, towering trees. The leaves, branches and trunk of these ancient trees were largely blue and black in color, and showed no signs of vitality.

"Whoa!." Percy said with a shocked expression as he turned to look at the towering ancient fortress, its roof was so high it could not be seen with the naked eye.

Percy came to realize more and more that there was nothing that was impossible in this boundless universe. Before he was eight, he was a mere weakling, and the world he recognized was confined within the bounds of Hope city. Nowadays, as he continued to grow in strength and reach greater and greater heights, the world that he could see had also expanded greatly… yet the feeling he got was that he had become smaller and smaller in the grand scheme of things. In this world, who knew how many more incredible things existed, things which could overturn his understanding in the blink of an eye.

Such as the little girl that was beside him right now!

"Where is this place? Is it a fun place… there is so much grass, and big trees too! But the grass in this place isn't green at all, and it looks like it is about to wither." The little girl measured her new surroundings with curiosity, filling the air with her lovable shouts as she spoke to herself.

Plop!

"Ah… Ow ow ow ow…" The little girl had slept for too long, and she was in a state of extreme hunger. Her body was already soft and weak, so after her exertions, all of a sudden she collapsed onto the ground and made no move to get up. She kept crying in pain, and two huge tears had welled up in her eyes.

Percy turned around helplessly, and picked her up from the ground. His emotions were an entangled mess right now… Originally, he had followed a mysterious voice, reached a mysterious place, saw a mysterious protective ball of light, and received a mysterious 'mission'… His heart had been filled with anticipation, thinking that the 'little mistress' of someone who could control such an enormous Trial Ground had to be some big shot who could shake the heaven and earth. And once Percy had saved her, maybe she would feel a deep gratitude towards him; either way, this person would still owe him a debt for saving her life. To Percy, this entailed an immeasurable amount of benefits… Would she give Percy a treasure which defied the heavens? Or use her powerful strength to help Percy fulfill any desire? Or maybe she could even have sent him straight back to the Gaia Continent!

But in the end, the person he had rescued did not have any great ability, and he did not attain any benefits, because this person was just a little girl! Not only that, but in this place, other than him, there was no other person, and this little girl did not emit a single iota of power from her body either. If he left her here, she was dead meat, and if he brought her together with him out of the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'…..

Dammit! This was simply just adding a huge burden to himself!

If he was by himself, he could do whatever he wanted, and intently pursue anything without any distraction; he could even venture into the most dangerous places. But if he brought along this huge burden with him…

Just thinking of this made it hard for Percy to breathe.

And if he just dumped her somewhere… Ah, in the end, he did save her, and he couldn't bear to do something against his conscience.

The little girl turned to Percy with tears in eyes, but realized that Percy was just standing there daydreaming, and he completely missed the pitiful look in her eyes. She pouted and said in a tender voice filled with grievance, "Big brother! It really hurt when I fell, but you didn't even care about me…."

"Guuu guuu guu…."

The little girl's stomach sounded in a very timely fashion, she covered her little stomach, her expression becoming pitiful, "Wuuuu… I am very hungry, so hungry that I wanna die. Big brother, won't you please find something for me to eat?"

"You need to at least tell me what you want to eat, you know." Percy said with an expression filled with agony.

"Wuuuu… I dunnooo…."

"What kind of person doesn't even know what she wants to eat?!"

"But I really don't know!"

Percy almost went crazy.

"Okay, I'll go find something for you to eat." Percy could only say this to pacify her. After which, he strode forward and observed the surrounding area, trying to look for any unusual phenomena.

"Big brother, where are you going?" Once she saw Percy leave, the little girl hurriedly followed after him. After this, she shadowed his every movement. Where he went, she followed, when he stopped, she also stopped. A pair of scarlet eyes were fixed anxiously to his body, as if she was scared that he would suddenly run away.

"You can't be prepared to keep following after me like that right?" Percy said as he turned around, his face filled with frustration.

"Of course I am! If such a lovely and cute little beauty followed you, it should definitely make you happy, right?" The little girl used both her hands to prop up her face as she made a cute pose.

Percy bent at the waist, and revealed an evil and sinister expression, as he said in a low voice, "Little sister, I forgot to tell you but I am actually…. A super big pervert who specializes in tricking little girls much like yourself!"

"Oh I can testify to that." Artemis said to his side in a neutral tone.

"Super…. big pervert? The girl bit her finger, and suspiciously blinked her eyes,"What is that? Can it be eaten?"

"…A pervert refers to a super big bad guy who specializes in tricking all kinds of beauties and eating them after!" Percy gnashed his teeth, and said with an evil expression, "Are you afraid?!"

"Well…" The girl cluelessly blinked her eyes and said. "Even though I don't really understand, it sounds really awesome. Anyways, I don't care about this, go find me some food to eat already!"

"~！#￥%…"

Percy's entire being was filled with a deep sense of powerlessness. He had a premonition that unless he mercilessly dumped this little girl somewhere and let her fend for herself, he would never be rid of this huge burden.

The vibrations in the space were slowly getting more and more violent. Percy walked to the front of an ancient tree, and looked out into the distance. All he saw was wilderness; even after he strained his eyes, the result was still the same. He would not be able to make it to the end with the time he had remaining. He sat on the ground, thinking about the situation with the little girl as he waited for the repulsion field to come.

"I am finally going to leave this place…" Thinking back on the days he had spent in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground', Percy sighed deeply in his heart. The difficulties he had endured in the past days was beyond the imagination of normal people. At the same time, his cultivation had received an immeasurably large boost. But even though his improvement was tremendous, he still could not find a way back..

Once he thought of that, he retrieved both the broken pieces of Dragon Fault and laid it by his side. The destruction of Dragon Fault was an extremely huge loss and regret to him. Without Dragon Fault, his battle strength would inevitably fall significantly. Once he returned home, he had absolutely no confidence that he could find a weapon to replace Dragon Fault in a short period of time. Looking at the completely lifeless and fractured Dragon Fault, he mumbled to himself, "Once I reach home, the first thing I must do is a find some way to repair you…."

"Sniff… sniff… sniff!"

From Percy's side, there suddenly came the heavy sound of sniffing. The originally hungry and despondent little girl stood up with a whoosh, and was sniffing the air with her little nose as if her life depended on it, "It smells so good… smells so good! I can smell something nice to eat? Where is it, where is it, where is it…"

As the girl sniffed the air, the saliva from her mouth overflowed. She sucked it back in heavily, but as soon as she did so, her saliva continued to drip to the floor and she could not stop it. The little girl searched for quite a while, but once her eyes landed on the fractured Dragon Fault, they emitted an extremely bright light.

"Something delicious… something delicious!"

The little girl screeched with joy and practically bulldozed her way forward, grabbing Dragon Fault. Her extremely bizarre actions caused Percy's face to twitch exaggeratedly, as he said in a powerless voice, "Stop messing around, it's really very heavy… My… my gods!"

After the little girl grabbed Dragon Fault, she immediately stood up and carried Dragon Fault in her arms…

Carried it in her arms!

Even though Dragon Fault was broken and had lost all its energy and presence, its heavy weight had not changed! Each piece weighed at least ten thousand kilograms! But this girl who would feel tired from walking and even collapse from time to time, she could actually effortlessly pick up a piece of Dragon Fault. And looking at her right now, she did not even break a sweat.

Drip, drip…

Saliva uncontrollably poured from her mouth, causing the body of the sword to become drenched in a blink of an eye. The girl sucked in her saliva, and with eyes flashing with excitement, opened her mouth and bit down on the blade of Dragon Fault.

Crunch!

The place where the girl had bitten down on was missing a large piece. The little girl drummed her cheeks, making loud chewing sounds, as if she was chewing sweets, and with a gulp, she swallowed what she was chewing.

Percy looked at the missing portion of Dragon Fault which was outlined by teeth marks and his eyes widened. His entire body becoming a statue, his mouth gaping so widely that one could shove a full-grown yak into it.

Earlier, Artemis had said that the boundless universe comprised of countless planets, and countless astral planes which were levels above that of planets. The Blue Polar Star was nothing more than one of the countless extremely normal planets. Even if it was suddenly destroyed, in this boundless universe, it was nothing but the disappearance of something similar to a tiny speck of dust, and it could not bring forth even the smallest wave. The Blue Polar Star was comprised of ninety-seven percent water, and three percent land. The domain of the Gaia Continent, which in the knowledge of it's residents was especially huge, merely took up a hundredth of the Blue Polar Star's surface. In the boundless universe, it could not even be considered as a speck of dust.

In such a huge world, there would always be a possibility for an outrageously strange living being to exist.

It might even be possible for a living being which could eat anything to exist!

This little red-haired girl in front of him for example, did not eat wheaten food, and did not eat meat products… Instead, she was actually eating… Dragon Fault!

And in regards to this point, by gritting his teeth, he seemed to be barely able to come to terms with this. But… Dragon Fault! Before it was broken, it was a Divine Sword! And it was even an Divine heavy sword! It had grown while Percy fought and kill all this while. It had savored upon countless amount of fresh blood, had destroyed numerous boulders, had leveled a mountain, and furthermore, had even shattered countless of armor and weapons. Even if it had currently lost its spiritual consciousness and powerful aura, its degree of tenacity definitely would not drop that much. Even if it was Percy whose strength had explosively increased, unless he were to make use of the ice flames, it would be hard to use his own strength to destroy it.

In regards to using his teeth to bite it apart… Even if he were to use all his might, he shouldn't even think about leaving a single scar.

However, this little twerp who looked as though did not possess any aura, and even felt that a biscuit was hard to bite on, had actually bit a large chunk of Dragon Fault with a single mouthful. And then, after chewing two to three times, she swallowed it down… swallowed… swallowed it down…

"Delicious… So delicious!"

The starving little girl had finally managed to eat a delicacy. Her cheeks flushed from happiness, and even her pair of eyes were emitting out ripples of crimson red glow. She impatiently took another bite, and with a "kabank" sound, an even larger chunk of Dragon Fault's blade was bit off by her. And then, chewing another two to three times, she swallowed it down. Then, she directly carried Dragon Fault next to her mouth, opened her mouth wide, and bit it. Like eating corn, she bit it in a horizontal manner, and in a blink of an eye, the part where the blade was, was bit with numerous holes.

Only at this moment did Percy finally regained his senses from a stoned state. Letting out a strange noise, he pounced over, and snatched the broken Dragon Fault back from the little girl who was still vigorously biting on it. Seeing the once mighty and peerless sword blade being bitten into a jagged state, not being to find even a single untouched spot from top to bottom, and was even completely stained with shiny saliva, Percy's heart had almost cried out blood.

"Ah! That's my food… Return it to me!" After her food was coldly snatched away by Percy, the little girl who was happily eating earlier, instantly became anxious, as she leapt and jump about, trying to snatch the broken sword from Percy's hands. Frustrated, Percy widened his eyes, and loudly shouted. "Who gave you the permission to eat it!? This is Dragon Fault… Dragon Fault! It's not food!"

"But it's clearly yummy food… Hurry and return it to me! Return it to me!" The little girl jumped as tried to grab it, and a long strand of saliva was still hanging down by the corner of her lips. However, her body was after all, too small; no matter how she jumped, it wasn't sufficient for her to reach Percy's shoulder-height. And at this moment, she suddenly recalled that there was another piece of delicacy on the ground. She closed her mouth, instantly gave up on the piece in Percy's hands, turned around, and sprinted towards the other broken sword piece. And at this moment, Percy immediately reacted at the same time as well. His heart trembled, as he charged over with blinding speed.

However, even with his speed, he was still a step slower than the little girl. The little girl had already hugged onto the upper broken blade of Dragon Fault, still effortlessly, and then… began to run away!

Still thinking of running?!

Percy's eyes revealed a fierce light… Although Dragon Fault had been broken, it was still possible to be restored. However, with its lower half already bitten with full of holes, even if it was restored, how would there even be a hint of domineering aura from holding onto a Dragon Fault filled with bite marks!? No matter what, he could not allow her to bite on the upper half of the sword blade as well!

Furious, Percy instantly used his maximum speed. However, even with his maximum speed, he realized that he could never approach her… The little girl wildly sprinted, her crimson red hair swept up a long red blur behind her. Her speed was simply quick to the extreme. And, in her embrace, she was still hugging onto Dragon Fault which was more than five thousand kilograms in mass!

What… What kind of situation was this!?

Percy first stared with widened eyes, right after, he turned completely exasperated, and immediately activated "Moonlight Flash". His speed immediately rose explosively, and caught up to the little girl in an instant. The moment the little girl turned her head, and saw that Percy's hand was just about to grab onto her hair, she instantly cried out. "Aaaaaah! You can't steal my delicious food! You can't!"

As she cried out, the little girl's speed instantly rose all of a sudden as well. Her entire figure, as though she had turned into a stream of red light, became further and further away from Percy's line of sight… She had shockingly thrown off Percy, whose speed had already been raised to the absolute limit, far away.

Percy was completely dumbfounded.

Not only was the little girl unbelievably fast, as she wildly sprinted, she was even directly putting Dragon Fault next to her lips, and with incomparably shocking speed, started chewing it. When Percy heard the clanking sounds, he raised his head, and realized that in a blink of an eye, close to half of the broken Dragon Fault in her hands had already disappeared.

At that moment, Percy's eyeballs were close to falling out. And, the remaining half of the broken sword did not escape the fate of being eaten either. As he simply heard the "crunch crunch crunch" sounds, another small part of it had once again entered the little girl's mouth. That chewing speed of hers, could not even be compared by her sprinting speed either. Following after, the "crunch crunch crunch" munching sounds came again, and even the remaining hilt of Dragon Fault, was cleanly eaten by her…

After finishing with the Dragon Fault, the little girl finally stopped running, and instantly stopped. She turned around, raised her chest up high, and as she chewed in an intoxicated manner, she unclearly said. "Wu… I finished eating it. It's so delicious… There's no use even if you chase after me again, okay…"

Percy stopped flusteredly as well, and his eyes stared straight at that little girl who carried a pure, satisfied expression… That gaze of his, was as though he was looking at a little monster! Oh, that's not right. It's a huge monster!

That strength which could casually carry Dragon Fault which weighed five thousand kilograms, and that speed which he could not catch up no matter what he did… The key point was that teeth that could eat Dragon Fault as though it was candy… This seemingly tender and frail little girl who did not have any presence of life, nor any energy aura… Just what kind of monster was she!?

And forget about the weight of the half piece of Dragon Fault, just by its size, it was seemingly comparable to this little girl's height. However, after she ate the entire thing, her stomach actually did not look bloated in the slightest… Just where did it go?!

However, to the current Percy, the anger in his heart had slightly suppressed his astonishment. The upper half of Dragon was completely eaten by the little girl, while the lower half was bitten full of holes as well. There was definitely no possibility of Dragon Fault being restored any longer. However, the culprit for this entire mess was, after all, merely a little girl of tender age. The naive and spirited look in her eyes were impossible for anyone to not love them, and Percy was completely unable to harm her in the slightest, instead, he could only roar out loudly. "Y-Y-Y-You… You little… You little brat! Didn't I say that you're not allowed to eat it! It's not food, it's my sword, Dragon Fault! It's something very important to me! How can you eat it!?"

"But, it's a really yummy food." With Percy's loud roar, and his completely reddened face, he seemed to be really angry. The little girl's snow-white sneck slightly shrank, as she weakly said. "Wu… big brother, can you not scold me? It's just a really tasty sword. At the very most, I can give you one back."

"What tasty sword!? That's Dragon Fault!" Percy roared out in grief. "It's not just a mere sword, it's a companion and friend which had accompanied for many years! It's the most important thing by my side! There's only one in the entire world! When you ate it, it's gone forever, so how are you going to give it back to me!?"

The more he thought about it now, the more he felt that being a busybody and saving this little brat was the worst decision he had ever made in his entire life. In just the short span of time after he saved her, he could forget about receiving something in return, and he could forget about how troublesome this matter was as well… but she actually… ate his Dragon Fault!

The little girl's neck once again shrank back, however, her little face revealed an unsatisfied expression. With her nose raised, she said. "What I will give you in return is more incredible than the one I ate earlier! Hmph!"

After saying that, a crimson red light suddenly radiated from her body. Within the light, she slowly floated up in the air, and her entire figure was completely enveloped by red light… Following after, the red light exploded apart in the sky, and then, completely dispersed.

Percy's pair of eyes, was once again largely widened… The number of times he was shocked on this day, was most probably more than the number of times added up in several years.

Following after the dispersal of the red light, the little girl's figure had completely disappeared. Floating in the sky, what appeared in Percy's eyes, was shockingly… a crimson red odd-shaped gigantic sword!

The entire sword was completely crimson red in color. The blade was filled with rows of messy deep-red inscriptions, and an extremely light layer of obscure red glow was enveloping it as well. The length of the blade was more than nine feet, which was larger than Dragon Fault by thirty percent. And with this length, it had even surpassed an absolutely large number of spear-related weapons! The sword of the hilt was straight and bulky, and above the hilt, the base of the blade was shockingly more than two feet in width. Moving up the blade, the width of the blade irregularly shrank, and at the end of the blade, it had already shrank into an incomparably sharp tip, radiating with a cold, crimson red light!

It was larger than both the Overlord's Colossal Sword and Dragon Fault, however, different from the heavy and thick blade tip of the Overlord's Colossal Sword and Dragon Fault, it was actually incomparably sharp, enough to produce a piercing strike with immense penetrative power. However, putting aside its outer appearance, this sword actually completely lacked an imposing atmosphere… It was lifeless without a single hint of aura emitting from it, as though it was crafted from nothing more than the most normal profound metal.

Percy's eyes widened, completely dumbfounded… What he was shocked about was naturally not because of the sword itself, rather, it was because this sword, was transformed by that little girl right in front of his eyes!

The gigantic crimson red sword swirled around in the air, and then, with the sword tip pointing downwards, it descended under Percy's stunned gaze. With a light sound, the blade tip deeply stabbed into the ground at the bottom, which was extremely hard itself. And even though the part where the blade tip was had stabbed into the ground, the straightened gigantic crimson red sword was still much taller than Percy. The top of Percy's head was only comparable to the bottom of the sword hilt.

Following after its descent, Percy realized that at the bottom of the gigantic crimson red sword's hilt, at the center of the widest part of the sword, a marble of about seventeen to eighteen centimeters in diameter was embedded in it… Within the marble, astonishingly, he saw the little girl who had disappeared!

The height of her body had already turned into about seventeen centimeters tall, and although she had turned especially pocket-sized, her clothes, the color of her hair, her face, and even her eyes could still be seen clearly. She, who was within the marble, placed her hands on both sides of her waist, and laughed out loud triumphantly. "Hehehehe! I succeeded! I succeeded! As expected, I'm really amazing! Big brother, did you see it? Isn't it much better than that… uhh… farmer faulty thing!"

"It's Dragon Fault!" Percy's voice slightly trembled.

Possessing frightening strength, with speed that Percy was not able to catch up to, and eating up Dragon Fault, the little girl now revealed to him her fourth ability…

She could actually turn into a sword!

Furthermore, it was a sword that was bigger than the Overlord's Colossal Sword and Dragon Fault! And such a huge sword could only be called a heavy sword.

After turning into sword, she could still make a miniature version of herself appear within it.

Percy was currently feeling faint and even wondered whether he was dreaming. Although there were many mysteries in the boundless universe, this was still too outrageous!

Percy stared at the scarlet greatsword, beside him, rang the sounds of the girl's satisfied flaunting. In his shock, he couldn't even tell what the girl was shouting about. He looked from up to down, from left to right, unable to describe how he felt. With his experiences from two lifetimes and the calmness he got after being baptized by the Rebirth, he was still unable to comprehend this creepy matter that was in accordance to the laws of life and the world.

When he looked carefully again, he suddenly saw that on the two sides of the core pearl, each side was imprinted with a word… The two words were both deep red and completely the same as the patterns that were imprinted on the blade. If one did not look carefully, they would very easily miss it.

The two words were, on the left "Devil" and on the right "Slayer".

"Slayer Devil… No, it should be Devil Slayer?" Percy muttered.

"What? Devil Slayer?!"

Percy's muttering caused a huge reaction from the pondering Artemis as she instantly came beside Percy and asked: "Where did you see those two words?"

Percy pointed towards the left and right of the core pearl. Artemis's gaze swept passed the words "Devil Slayer", as deep shock appeared on her face.

"You know this sword?" Percy asked immediately.

Artemis didn't answer him but instead still stared at the deep scarlet greatsword, as though she was trying very hard to try to remember something. After sometime, she finally said softly: "Could it be…"

Halfway through speaking, Artemis suddenly looked up and said: "Go look at the other side of the sword, see if it's the words 'Devil Slayer' as well!"

Percy nodded and swiftly turned the sword to the other side. At the same position, he found another two similarly colored words… However the two words were not "Devil" and "Slayer".

The left side was "Heaven" and the Right was "Smiting".

"Smiting Heaven?" Percy muttered and frowned: "No, from the position of the words, it should be… 'Heaven Smiting'!"

Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer?

"Heaven Smiting? How could it be those two words?" Seeing the words "Heaven Smiting", Artemis's expression changed drastically as shock and confusion appeared together on her face: "Could I be wrong… No! This feeling, it obviously is…"

"Artemis, what exactly did you figure out? Do you know this sword's… or this little girl's origins?" Percy ask in confusion.

"I'm not sure." Artemis slowly shook her head: "My previous guess was too whimsical and the words 'Heaven Smiting' threw my guess off by nearly ninety percent. You don't have to ask anymore. What I'm guessing, even if I explained to you, would only serve to confuse you and not clarify matters! However, I do understand why there aren't any signs of life on her."

"Why?"

"Because it's highly likely she's not human! Nor is she any ordinary living being!" Artemis slowly explained: "She's probably a 'celestial spirit' that exceeds any living being!"

"Celestial Spirit?" This was the first time Percy had heard of this concept.

"The strength of a living being needs to be built upon cultivation, but for a celestial spirit, they possess exceptional powers of heaven and earth at birth. However, the existence of 'celestial spirits' had already been extinct since the Ancient Era, and should not exist within this era. I have only heard of them from my brother. However, this girl is from the Ancient Era and has many peculiarities. Even with my understanding, I cannot explain them. Therefore, she's likely a being that isn't from a normal clan of the Ancient Era, and her characteristics are similar to the 'celestial spirits' that my brother described. Therefore, I think there is at least a fifty percent chance she come from a celestial spirit clan from the Ancient Era! She's from a race that should be extinct!"

A.N.: Hope you guys enjoyed the comedy chapter, making this a comedy worthy of Percy Jackson! Comedy is even harder than a good action scene after all.


	18. Claiming The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer

**Second Arc: Mastering The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword**

Artemis word's were very calm but Percy could still hear the hesitation in her voice. Because even if it was Artemis, she had never interacted with a celestial spirit before and what she said were all merely speculation. And with Artemis's profound realm and knowledge, if she was stunned by the girl's peculiarities… any guess, no matter how ridiculous would not be too overly exaggerated.

"Go and try the sword." Artemis said suddenly.

The scarlet greatsword did not possess any aura, nor was it imposing. Even though it was massive, it didn't possess any overbearing aura that a heavy sword should have. Percy placed on of his hand on the sword's hilt and casually grabbed it.

The scarlet greatsword did not move one bit.

Although it was a casual grab, with Percy's arm strength, he at least possessed a few thousand kilograms of strength, yet he was unable to move this unimposing greatsword at all.

Percy was stunned as his face revealed great shock. After he recovered from the shock, he stood up properly, placed both his hands on the sword hilt and activated the "Purgatory" gate. All his profound strength and arm strength gathered to both his arms.

"Haah!"

Percy howled as his arms began to rise. Under his full strength, the scarlet greatsword was lifted off the ground as he swung the sword to create a slash, leaving behind a scarlet trajectory. Holding onto the scarlet greatsword in midair, his muscles tightened and his veins bulged. He felt that he was not holding onto a sword, but a mountain!

The weight he felt in his arms was at least ten times that of Dragon Fault!

It was at least a hundred thousand kilograms!

If it were not for the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha granting him fifty thousand kilograms of arm strength, and using his own strength and profound strength, he probably would not be able to lift this sword at all.

The brat was only twenty to thirty kilograms and he could lift her with half a finger… How could she turn into a sword that was this heavy?!

Although this scarlet greatsword was bigger than Dragon Fault, it was at most bigger by thirty percent, yet it was at least ten times heavier! The concentration of its strength should be frightening, but why was it not imposing at all!

The weight on both his arms reminded him of the first time he wielded the Overlord's Colossal Sword. He gritted his teeth and concentrated his strength on his arms, then began to swing the scarlet greatsword around. The moment he started swinging, the aura became imposing, as though it was a raging ocean's waves banging heavily onto shore. The burst of the sword was as deafening as a thunder strike… One could only imagine the destructive power of being hit by the sword.

"Wah, wah, wah… So fun! Fun, fun… Wuahhhh, why do I feel dizzy…" Hong'er's sweet voice cried out.

The immense weight did not cause Percy to retreat, but instead made him even more excited. Even the increasingly intense vibrations were thrown to the back of his mind. Only when the excited sound of the little girl rang did his motion stop, reminding him that this sword… was transformed from the little girl!

"Quick, drop your blood onto the sword… A drop is sufficient!" Artemis's voice suddenly sounded and it was using the soul transmission that no one else could hear.

Although he did not know why Artemis's shout sounded serious, Percy did not ask too much and immediately condensed a drop of blood from the tip of his finger, dropping it onto the scarlet greatsword.

The moment the drop of blood touched the scarlet greatsword, Artemis, who was behind Percy immediately stacked her hands together and displayed a weird hand seal. In the palm of her hand, a deep blood-like red glow flashed.

At the same instant, the blood that was dripping down the sword stopped, entered the core of the sword, and completely disappeared.

Artemis's actions completely avoided Percy's vision and spiritual sense causing him to not detect anything… he only felt a weird energy fluctuation for an instant.

"Ehh? Why do I feel so weird."

The girl sounded slightly confused. The scarlet greatsword on Percy's hand flashed with a red light and disappeared. The red haired red clothed young girl reappeared and when she landed, she did not immediately acknowledge Percy. Instead, she held her face and bit her finger unintentionally seemingly thinking very hard about something.

The scarlet greatsword disappeared, but the heavy feeling still lingered on his arm. His heart was unable to calm down from his excitement… Although wielding this scarlet greatsword was still slightly straining for him, when he was able to fully wield it, with this sword in hand, his explosive power would be far beyond that of Dragon Fault!

If this was only a heavy sword, Percy would do whatever it took to get it. But this sword… was actually not a sword!

"Little girl, you're really… very strong!" Percy changed from his angry and wild expression to a more gentle one and said. He suddenly felt that it was important for him to build a good relationship with the girl.

The girl looked up at him with a muddled expression before tilting her head: "Why do I feel weird? Why, eh… my body feels weird."

"Where do you feel weird?" Percy asked.

"I don't know, I just feel weird. It feels weird in my chest and around my waist" She looked at Percy and said with a serious expression: "Ugh, I seem to like you more! I like you a lot! Being liked by a super beauty like me, do you feel happy?"

"…Little girl," Percy touched his face, speaking in a more serious tone than her: "In my previous life, I already knew my charms. From the innocent little lolis to the invincible old virgins, liking me is a very very normal thing. Therefore, you don't have think that it's weird at all"

"Little loli? Old virgin… What are those?" The girl seemed confused before she suddenly shook her head: "Ahhh! I forbid you from calling me little girl. It's not nice sounding at all!"

"What should I call you then?"

"Call… Call… Call me little beauty!"

"…You really don't remember your name?"

"Of course not, I already said I don't!"

"Then… How about I give you a name?"

"Name me?" The girl's eyes sparkled as she grew excited: "Okay, okay! But it must be a nice and cute name that I like!"

Percy looked at the girl's red clothes, red hair , red eyes… even her favourite color was red. He thought for a while and said: "Then, I'll call you Hong'er."( Hong'er = 红 儿 :- 红 = Red./ 儿 = an endearment.)

"Hong'er… Hong'er… Hong'er… Hong'er…" The girl repeated the name several times. Her eyes sparkled even more as she replied in high spirits: "Then, call me Hong'er next time… Hehe! I have a name! Hong'er Hong'er… Next time don't call me little girl, or little brat, not even little beauty. You can only call me Hong'er!"

Seeing how unusually excited she became, it was obvious to see that she was very satisfied with the name.

In regards to the name Hong'er, it was simple and rolled off the tongue, not to mention that it really suited this little brat. Seeing her satisfied look, Percy naturally felt very satisfied in his heart as well.

Just a moment ago, he was still regretting that he saved this abandoned child who ate his Dragon Fault, but now, after he had witnessed that scarlet greatsword and had seen her current expression, he seemingly had the urge to drool. However, wielding a dead sword was easy, but, wielding a sword that was "alive" like this one… To be more precise, this was a living person. It was basically a completely different concept!

Just as he was beginning to think of how he was going to have this little brat listen to him obediently, with a heavy tone, Artemis suddenly said. "Hurry and plant a Subjugation profound imprint on her… The same subjugation profound imprint used to form a subjugation contract with a Contract Beast!"

"Mn?" Percy blanked. "What do you mean?"

"It's very simple. You only have to plant a Seal of Contract on her body, similar to forming a contract with a profound beast, and you will be able to form a master-slave contract with her… With you as the master!" Artemis lightly said

"This…" Percy was surprised in his heart. "But that's a method to subdue contact beats beasts. She's human, not a profound beast, so how could a contract be formed this way!?"

Artemis blushed." No it won't actually work that way… it'll just form a connection between the two of you. to properly form the contract…. You'll have to claim her… how you would claim any other girl… for now the blood you sprinkled on her will fuse with her soul and will form a bond of blood between both of you, just like in between us. Then the seal you place on her body will seal the blood into her. that way you two will be connected. But to truly become her master requires for you to claim her."

"…" Hearing Artemis's words, Percy's mind was in a complete mess. How could the blood which he had sprinkled onto the scarlet greatsword according to Artemis's instructions, be imprinted onto Hong'er's soul? And it could even correspondingly merge with the Contracted Profound Seal? The Contracted Profound Seal which was used to form a contract with profound beasts… could be effective on humans as well?

What's up with all that?!

"Do it according to my instructions this instant." Artemis did not have the slightest intention of joking around. "Currently, she has lost all of her memories, so the concept of a Contracted Profound Seal is completely foreign to her. When she woke up, the first person she saw was you as well, so in her subconsciousness, she's extremely close to you, and is completely defenseless against you. Hence, as long as you provide a little guidance, she shouldn't resist you. This is a heavenly opportunity that's hard to come by even in a million years! If her memories were to suddenly return, and you wish to form a master-slave contract with her then, that will be a completely impossible matter! But at the moment claiming her is probably not the best idea. So just place the seal on her. claiming her can come once we leave this place."

Percy finally understood Artemis's words. His heart was greatly stirred, but, he still hesitantly said. "This… isn't really a good idea, right? Right now, she doesn't have her memories. If I were to take this opportunity, and it really succeeds, it seemed to be a little too unfair to her."

"Hmph, isn't tricking girls the thing you do the most!? But now, you're actually beginning to act like a gentleman?" Artemis said with a cold smile.

These few words which Artemis casually mentioned, had completely shattered the morals which had finally managed to sprout in Percy. Artemis would often say several shocking things that overturned his understanding and knowledge, however, she had never lied to him either. If Hong'er could really be subjugated just like a contracted beast like she had said…

Mn, Hong'er wasn't the key point. The key point was that she could change into that sword!

"Hmm? What's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly stop talking?" Hong'er smiled, raised her little white, tender hands, and shook them in front of his eyes.

Percy regained his senses at that moment. Looking down, he said with a smile. "Hong'er, let's discuss something, alright?"

"Discuss… something?" Hong'er tilted her head.

"Just now, you ate my Dragon Fault, and then, you said that you will pay me back, right?" Percy still carried that smile on his face.

Hong'er nodded. However, looking at her expression, she had evidently raised her guard.

Since Hong'er nodded, she had made it easier for him to say the following words. Percy then slowly continued. "Dragon Fault is my weapon. Since Dragon Fault has been eaten by you, I no longer have any weapons that I can use. Since you said that you will pay me back, then in the future, when I need to use a weapon, you have to transform into that sword earlier, is this agreeable? Hong'er is a beautiful young lady, and a beautiful young lady must keep her words!"

Hong'er blinked, and pondered very deeply for a moment. Then… she actually nodded.

It's… that easy?

She's actually so obedient?

Hong'er agreed to it too simply, which caused Percy to instead feel a little speechless. At this moment, Hong'er said out very loudly. "Although just now, it was really fun in that form, I don't want to just listen to your words for nothing… Unless, you promise me three conditions!"

Conditions?!

This little brat who looked absolutely naive and completely schemeless… actually wanted to talk conditions with him?

"What conditions?" This time, it was Percy who raised his guard.

"They're really simple!" Hong'er raised her little face, and stretched out a white, tender finger. "One, you must play with me often, you can't ignore me. I like you a lot, so you should always be willing to be around me and let us both enjoy. Two, you must find me various tasty food everyday, you're not allowed to make me hungry, nor are you allowed to be petty. Three, you can't throw me aside and run away like what happened earlier, nor are you allowed to scold me!"

"…" Percy was instantly speechless. These three conditions were clear, straight to the point and easily understood… Everything in regards to food and fun were all covered! This little brat totally wasn't as dense and stupid as she looked!

"Al… right!" Percy acted as though he was hesitant for a moment, before he nodded in agreement.

"Eh? Really… You really agree to everything, and will keep to your promises?" Seeing Percy nodding, Hong'er's eyes sparkled. Her tender lips opened, and instantly shouted out in excitement.

"Of course, I keep to my promises. But you must be obedient as well. When I want you to turn into a sword, you definitely mustn't not listen to me!" Percy said very sternly.

"Yay!" Hong'er happily cheered and then nodded like a little chick pecking for rice. "Mn, mn, mn, mn! As long as I get to play and eat many tasty food, then I will definitely be the most obedient… Wu, umm, umm…" Hong'er placed her pair of hands on her cheeks, and her eyes flashed with sparkles. "Right now, I'm hungry again. That thing called farmer faulty earlier, there still seems to be half of it. Can I eat it now?"

"It's Dragon Fault!"

Percy took out the lower half of Dragon Fault, and his heart still ached from looking at the bite marks on it… Thinking back, Dragon Fault was unimaginably imposing in his own hands. They, one person and one sword, had fought down armies of monsters, they swept across a crowd of mighty foes, shaking the entire world… They were basically beyond awe-inspiring.

He could put aside the fact that it had broken, but it had actually turned into this little brat's food!

Old friend, it has been hard on you. In any case, your other half has already entered her stomach, just take it as though I'm sending you into her stomach in order to reunite you… Percy groaned in his heart. He did not give to her immediately. Instead, he hid it behind his back, and said. "I can give you the other half now, but you have to fulfill a small promise for me as well."

Seeing the other half of Dragon Fault and smelling its aura, Hong'er's saliva instantly flowed down. As she forcefully gulped her saliva, she anxiously said. "What is it, what is it!?"

"Close your eyes, and in the next twenty seconds, no matter what I do to you, you're not allowed to resist! Simple, right?" Percy bent his waist, revealed a smiling face, and said with incomparable gentleness.

"Twenty seconds, and I'm not allowed to resist? Ehhh!?" Hong'er's tender and small body shrank back, and her little hands grabbed onto the corner of her skirt as she gave a vigilant look. "Could it be… you're trying to molest me? No, no, no! I'm a little beautiful lady with the purest body. I like you so that's one thing, but I don't want to be molested at all. If we're going to do something like that, then I'm dominant. You should let me do it! After all a virgin like me should not be taken too roughly!"

Molest… This brat actually knows about molestation!

"Who said I wanted to molest you!?" Sweat constantly dripped down from Percy's forehead. "I simply want to touch the center of your forehead with my hand… and that's it!"

"Ah?" Hong'er looked doubtful, as she stretched her hand and touched the center of her forehead. "Why do you want to touch this spot?"

"Because… I love touching that spot of other people the most, especially when it belongs to a cute, beautiful little lady!" Percy said with great difficulty.

"Is that so…" Hong'er pondered for a moment. Being touched at the center of the forehead, and then being able to eat the delicious Dragon Fault right after; no matter how she thought about it, it was a really great deal. "Okay… But, after touching it, you have to let me eat farmer faulty. You definitely mustn't go back on your words."

It's Dragon Fault! Percy roared out in his heart… Since Hong'er had agreed to it, then it was much easier to handle. He nodded, and slowly said. "Alright… First, close your eyes… That's right, you're not allowed to open them. A moment later, no matter what happens, you're not allowed to resist. Don't worry, other than the center of your forehead, I will not touch anywhere else, nor will I molest you!"

Hong'er stood in front of Percy, and closed her eyes according to his instructions. It was unknown if it was because she was too naive, or she did not have any defense against Percy in her subconsciousness, but not only did she not feel disturbed, she instead carried curiosity and expectation on her face. Percy took a small breath, condensed a pearl of blood at the tip of his finger, and then, gently tapped on the center of Hong'er's forehead. In an instant, a small-scaled Contracted Profound Seal appeared at the center of her forehead.

The entire process, was completely the same as forming a contract with a completely subjugated profound beast.

Did it really succeed? Although he had always trusted Artemis the most, he still carried a deep doubt in his subconsciousness… After all, this was simply a little too outrageous.

With the appearance of the Contracted Profound Seal, as long as Hong'er carried the slightest of will to resist it, or if she didn't whole heartedly trust him and accept him as her master, the Contracted Profound Seal would be instantly expelled by her… Even if this Contracted Profound Seal was really effective against human lives, then, as long as one person sensed that the other party had cast such a Contracted Profound Seal on him, he would definitely expel it with incomparable force. Because no one would be willing to become dependent on others like a profound beast.

However, this conclusion did not happen on Hong'er. After the Profound Contracted Seal that came from Percy rotated three times at the center of Hong'er's forehead, carrying his drop of blood, it entered the center of Hong'er's forehead with incomparable success, until it completely disappeared.

In that short moment, a form of spiritual connection with Hong'er had also appeared with incomparable clarity within his soul.

This form of spiritual connection… seemed to be the same as the spiritual connection he had with the small pets he had in the past…

It succeeded?!

It actually succeeded for real!

The back of Percy's left hand flashed with a red light as an inch long red profound imprint slowly appeared. And the shape of this profound mark, was clearly a miniature-size of that scarlet greatsword!

After this profound imprint appeared, it once again slowly dimmed, and disappeared without a trace.

"Eh?" Hong'er felt the abnormality and opened her eyes, which widened in confusion, "It seems like something weird is happening!"

Percy looked at Hong'er, and focused his spirit, testing out the command to withdraw. Suddenly the sword-shaped profound seal on the back of his hand flashed. Hong'er let out a cry, and her entire person morphed into a red beam of light which flew into the profound seal.

Percy raised his arm and looked at the sword-shaped profound seal on the back of his hand and stood there, dazed. It… actually… really… worked!

"Hong'er!"

He shouted in a low voice. Suddenly, the profound seal flashed once more, and the beam of red light was released and transformed back into Hong'er's body. Her mouth gaped open, and she tried to strongly blink her eyes as she was obviously still in a muddled state.

"Become a sword!"

As his will was transmitted, Hong'er's body flared up with light once more, and her small and delicate body morphed into a huge scarlet heavy sword. Percy extended his palm and he reached out with his mind once more, causing the scarlet greatsword to autonomously fly into his grasp. He used both hands to grasp the scarlet greatsword, and he could feel a shocking heaviness. His heart echoed the words he had just chanted to himself. It… actually… really… worked!

But this time, the scarlet greatsword in his hand suddenly started to struggle against his grip, and as the sword swung itself, it forcefully escaped from his grasp. The red light flashed once again and the sword once more turned back into the little girl, Hong'er.

Percy stood in amazement… what had happened? She could struggle herself free? You mean she wasn't like a normal contracted profound beast, that was completely under the owner's control? She could rebel?

Once Hong'er materialized, she began to examine her own body in a rushed and haphazard manner. Once she discovered that there were no abnormalities, she crooked her head and said with uncertainty, "It's so strange, it seems like my body isn't listening to me… Big brother, did you do anything to me?"

As Percy was about to explain the situation to her, she instead twinkled her eyes in joy and said with a laugh, "But it's really really fun! Big brother, won't you please play with me again! Let me molest you now! Take off your clothes!"

Without waiting for Percy's reply, she followed up with a self-serving demand, "Hey! No, no, this isn't right! Delicious food… there is still delicious food! Hurry and give farmer faulty to me to eat! You already promised me! You can't go back on your word!"

Being able to plant a contracted profound seal on her, and being able to withdraw her into the seal, summon her, then make her transform into a sword… if this had happened to a normal person, it would be enough to scare said person out of his wits! But Hong'er only experienced a short daze, and even said that it was 'fun'. Not only that, she promptly threw these experiences to the back of her mind… what exactly were her nerves made of?

Percy took out Dragon Fault and said with a strange expression on his face, "You can take it to eat."

"Wah, wah!" Hong'er received Dragon Fault and began dancing excitedly. She had eaten the other half of Dragon Fault while being chased around by Percy, so she had to swallow it whole. But this time, she could eat with no pressure at all. Naturally her eating speed slowed by a lot. Her small and delicate soft pink lips and delicate and pearly-white teeth easily gobbled up Dragon Fault, which was more resilient than profound iron. This picture caused Percy's spirit to receive an unimaginable impact.

Rumble…

The tremors in space began to strengthen and a tiny dimensional tear had already begun to form in the air… The 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground''s repulsion field had arrived.

"Hurry and keep her in the profound seal! Because of her unique physique, she might not be affected by the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground''s repulsion field!" Artemis said hurriedly.

Percy furrowed his brows, and quickly sent a mental order for Hong'er to return to the profound seal… Hong'er, who had been happily eating, let out a dissatisfied cry. Then, she, along with the other half of Dragon Fault, morphed into the red light and returned to the profound seal.

At practically the same time, a strong and irresistible force carried Percy up, and threw him into the dimensional vortex which had appeared out of nowhere.

After suffering a full eighteen months within the spatial turbulence, a mere dimensional vortex was not even worth mentioning to Percy. He closed his eyes and let himself be moved by the dimensional vortex with a heart full of apprehensiveness…

What kind of world had he been brought to exactly…

 _-Styx Soul Inner World-_

"Where is this?" Hong'er nibbled the food in her hand while curiously assessing the surroundings of the world, which was a vast expanse of Blue Green.

"This is the world of the Styx Soul Inner World." Artemis appeared in front of her, looking indifferently at Hong'er who just appeared in that world.

"Styx Soul Inner World?" Hong'er took another big bite off Dragon Fault, and said indistinctly while chewing: "Styx Soul Inner World? What a weird name, why would I appear here?"

"That's because the Styx Soul Inner World and the Profound Seal Space are both worlds which exist within his body, when your Profound Seal Space was created, both of them were merged into one." Artemis explained unenthusiastically.

"Oh… even though I don't understand at all, it seems very amazing!" Hong'er's opened her mouth wide and put the last piece of Dragon Fault into her mouth, then swallowed it completely… like she had just swallowed a soft, delicious piece of bread: "Mmm ahh! I'm done! So full!"

A peculiar red glow shined in Hong'er's scarlet eyes, who had finished eating Dragon Fault, yet it quickly vanished. She sized up Artemis, then said while giggling: "That's right, little big sis, what's your name?"

"Artemis."

"Ar… temis… I've got it! Little big sister, you have to play with me frequently from now on, I really like to play!" Hong'er yelled adorably, being familiar on her own accord at Artemis, who emanated an indifferent aura from her entire being. She stretched lazily, her eyelids suddenly drooping: "I suddenly feel so tired after eating… I really want to take a nap."

Hong'er lightly rubbed her eyes, then yawned: "Ahh, mmm… I'm really really tired, little big sis, I'll go take a nap first, good night."

With that, Hong'er directly curled into a ball like a cat on the ground, closed her eyes, and in the next moment, she fell asleep with shocking speed.

Artemis's line of sight never left Hong'er for a moment. After she fell soundly asleep, her eyes flashed and she said coldly: "Come out!"

The moment her voice landed, a strand of colorless radiance rose from Hong'er's body; it then slowly revealed a misty silhouette.

And this silhouette was actually the remnant spirit which had encountered in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' that already dissipated!

Only that this remnant spirit was evidently more frail than the one that Percy had initially seen, it was inconsistent to the point that it could completely vanish at any point, she said with an ancient and heavy voice: "Who exactly are you, how could you actually know the Celestial God Imperial Family's 'Soul Star Relegation'!"

"You actually know about 'Soul Star Relegation'." Artemis squinted.

"…So that really was 'Soul Star Relegation'!" Artemis's words were a confirmation. The remnant spirit was evidently shaken: "You are from the Celestial God Imperial Family… No! The twelve Celestial Gods have already been destroyed, you are someone who has inherited the strength of one of the Celestial Gods!?"(A.N.:Celestial God meaning one of the Olympians)

"That's right." Artemis acknowledged without trying to hide anything at all: "Is it not better to relieve yourself earlier? Why did you still leave a remnant spirit on her body?"

"Without seeing my little mistress get rescued and recover, how could I leave peacefully… I did not expect that when little mistress got healed from the devilish poison and awoke, she would be put under the 'Soul Star Relegation', and be attached to an ordinary person!" The remnant spirit's voice was filled with deep indigence: "Who would have expected that you would be such despicable and malicious people!"

"So, would you rather that she continue sleeping in the Coffin of Eternity, to forever be fast asleep and be a living dead?" Artemis laughed coldly: "In the entire world, only the Styx Soul Inner World can save her, and you have just witnessed it. The Styx Soul Inner World has already merged into his body; in the entire world, he is the only one who can save your little mistress! Your little mistress is able to see daylight again, yet you cannot even accept such a small price, how laughable!"

The remnant spirit remained silent for a long time, as if it had trouble retorting.

"I am, after all, not a real ancient Celestial God, and am unable to employ the complete 'Soul Star Relegation'. On top of that, I am unable to casually use my full power. The power of the 'Soul Star Relegation' is much less than it is supposed to be, if your little mistress had resisted a little, it would not have succeeded. Yet you have witnessed that she subconsciously had not even the least bit of vigilance or resistance towards him, and accepted such an outcome on her own accord, and was not forced into it! She admitted she likes him!"

"Little mistress has totally lost her memories, her soul is completely blank and is not vigilant against anyone, and thus got taken advantage of by you. If not, how could she be plotted against! Little mistress is the miracle and hope left behind after my sect's destruction, yet now she is attached to a mere human… Even though my soul has been scattered, I have let down my king…" the remnant spirit said indignantly.

"A mere human?" Artemis laughed coldly: "Though I cannot confirm exactly which Primordial Clan you are from, however… do you really think that your little mistress being attached to him, is a loss?! In my view, this is clearly the biggest favor that the Heavens have done for your little mistress and your clan."

"Ridiculous!" The remnant spirit twisted with rage: "How honourable is the little mistress' status? She currently has yet to grow up, but she has unlimited potential. When she has completely matured, she would be able to surpass my king and conquer the whole world! A mere human is limited to just the Divine Profound Realm. Compared to my little mistress, he is a petty and lowly individual!"

Facing the more and more agitated remnant spirit, Artemis, however, maintained a calm expression, and asked calmly: "A mere human? Since you know about the 'Soul Star Relegation', then you should also know, even for the true Celestial God back then, the 'Soul Star Relegation' could only be used once, yet I used this once in a lifetime ability of the 'Soul Star Relegation' on him. If he is just a 'mere human' as you said, would he have the qualifications to make me unhesitantly employ a skill which can only be used once?!"

Remnant spirit: "…"

"A few years ago, I had also thought that he was just an ordinary human… No, at that time, he could not even be counted as ordinary, at that time, his profound veins were crippled; even among the humans, he was just a piece of trash. At that time when I complied to him, it was just simply because I wanted to make use of the Styx Soul Inner World on his body to remove the devilish poison from my body."

"However, I quickly found out that I had completely misjudged this person."

"Since you are from a Primordial Clan, you are aware of the Realm of Gods. After the death of the gods, there has continuously been humans ascending into the Realm of Gods, frantically searching for bloodlines, strengths and legacies left behind by the deceased gods. After countless years, countless astral planes were set up in the Realm of Gods, causing the domain of the gods to become a domain to obtain godly bloodlines and legacies. The Realm of Gods is incomparably huge; up until today, there are still countless of people searching for legacies left behind by the ancient True Gods."

Artemis shifted her gaze and said: "I've said all these just to tell you that, the current Realm of Gods has been searched by people for several thousand years, tens of thousands of years, tens of tens of thousands of years, and even several hundreds of tens of thousands of years, yet no new True God's bloodline nor legacy has been found. More than ninety-nine percent of them only possess a single type of godly strength, and they are legacies from astral planes. In the entire Realm of Gods, the number of godly strengths is at most only three. This is because new True God legacies are getting harder to find. In addition… the strength of gods are proud, with even a single godly power in the body, the entry of another would easily face rejection. For three godly powers to coexist in the current Realm of Gods, is already enough to shock the entire world, they are the peak of existence!"

"But, do you know how many types he has on his body?!"

"The Poseidon's Indestructible Blood; the Rage God's Divine Art; the Heavenly Wolf's Divine Art; the Phoenix's Divine Blood, Divine Soul and Divine Art; the Primordial Azure Dragon's Dragon Blood, Dragon Soul and Dragon Marrow; the Golden Crows Divine Blood, Divine Soul and Divine Art; Moon Gods True Essence; Ice Fairy Maidens Frozen Heart… Eight types of godly strengths, coexisting in a single body! You are currently existing in a space inside his body. If you concentrate your soul and feel, you will be able to feel the existence of the Eight godly strengths coexisting."

Artemis said heavily: "With such numerous legacies left behind by True Gods in the Realm of Gods, countless people have searched bitterly for hundreds of thousands of years for new godly powers, yet he, an ordinary person, moreover, in the most lowest level world, obtained an entire Eight godly strengths… and in just a span of three years!"

"…" The remnant soul was severely moved.

Artemis continued: "Of these Eight types of godly powers, Four originated from me, but I am unable to wield them with their full potential. Back then, I exhausted time and effort to seize the Poseidon's Indestructible Blood, and even thus got struck by devilish poison, almost getting destroyed. Yet I found out in the end that once the Poseidon's Indestructible Blood melded with the body, the profound veins would be reconstructed, causing one to lose their original power. So only someone under the Legen Realm could fuse with it. And back then, his profound veins were coincidentally crippled. For me to completely recover, he had to have sufficient strength, thus, the Poseidon's Indestructible Blood which I used half of my life to exchange for was eventually given to him, giving him the one and only Poseidon's Profound Veins in the whole world!"

"My elder brother once got extremely lucky and found the divine arts left behind by the Primordial Rage God, however he had not cultivated to great completion before his body and soul started to fall apart. My power and the Rage God's repel each other so I am unable to cultivate. However, to not let the power which my elder brother bitterly searched for to disappear, I imprinted the Rage God's Divine Arts into my soul… Once, because his silhouette looked like my brother's, I impulsively taught him the Rage God's Divine Arts, but I didn't expect that he would actually comprehend it in such a short time. After that, he repeatedly broke through with shocking speed and actually even learn't the Buddha Divine Chant!"

"My elder brother bore the strength of Celestial God Sirius, and by coincidence, he obtained the Sirius' Divine Arts, which specialized in heavy swords. While watching older brother practice, I subconsciously memorized a small portion of it, but I couldn't cultivate it. However… His weapon was coincidentally a heavy sword. I gave him the basics of Sirius' Divine Arts to him, and he used not more than one Day to master it."

"In regards to the Phoenix, Golden Crow and Dragon God, he found them himself, and subsequently obtained their highest approval. Eight types of divine bloodlines and strengths coexist within his body, never once experiencing the least bit of rejection! I have been attached to his life for many years, yet have not been able to find out the reason," Artemis moved her gaze to the remnant spirit who was evidently in shock: "Apart from this, not only has the Styx Soul Inner World which you have been bitterly searching for countless of years is with him, it has completely merged with his body. I can even tell you that the Styx Soul Inner World, is a Heavenly Profound Treasure! Do you now still believe that he is just a 'mere human'?"

The remnant spirit stayed silent for a very, very long time, then slowly said: "Heavenly… luck?"

"That's right, he seems to have an extremely strong luck. Even back then when he was crippled, it was also due to luck. If not, I would never have granted him the Poseidon's Indestructible Blood." Artemis said unenthusiastically: "Also, his perception and rate of growth are astonishing. If his luck continues to persist, then, his future achievements are immeasurable. Your little mistress, as she follows him, will also be affected by his luck! Who knows, she might even have a future far better than what you hoped for."

The remnant spirit said unhurriedly: "Such a thing like luck is simply an illusory existence; everyone will have periods of good luck, and eventually meet times of bad luck. With his current state, you can comment about his luck, however, what I have seen is something else… In the two years on the Trial Ground, I have been monitoring him, travel through spatial turbulence; that is bad luck which a normal person would not face in a hundred years. Yet he faced it, and if he was not able to take it on, he would have undoubtedly died. All of the so-called good luck, is summed to nothing. What I am willing to believe, is that whatever he possesses today, is because he is willing to do his utmost, and has enough willpower. Luck, possibly exists, or it could a made up name… who can even quantify luck? Who can quantify the heavenly laws?"

Artemis: "…"

"Sigh." The remnant spirit sighed : "Forget it, the Soul Star Relegation has been done, things have reached such a state and cannot be changed. I, too, have no power to change anything. Me calling him a 'mere human', is merely just out of a moment of anger. I have been monitoring him for two months; compared to this so-called 'luck', his willpower is even stronger, greatly shocking me. Little mistress has already awoken; even though she was attached, she did not reject it or feel sad, and even likes him, smiling and laughing like back then. I can see that he will not bully or humiliate little mistress… perhaps there is nothing for me to worry or be angry about."

"Before you leave, can you tell me the name of your race?" Artemis said as she looked straight at the spirit. But in her heart, she could more or less guess what the answer would be.

The remnant spirit kept silent for a while, and then faintly sighed, "Well, I guess there is no harm in telling you. Perhaps you have heard of the name, or perhaps it has long been forgotten. The race I belong to is called the "Sword Spirit God Clan."

"Ah so it was really the case!" Artemis said as her eyebrows quivered.

"But, the little mistress, she is not one of us." The spirit continued.

"Oh?" Artemis's eyes flashed in shock, "If she is not a member of the Sword Spirit Clan, then why do you address her as 'little mistress'? And she can obviously transform into a sword! In the records, the ancient race which could transform into swords was only the 'Sword Spirit God Clan'."

"Back then, this was a secret within my Sword Spirit God Clan, and only four people in the entire clan, including myself, knew of this secret. All the other clansman thought that she was the daughter of our king. But the truth is, the little mistress was someone our king picked up by accident and he let it be known that she was his daughter. As to why my king did the things he did, or where my little mistress came from, all of this knowledge was lost once my king died. However, while the little mistress' ability to transform into a sword is the same as our clan, the sword she transforms into is entirely different. Because when my clansmen become swords, they have always been light and agile blades, but when my little mistress transforms into a sword, she becomes a heavy sword that is exceedingly difficult to control."

"My king had never told anybody the origins of our little mistress, but he had always doted and cared for her in an extravagant manner. In those days, both my king and my little mistress had been struck by the devilish poison, and my king would rather die so we could use the Coffin of Eternity to protect our little mistress. My king definitely had his reasons for placing such great importance on her. And all these years that I have been bitterly guarding my little mistress and searching for the Styx Soul Inner World… have finally borne fruit. Whatever fates lie in store for my little mistress, I no longer have the ability to see it through or protect her from. So please, no matter what happens, please treat her kindly."

"Besides the Sword Spirit God Clan, what other race could transform into swords…" Artemis mused to herself silently

"Our Sword Spirit Clan are of the Celestial Spirit race. Once we are born, we innately possess the energy of heaven and earth. Of course, we still have to cultivate and the stronger our profound power, the stronger the sword we transform into becomes. But the little mistress does not need to cultivate; instead she consumes swords as food. Everytime she eats a sword, she will absorb a portion of its sword strength and sword spirit, and her strength will increase by a bit. The stronger the sword she consumes, the more she will grow. In those years, my king sought the most famous swords under heaven to be food for our little mistress and this resulted in immense growth for her. But after she was struck by the devilish poison, all of her sword strength was consumed to depletion. If you want to cultivate her strength, find all kinds of strong swords for her; the stronger the sword, the more my mistress would desire to eat it."

"…There was actually a person who could rely on eating swords to strengthen herself!" Artemis looked deeply at Hong'er. She rummaged through her memory banks, but she could not recall coming across such a record or rumor.

"I have already answered your question, Now, can you answer mine. Which Celestial God do you derive your strength from?" The lingering spirit asked Artemis.

"Heaven Slaughter Celestial God!" Artemis said expressionlessly.

"Among the twelve Celestial Gods, the Heavenly Chief has the disposition of a king, the Heavenly Wolf is the strongest, and the Heavenly Slaughter is the evilest, feared by all. You have inherited her power, but your mindset does not seem to have been influenced much. That is good." The spirit said slowly.

"What?" Artemis laughed coldly, "Hmph, don't assume things. Even though I have only inherited the Heaven Slaughter Celestial God's power for less than ten years, the amount of people I have killed in that time span is more than one hundred times the number of people you have killed in your entire life!"

"The amount of people you have killed has nothing to do with the evil in your heart." The spirit faintly said, "You have a spirit body, I am also a spirit, whether you are good or evil, I naturally have my way to judge… But I have one more question. You seem to place great importance on this human, to the point where you would not hesitate to use the ability 'Soul Star Relegation" which you can only use once in your lifetime. So why did you not help him leave the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground' after he had been trapped? And the two months he spent braving the spatial turbulence, existing at the border of life and death, suffering an agony that surpasses that of the agony of one hundred generations combined; why did you seem to turn a deaf ear to it?"

"Looks like you aren't that clever after all." The corner of Artemis's mouth curved slightly, and she gave a cold laugh, "In the two years from when I first met him, I had used my powers to save him from certain death countless of times. At that time, the devilish poison in my body was incomparably intense, and the power I could use was much weaker than what I can use now, and whenever I used that power, I would have difficulty suppressing the resurgence of the devilish poison afterwards."

"I did not want him to rely on my power, and neither did he. But as long as my existence and power remained, this reliance would never fade, even if he tried to reject it. When he faced a bleak situation, his subconscious would forever have the concept that 'as long as Artemis is here, I can never die', and this would lead him to never being able to exhaust his determination in those dire situations. So, a year ago, I faked the sealing of my powers, and caused him to be unable to rely on my strength. Like when we were in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground', he would have relied on my power to aid him in killing Riptide who was chasing him… When the spatial turbulence came, he would have relied on my power to leave the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground', and when it started its attack, he would have first thought of using my power to resist it…he would have wanted my help in the Dragon God Trial… Even if he had wanted to use his own strength, he would not have used all his strength and willpower to endure, and go through the countless exceeding of his own limits that had happened in this period."

"In the years that I had persisted in maintaining the perception that my strength was sealed, his growth became exceedingly fast in the period where he could not rely on my power. And he used his own strength and willpower to brave countless hopeless situations, and all this time, I have not raised a single finger to assist him. To the contrary, I even specially increased the intensity of the spatial turbulence within the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'. And the final result, had far exceeded my wildest expectations. Half of the devilish poison in my body has been purged in these years, and the remaining half has already been stabilized and is under control."

Artemis had said this very evenly, but if Percy had heard it, he would have been struck dumb.

In the Months where Artemis faked the sealing of her powers, Percy's growth had far outstripped his previous growth. And it was precisely because he could not rely on Artemis subconsciously, that he could decide to fight to death when he was buried beneath the Armies of the Dragon God Trial, and why he could keep on making breakthroughs time and again even though he kept facing life-and-death situations in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'.

Without the slightest exaggeration, if Artemis had not 'sealed her powers', Percy would never be able to climb to such great heights. As Artemis had said, as long as her power existed, that reliance would never fade. What existed in one's subconscious could not be overcome through sheer willpower.

"I hoped that he could become stronger at a much faster rate, because it is only if he is sufficiently strong that I can have a chance of attaining a new body. And I can only be his guide as he walks the path of the strong, because he needs to walk every step of that road by himself! Any obstacles he faces along that road, he needs to shatter by himself; any cliffs he faces needs to be crossed using his own strength as well. If not, he will never become truly strong." Artemis closed her eyes and said those words slowly. Even though her appearance was that of a thirteen year old girl, her words and demeanor was that of a wise master.

"However, if he had encountered an inescapable dead end, at the moment right before his death, I would have naturally intervened." Artemis said casually in an even voice.

"Ah so it's like this." The remnant spirit lightly nodded her head, her ethereal voice carrying both trepidation and admiration, "With you as a guide, his future will definitely not be a common one. With the little mistress in your care, I am much more relieved…"

"Even though she is not of our race, but she has indeed received all the remaining hopes and wonders of our clan and my king. I do not dare ask for much, but I can only hope that you will always treat her kindly. Or, if she does not mature, this lowly position would allow her to live every day free of worry or care, and that could also said to be a happy ending for one such as her… Even though that would differ from my expectations greatly, you are, after all, the ones who saved my little mistress, and I am merely a lingering spirit, unable to make you do anything. This Trial Ground… can be my compensation towards you… Only that it is a pity… that its power has just been completely depleted…"

The spirit's voice and silhouette slowly vanished from the Styx Soul Inner World, never to appear again.

A.N.: yup long explanations. Enough of that. Now onto what we've been waiting. Percy gonna go whip Luke to show him and his Harem some respect. And for those wondering hong'er is Ten to eleven years old. Percy is nearly 13 and artemis is close to 17. Piper and calypso are also close to 16. And Aphrodite is 23


	19. Battle With The Demon King

**Third Arc: Hope City At War  
Battle with The Demon King**

When Percy fell, he found himself back in the chamber where calypso had undergone nirvana. He looked around and saw calypso sitting there, asleep. For two months she had sat by there, waiting for him. He bent and touched her shoulder. Calypso's eyes fluttered open and she stared blankly for a moment.

Then her gaze focused on Percy's face and she burst into tears."wuuu! Percy!" she leaped into his arms and started sobbing. Percy just held her, feeling peaceful and content.

It took calypso a few hours to calm down, and by then piper and the rest had arrived as well. Piper huffed and muttered about what an annoyance he was, but then hit him and hugged him as well.

Aphrodite… well, Aphrodite was Aphrodite. She pushed everyone out of the way and jumped onto Percy like a tigress, somehow ending up with Percy and calypso squashed beneath her boobs.

After everyone calmed down and moved away, Grandholme stepped forward, expression grim." Percy, Luke has challenged you to a duel. He said, if you win, he will stop the war. But if he wins, he will launch a grand attack on hope city." Percy laughed." He already told me! So where is it?"

Grandholme still looked worried." Percy… I would accompany you.. but… I fear they shall attack hope city in my absence…" aphrodite's eye's flashed." Well I can accompany him!" Percy smiled gently." No need. The man who threatens my friends!" his eyes flashed." He will die by my hands!

Calypso started sobbing again." N-no… Percy… I can't bear this again… please at least let me come with you…" Percy hugged her then looked at her with pain in his heart." Calypso… you will… never lose me… you're my most precious friend and I can promise that to you…"

Calypso completely broke apart, then pulled herself together." Let me teach you my most powerful skill then. My fastest movement skill, The Extreme Mirage Lightning! This secret skill, can allow you to fly, before you reach Legend realm!" Percy smiled and stroked her hair." Alright." Then he looked around." I'll be practicing with calypso till the day of the battle so I'll need to concentrate." Then he looked at Grandholme." Where is the battle?" Grandholme stroked his beard." To the East of Hope City lies the grand sea, there will be your battle ground!"

Percy spent nearly a month training with calypso. She had trained for her entire life, but was unable to use the flying ability of Extreme Mirage Lightning. But in this short time, Percy perfected it!

Artemis Shook her head with surprise." This beastly perception exceeds the limits of the heavens!" then she called to Percy." Percy, I had been analyzing the aura of that Luke. He's a fractured soul." "a what?" Percy asked, surprised." A fractured soul. He's broken his soul and even fused with other souls. That might explain his weird life span and his immense power. No doubt he's practicing a forbidden Devil Art! However, the more you use devil Arts, the more pain you suffer. I'm surprised he hasn't gone mad after so many thousand years..."

On the day of the battle, Percy made calypso swear she wouldn't follow him or try to come to the battle ground." Her lips trembled and she refused to swear. In the end he asked Aphrodite to make sure she didn't. Aphrodite seemed hesitant but in the end agreed.

Then, activating Extreme Mirage Lighting, Percy turned into a bolt of lightning as he dashed towards the seas with extreme speed. Soon he could hear the waves and smell the seas.

At this moment, Percy also decelerated until he stopped. There was a black and lonely figure floating in front of him; it was unknown how long the figure had been there. That figure's entire body released a lifeless aura and a bone-piercing cold. Aside from that, it didn't possess the sense of life that a living person would have… It was as if the person floating there was not a living person, but a corpse.

Even the ocean underneath him was completely silent without any ripples, as if it was dead water that had been robbed of life.

"It looks like you have arrived rather early. And you can fly as well?" Percy stopped several hundred meters behind him and smiled faintly. The aura on Luke was extremely dark and evil; it was enough to induce terror in any other person that got close to him, but it was not enough to affect Percy.

When the black-clothed figure turned around, a pair of pitch black eyes focused on Percy. His expression was stiff and pale, while his eyes were lifeless without any light. In merely an instant, dense, rampaging murderous aura and killing intent that was extremely evil locked onto Percy. The pair of pitch black eyes released out a light that was so dark that it seemed to form into two swords that would rip Percy's body apart.

"You actually dared to come by yourself!" Luke sullenly said. There were no other things here, so he could release his hatred and killing intent towards Percy as much as he wanted.

"How else would I come?" Percy had his hands across his chest, while his face clearly showed an expression on despise. "When I whipped your butt and sent you running and saved Piper by myself back then, I was alone. Now, I only need to deal with you, a pitiful insect that I mercifully let go back then. Why would I need some sort of a helper?"

"You are courting… death!"

Percy's words undoubtedly caused Luke's anger and killing intent to explode out. He roared like a wild beast as his right arm rushed out. A large pitch black hand reached out from the sky and grabbed at Percy. In the area that the large pitch black hand covered, the sea level instantly lowered by several meters.

Percy squinted his eyes; his figure blinked as he dodged the large pitch black hand with Moonlight Flash. Afterwards, he laughed coldly, "You were enraged to this extent by a simple sentence. It seems like, despite your profound energy increasing quite a bit these past few years, your mind did not. What right do you, who is like this, have to defeat me?"

Boom—

With a loud and extremely deep roar, an enormous whirlpool emerged below Percy, producing a flurried sea breeze.

Luke's eyes transformed into bloody demon eyes as the aura around his body became even more violent, "You—"

"We're still not that far from Hope City. You don't want want our fight to affect Hope city, right?" Percy's sentence shut Luke up. "You don't want others to notice and come disturb our fight to the death either, right? Let's pick a more suitable place."

With that, Percy flew towards the deeper area of the Eastern Ocean without waiting for Luke's reply.

Luke continued to keep Percy in his sight, however he didn't not attack again. He merely followed closely behind Percy and flew towards the east. His speed was no worse than Percy's Extreme Mirage Lightning.

"Artemis, just level is he at right now? I can clearly feel that his aura is much stronger than three months ago," Percy cautiously asked.

"Half step into the Legend Realm!" Artemis said coldly. "He is the same level as the Dragon that nearly killed you! Although his profound energy is not as dense as the dragons, his profound art is special. Overall, he might even be slightly stronger than the dragon! Let's see how you handle it!"

"Wow… That's insane!" Although Percy had prepared himself mentally, he still took a deep breath.

Three months ago, Luke was only at the middle of Ninth Level!

Even with a force that had as much resources as the Sacred Societies or the Guardian Families, an increase in a small level of the Ninth Level would still take a hundred years or several hundred years. Even if his talent was absurd, that would still take several tens of years.

However, Luke merely used three months!

"Just what is going on with his absurd power and growth?!" Percy muttered softly.

"When you fight, try to force him to go all out as much as possible. As long as he uses his source of power, I might be able to figure him out… Including the soul he fused with!"

The two of them, one chasing after the other, moved deep into the sacred region with a speed that no mere mortal could ever comprehend.

In order to prevent the clash of their profound energy from afflicting Hope City, Percy tried his best to increase the distance. From fifty kilometers to a hundred kilometers, and then to a hundred and fifty kilometers… When he looked back, the coastline had already disappeared from his sight.

Percy finally stopped after an entire three hundred kilometers.

They arrived at an archipelago. Within his line of sight, there was a large number of reefs and small islands scattered all over like stars in the sky or chess pieces on a chessboard. In this place, the ocean breeze was no longer gentle. The waves below them were surging and the wind was whizzing past their ears. Their hair was completely blown into a mess, and their clothes were flapping.

"Let's fight here.." Percy turned around to face Luke. In this place, he could release all of his strength without restraint.

"You found yourself a pretty nice grave!" The whites of Luke's eyes almost disappeared as his eyes released a devilish, sinister light. On the way here, his murderous aura and killing intent had completely locked on Percy, not diminishing one bit throughout the journey. This made Percy, who had been flying in the front, feel that there had been a pitch-black knife hanging at the back of his heart the entire time.

"Looks like you are very confident in killing me today." Percy's hair tie had already been blown loose. His black hair was wildly fluttering in the air under the rush of the strong ocean breeze, revealing grace and elegance completely different from Luke's somber aura.

"You may not remember, but I must take revenge on many many people!… My father, my master, my grandfather… they were all killed by me! The enmity between us and my hatred towards you is an irreconcilable gulf! I've experienced hell that you can never imagine just so I can kill you!"

"One reason that I am still trying to stay alive until now is to rip you into tens of thousands of pieces! Today, not only will I make you pay for your blood debt, but I will also make you taste all the pain that I have suffered!"

Luke roared; the expression on his face was terrifyingly ferocious, and the black energy surrounding him was moving restlessly.

"An unimaginable hell?" Percy scoffed, "There is no one worthy enough to mention 'hell' in front of me yet, not even you! "

"Mn? One of the reasons that he is staying alive? Did that mean that he had others he wanted to kill?" Percy wondered.

The originally blowing ocean breeze instantly stopped at that moment. The surface of the ocean had also completely stopped churning as the entire world suddenly sank into a deathly stillness, no longer producing any hint of sound. The black energy on Luke's body rose, almost soaring to the sky. His eyes were even more pitch-black, like an endless abyss… Percy's speech was extremely malicious, causing Luke's originally extreme murderous intent and hatred to wildly flare up and burn!

"Hong'er, prepare to fight." Inside the Styx Soul Inner World, Artemis called the deeply slumbering in Hong'er. Then, she looked at the outside world with interest as she muttered to herself, "He's purposely making Luke even angrier, and this Luke is enraged as expected."

Clang!

A red light flashed in Percy's hands and the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword appeared. The instant he held the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword in hand, both his hands violently sunk. If not for his fast reaction speed, his body would've nearly lost balance, causing him to fall into the ocean.

"~！ #￥%…" The weight of the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword in his hands had increased explosively and there was also a slightly difference in the the sword force as well as the vermilion light it released. The instant the sword's body appeared, a huge change occurred; the blue waves of the ocean became tremendously imposing. Only, the unsightly form of a pocket-sized young girl sleeping inside the pearl embedded in the body and hilt of the sword diluted much of this world-shaking aura.

"Hong'er, you've been sneaking in food again, haven't you?!" Percy roared with his mind. Since the time he had last summoned it, the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword was at least more than fifty thousand kilograms heavier. Its sword force had also become rich; powerful to the point where it had almost broke free from his control… He was ten thousand percent sure that not only had Hong'er been eating food on the sly, she had definitely been eating a lot of it too!

"Mmm…" As if she had heard Percy's roar, Hong'er let out a whimper in her sleep. However, she did not awaken and only switched postures as she continued sleeping.

"…" Percy was now twenty thousand percent sure that Hong'er had been pilfering quite a lot of things to eat… because every time she had eaten her fill, she would go into a long slumber.

Crack!

As a black streak of lightning crackled within Luke's hands. An entirely pitch-black longsword with a strange, writhing black radiance was then grasped within them. "Percy… Jackson… I want you to die… without an intact corpse!"

"With just you?" Percy sneered in disdain. He glanced at the pitch-black sword in Luke's hand and revealed a deeplt scornful expression. Then, he straightforwardly swung the Heaven Smiting Sword… withdrawing Hong'er back into the Styx Soul Inner World.

"The kind of inferior Emperor sword is your weapon? Heh…" Deep ridicule, disdain and even distinct pity hung on Percy's face. "This kind of trash that I don't even bother to glance at actually seems to be your most treasured weapon, huh. So pitiful. Pitiful to the point where I feel embarrassed to use my Heaven Smiting Sword to fight with you… because that's seriously bullying you too much."

In the face of Luke's already overflowing hatred and rage, Percy seemed to feel that it was not enough as his malicious words ruthlessly stung and humiliated Luke's mental state and soul which were on the verge of losing control. Not only had Percy withdrawn the Heaven Smiting Sword, he had even curbed a large amount of the aura on his body as well. He then extended a finger at Luke, beckoning him in extreme mockery. "Because of that lousy sword of yours, I find it embarrassing to even use the Heaven Smiting Sword to fight against you. If I used it, I'd feel like I'm bullying you. Since you are this desperate to kill me, then I'll give you a decent opportunity today!"

"I'll give you eight hours!" Facing Luke's completely twisted face, Percy actually beamed as he stretched four fingers outward. "You haven't heard wrongly, an entire eight hours! In these eight hours, I won't hit back, nor will I flee too far. I'll let you attack as you wish. Let me see if you have the ability to kill me in these eight hours of time while I'm not even going to retaliate!"

"If you can't even kill me like this…" Percy's smile became sarcastic and disdainful, "Then never appear in front of me and embarrass yourself again!"

Boom!

A raging billow shot up behind Luke, soaring up to at least three hundred meters in height. In these few thousand years when his soul had been undergoing fusion, his profound strength had explosively risen to the Ninth Level from the First Level. At first, he totally believed that it would be extremely easy for the current him to kill Percy… The only thing he had to consider was just how he would execute it so that Percy would die in the most miserable way. He had to at least suffer through a thousand kinds of torment and go through every kind of pain.

Yet now that he was finally up against Percy, what he found on his opponent's face was not fear or supplication, but the contempt and mockery that he despised the most in his life.

"You… will… regret… every word… that… you have… said!"

Each and every one of the words Luke spat out was so grim that it seemed as though they had come from the deepest layer of hell. Boundless hatred and killing intent congested in his body's every cell, drop of blood, and wisp of soul! The instant his voice fell, the color of the sky seemed to have darkened.

"Oh?" Percy subconsciously lifted his head up at the sky.

The originally cloudless azure sky darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye. A heavy darkness slowly pressed downward from every direction, as though a dark demon god was silently swallowing the world.

"What's going on?"

The shocking change severely stunned Percy. Three months ago, he had only fought once with Luke. At that time, the sky also dimmed a little, but compared to this, it was like the difference between heaven and earth!

Luke's power was extremely peculiar. He had already mentally prepared for that, but he never expected that the full release of power under Luke's rage would actually trigger this kind of… strange scene that could be called a "supernatural phenomenon."

Thick darkness continued to sink downwards, swallowing every hint of light as a terrifying aura filled the world. The tides churned restlessly as waves roiled in disorder. The originally azure ocean region had now transformed into an astonishingly pitch-black color; even the churning surface of the ocean was suffused with a clear black radiance.

"This is!" Artemis's deep bewilderment came from inside Percy's mind.

The scene before her ruthlessly stirred the depths of Artemis's soul… a memory that came from an ancient Star God! A name… an extremely frightening name that shouldn't exist in this world appeared in her soul.

"Daylight Devour, Lightless Eternal Night… Illusory… Devil Tome… of Eternal Night…?!"

"Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night?" Percy was instantly stunned. "That's the profound art Luke is using? Could it be that you've seen this kind of strange profound art in your world?"

"I have not seen it… or I should say, no one should have ever seen it in the entire primal chaos dimension!"

Artemis's voice was low, but Percy could clearly feel how severely shocked this made her feel. And what she had said also mystified Percy even more.

"Don't get distracted!" Artemis's suddenly yelled, "I still cannot confirm whether or not that is the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night. No matter what you do today, you must defeat him! If you can't, I will take care of it personally… I need to know all of the secrets of this person!"

Artemis's tone of voice was so serious that it alarmed Percy. He stopped asking questions—now was not the time to push for answers. He immediately focused his mind and the profound strength of his whole body started becoming agitated. The expression of his eyes changed back to the disdain from before as he spoke neither too fast or too slow, "Attack me. Don't forget that I only gave you eight hours. Let me see if you really have the ability to kill me, or if you're still merely a condescending, weak piece of garbage!"

The darkness continued to spread. Percy then realized that a huge, dark whirlpool had suddenly appeared behind Luke. The dark whirlpool was expanding. Its blackness was incredibly pure, as though it was a black hole that could swallow anything in the world.

"Careful! This is a Dark Domain! You must either use all of your strength to rip it open or escape as soon as possible!" Artemis said in a low voice. Originally, she didn't care too much when Percy had arranged a battle with Luke. She was only interested to know what kind of "despicable and shameless" methods Percy would use to win when faced with a great difference in strength.

But now, being enraged, Luke was using all of his strength. It made Artemis feel a severe shock in her mind and soul that she had never experienced before.

"Die!"

The whites of Luke's eyes disappeared completely as they became pitch-black. The black sword in his hand was thrust out in midair, and as it descended, countless pillars of pitch-black water shot up from below. The dark whirlpool of energy behind him produced a tearing noise that sounded like the cry of a thousand birds as it hurtled towards Percy like an enormous sky-devouring devil, as if it wanted to swallow him up in deep and boundless darkness.

"Moonlight Flash!"

The pitch-black sword beams that tore open space itself and the shroud of darkness descending from above were filled with an extremely grim aura of danger. Percy's body blurred, and five afterimages shot out in five different directions as he instantly avoided Luke's jet black sword beams. After that, his body ignited with Phoenix flames as he soared into the sky, unleashing the Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing.  
The burning Phoenix flames were especially luminous and harsh in the midst of the darkened world. Phoenix flames rushed outwards as it forcibly tore a scarlet trench through the enormous Dark Domain. By the time Percy's body had come to a stop, he was already one kilometer away from his original location. He extended an arm, and to his astonishment, he saw that his clothes had become riddled with holes!

Not only did the darkness that had engulfed the entire space have the ability to swallow light, it would also consume his flesh every second he spent beneath it. Even more frightening was that it also had the effect of heavily suppressing one's soul. Percy possessed the Dragon God's Soul, so this kind of pressure did little to affect him. However, if another person were facing Luke, even if they had the same level of profound strength as him, that person would feel ill at ease in this shroud of darkness. Their chest would feel constricted and painful, and if they spent enough time in this darkness, their mind might actually collapse under the strain.

The Phoenix flames surrounding Percy's body flared up. The boiling flames surrounded his entire body blocked the corrosive effect of the dark profound energy. His arms casually crossed over his chest, and he did not even spare Luke a single look as he spoke calmly, "Tsk tsk! It was such a grand display of might that I expected an attack capable of shaking both the heavens and the earth, but to think that it couldn't even harm a single hair on my head… Trash!"

"Uuaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The pitch-black whirlpool behind Luke suddenly exploded. Dark and sinister profound energy surged forth like a tidal wave as it raised an enormous wave of water more than three kilometers high. At the same instant, a furious roar that seemed to have come from the very depths of hell rang out among surging waves that were rushing into the sky.

"Night Devil Heaven Burial!"

Darkness broke through the heavens, and for a moment, Percy's entire field of vision was engulfed in darkness… it was as if the entire sky had been completely and utterly buried by the darkness!

It was truly a power that could bury the heavens!

Percy's pupils contracted slightly, but his expression remained calm and unperturbed. He did not dare to relax for even an instant as the darkness in front of him threatened to overthrow the heavens. Space began to distort severely under the erosion of the darkness. Both of his eyes widened as he stared at the approaching darkness. He immediately used Extreme Mirage Lightning to retreat backwards swiftly, yet he still could not escape the world of darkness that was vast enough to bury the heavens. The moment the darkness engulfed Percy's body, his eyes flashed as the Poseidon's Barrier instantly opened.

"Eternal Hurricane: Seal!"

The space around them tore as easily as drenched paper. In an instant, more than ten small islands were obliterated. The surface of the darkened ocean fell by nearly three kilometers, and countless marine animals were exterminated the moment they came into contact with that aura of death.

Under the effects of Eternal Sealing Hurricane, even the darkness that had the power to bury the heavens was unable to actually bury Percy. The Poseidon Barrier twisted and distorted, but in the end, it did not collapse. Percy poured all of his energy into supporting Eternal Sealing Hurricane as all the Phoenix flames around his body flared up to their greatest magnitude. It was as if his entire body had sunk into a swampy darkness, but he was still moving at an extremely fierce and peerless speed….

Bang!

Following a clear, resonating Phoenix cry, the world of darkness was violently split apart by a beam of flame. The moment Percy escaped the enshrouding darkness, the Poseidon Barrier completely collapsed, but there was not even a single a scratch on his body. He fled far away before letting out a wild and reckless laugh, "Hahahahaha! Luke, don't tell me that this is all you've got? You're so weak that it's simply hilarious! Hahahaha!"

Percy might have been laughing outwardly, but he was actually astonished and alarmed inside. The profound art Luke used was extremely unique, and he had never come into contact with it in either of his two lives. When he was swallowed by that darkness that could blot out the sky and cover the earth, he was sure that if he had failed to use Eternal Sealing Hurricane in time, he would have definitely received serious injuries all over his body within a matter of seconds!

Even his soul might have been harmed!

Right now, Percy was confident that he could forcibly endure the Attack of the dragon who was also at the Level Nine Warrior!

Yet Luke's dark profound energy… Percy barely fended it off even with the help of Eternal Sealing Hurricane, so he could definitely imagine what the result would have been if he had taken that attack directly!

Percy's body was ablaze, and he flickered brilliantly in the world of darkness that had devoured all light. As such, Luke did not even need to use his spiritual perception to find Percy; he could lock onto his position almost instantly. He had seen Percy being swallowed up by the "Night Devil Heaven Burial" with his own two eyes, yet with the same pair of eyes he had also seen Percy escape from within the darkness. He could hardly see a scratch left by the corrosive darkness on Percy's entire body…

Percy's profound energy aura was only at the Early Level Eight!

And Luke himself was already at the Peak of Level Nine! He had exceeded Percy by almost two entire realms! Destroying him should have been as easy as scattering dust!

Yet, what he was truly unable to accept or believe was that… he had clearly used all his power to attack, but he had not even managed to harm his opponent at all! Instead, the only thing he received in return was the grating laughter and contemptuous disdain of his opponent.

In his state of extreme shock and humiliation, Luke's hate and killing intent once again soared dramatically as he became the embodiment of carnage and vengeance. The jet black sword in his hand swiftly pierced towards Percy.

As the jet black sword swept an arc in front of Percy's body, space shattered like glass. Aside from the grating sound of space being torn apart, Percy could also faintly hear something that sounded like the wailing of evil spirits.

Ocean waves surged into the sky as pitch-black sword beams flashed in nightmarish splendor, wildly sweeping towards Percy. Every single sword beam left a black scar in the air that did not dissipate until a long while later.

Percy combined Moonlight Flash and Extreme Mirage Lightning as he received Luke's attacks. Sometimes he was an afterimage, other times he was a tempest, completely dodging every single one of Luke's attacks. However, the waves of dark profound energy still swept across his body after every attack, causing his body and mind to undergo incomparable suffering… Fortunately for Percy, it was still within the limit of what he could endure. After all, even though his profound strength was low, he still possessed the Body of the Dragon God and the Dragon God's Soul!

At the same time, his Phoenix flames and Golden Crow flames could counteract this dark profound energy to a certain degree…but Percy himself was currently unaware of it.

"Die! Die! Dieeeee! I am going to rip your body to shreds!"

The dark profound energy in the sky swiftly gathered into rolling clouds of darkness. As they roiled, they released an aura which evoked a feeling that the end of the world was imminent. Amidst Luke's hoarse cries, the dark aura of the entire Dark Domain was frantically released, sweeping out in a gigantic wave that threatened to engulf everything and swiftly becoming a terrifying storm of darkness…

In an instant, the surrounding space was easily torn apart as it collapsed and shattered, causing spatial energy to wildly surge outwards from the rifts in space. This energy melded with the storm of darkness, becoming an even more terrifying pitch-black cyclone that swept towards Percy.

Even when this dark whirlwind was still more than three hundred meters away, Percy could already smell the thick stench of hell coming from it. As his eyes focused, he prepared to use Extreme Mirage Lightning to swiftly flee away from this attack. However, the ripping force of that dark whirlwind was extremely terrifying; not only did it prevent him from fleeing, it even forcefully drew him towards it.

Riiipppp!

All the clothes on Percy's body were ripped to shreds. His pupils fiercely contracted and he did not hesitate any longer. He instantly opened the gate of "Purgatory" as he used Eternal Sealing Hurricane once more.

Scree!

The dark cyclone smashed against the Poseidon Barrier, sweeping Percy away along with it. In an instant, he had already been swept several kilometers away… and the shattering spatial distortion continued for several kilometers as well. A pitch-black streak of darkness stretched across the distorted space, and it only slowly dissipated after more than ten breaths had passed.

When the dark cyclone had finally ceased wreaking havoc, Eternal Sealing Hurricane had completely collapsed as well. All the energy and blood in Percy's body surged wildly. He fiercely sucked in a breath of air as he forcibly suppressed the energy and blood that raged inside his body. After that, he crooked a finger towards the mutely staring Luke once again. "Continue! It has almost been fifteen minutes already, and I have only been defending. I haven't attacked even once, yet you're actually unable to leave a single mark on my body. Before this, you were crowing so arrogantly, but who would have thought that… Tsk!"

"UUAAAAAAAAHH!" Luke cried hysterically before he morphed into a black shadow and shot towards Percy. Before he even arrived, a giant, pitch-black hand had already descended from the sky and fiercely grabbed at Percy's head…

At this moment, if one were to look down at the Profound Sky Eastern Ocean from far above, then they would see a gigantic jet black shadow appear in the middle of the Eastern Ocean Region. Moreover, at the borders of that shadow, huge waves soared skyward as they roiled and surged without ceasing.

"Ah, so that's how it is…."

Right now, Artemis had completely understood what method Percy had chosen to deal with Luke even though his strength was inferior.

Percy decided to focus solely on defense for a very long time, so Luke would exhaust most of his profound energy. Once Luke's strength was nearly exhausted, Percy would counterattack with all of his might.

This kind of "tactic"… if used by another person, could not even be called a " tactic" anymore. Not to mention opponents who were stronger, even if one were to fight someone at the same strength or even someone slightly weaker, not only would this "tactic" not succeed, it would also put one's self in an inferior position. As the battle progressed, one would be completely suppressed by their opponent, not even having the chance to counterattack.

Only Percy alone could make this tactic work.

Furthermore, when facing someone like Luke, the chances of it successfully working would dramatically increase.

Since Percy possessed both the Moonlight Flash and Extreme Mirage Lightning, even though his profound strength was nowhere near Luke's, his ability to dodge and flee was far superior. Therefore, he could easily dodge Luke's attacks, causing the latter to waste his energy. When Percy could not avoid an attack, he could forcibly defend against it by activating Eternal Sealing Hurricane for a short period of time.

On the other hand, Luke had an extremely strong ego, causing him to have an extremely arrogant and conceited temperament. Because of that, he was easily agitated! Under the influence of Percy's ceaseless taunts, Luke would continue to burn with fury and be overcome with killing intent. Every time he attacked, Luke would not hesitate to use all of his power, all for the sake of defeating and even killing Percy within the shortest amount of time. Furthermore, Luke was suffering under the divine retribution because he practiced the devil arts, so even though his profound strength had undergone an explosive growth, his battle experience, finesse, and state of mind was still far inferior to Percy's. The more his attacks failed, the more frustrated he would grow, provoking him to continue putting all of his power into every strike…

This was exactly what Percy had spoken about…. Luke's "weakness in his personality".

Moreover, the energy consumption of Moonlight Flash and Extreme Mirage Lightning was extremely small, and even though Eternal Sealing Hurricane did use an enormous amount of energy, Percy would only activate it when he needed to, so his total consumption of energy was far lower than that of Luke who kept pouring everything into his attacks.

Aside from all of these factors, one important point was left unspoken:

And that was… Percy's physical recovery rate and profound energy recovery rate… were far superior to Luke's!

With the power of the Rage God and the Body of the Dragon God, his physical recovery rate and profound energy recovery rate was at least five times greater than that of Luke's!

Not to mention, as long as he stood in the ocean, he would always have the upper hand.

So, as long as Percy did not sustain injuries that were too serious, it was impossible for ordinary injuries to affect him in any way.

Furthermore, as the exhaustion of Luke's profound energy intensified, his attacks would naturally begin to weaken, so the pressure Percy had to endure would also gradually become weaker and weaker as time passed… In the end, his recovery rate might very well exceed the rate at which he was consuming energy!

At that point, he would begin his counter-assault against Luke.

This "tactic" was something that simply could not be seen through, because no one would think that a person with a profound strength far weaker than them would possess such a terrifying recovery ability. If normal profound practitioners attempted to do so, it would be no different from courting death. At the same time, it was also very difficult to put it into practice… because the moment the other party stopped attacking, this tactic would fail. There were very few people who were so stubborn and single-minded that they would continue to attack at full force even after wasting a large amount of profound energy on failed attacks.

But an extremely arrogant person like Luke was clearly an exception to the rule.

Just as Percy had predicted, in his rage and agitation, Luke unleashed all of his profound strength as he frantically threw out one dark profound energy attack after another. Hand of Darkness, Jet Black Sword, Lightless Eternal Night, Night Devil Heaven Burial… Every single attack he made was done using all of his strength, hate, and killing intent; he did not hold anything back. Not only did the gigantic ocean region turn pitch-black, but it had also been stirred up so much that it was completely overturned. Yet Percy had continuously used his bizarre movement skills and his incomparably strong defensive profound skills to dodge or block those attacks.

Under the relentless torrent of attacks, Percy's clothes had already been torn to shreds and innumerable wounds which radiated black light had appeared all over his body… but, in the end, Percy had not sustained a single injury that could severely impair him.

All Luke received in return was Percy's contempt and derision… mocking Luke's overestimation of himself and how "he was nothing more than that".

The explosive growth in profound strength that caused Luke to leap from the Level One to the Peak of Ninth Level had naturally caused his self-esteem to surge explosively. Now, facing someone that he had to kill, the self-confidence and pride that had swelled countless times were swiftly being ground into dust. Given his extremely strong ego, the feeling that he endured right now was even more unbearable than the feeling he endured when he was planted firmly below Percy's foot.

Even more unbearable was that, from beginning to end, Percy had done as he had said… he had not retaliated at all!

It was clear that he had no regard for Luke in the first place!

"DIEEEEE!"

As Luke emitted a hoarse roar, kilometers of the ocean region around him instantly exploded outwards as water filled the sky. The boom akin to rolling thunder could be heard in Hope City that was several hundred kilometers away…

"Die!"

Boom—

Booooom—

Boom boom boom—

Continuous sounds of explosions reached Hope City from the far east. Even though it was extremely far away, it was still so overwhelming that it made the hearts of the people so uncomfortable that they felt as if there were going to burst. If you told the people of Hope City that this was the sound of two people fighting each other three hundred kilometers away, absolutely no one would believe it.

This incredibly overwhelming sound of explosions was not only frequent, it continued for two entire hours and did not stop at all. Many citizens of Hope City went to the east side of the city to try and find its source by looking to the east.

Ssss!

Ssss!

Two long, pitch-black fissures appeared on Percy's afterimage. Each slash of Luke's attack were accompanied by an icy dark profound energy. Yet after slashing over ten times like a fierce storm, all he had hit were Percy's afterimages. When the last attack landed, the waves were slashed open harshly, but Percy's figure got further away.

"Uuaahhhhh!"

The waves surged. A huge, pitch-black profound energy storm caused the clouds to change color, and it charged towards Percy with a fearful aura. Percy focused his gaze, crossed his arms before his chest, and roared deeply…

Bang!

The dark profound energy storm violently collided with Percy's body, sending him tumbling away. A giant, three kilometer long reef was sent flying into the air from directly below Percy. Before it could land, it was immediately turned into a fine powder within the energy storm.

Percy purposely didn't defend. His body was shot three or four kilometers away by the shock of the dark profound energy. When he stopped, he looked at his arms… the ends of his arms had been burnt black. There was no bleeding or pain… he couldn't even feel his skin and flesh!

Whoosh!

Phoenix flames ignited on his arms, dispersing the strange, pitch-black darkness in the blink of an eye and revealing his flesh which had previously been shrouded… The speed at which his body regenerated had already surpassed the limit of what should have been possible.

"Luke, it's been three hours! You've really disappointed me! Hahahahaha…"

Percy laughed wildly, but not a single part of his body had relaxed. Every time there was a gap between Luke's attacks, Percy would mercilessly ridicule him as if only he himself was a truly strong practitioner. He teased and humiliated his opponent as if he were a cat playing with a mouse. However, in his heart, Percy knew that the actual situation was not like that.

As time passed, Luke became increasingly irritated. His roars had long since become hoarse, and the dark profound energy released by his body had already become a lot weaker. Nonetheless, his attacks were still incomparably fierce. Every strike was made with no care for his own life… His entire person had become an enraged madman. The only image within his blood-red eyes was Percy's figure! His mind and soul only had one thought, and that was to kill Percy!

Ssss!

A thirty meter long sword beam horizontally sliced out, savagely and ruthlessly tearing through the sky. Percy's figure swayed slightly, then suddenly reappeared above the surface of the ocean a hundred and fifty meters below. A quiet sigh suddenly exited his mouth as he watched Luke roar and charge at him yet again.

Just based on profound energy, Luke indeed completely surpassed him. If he fought with him head to head, even though he would not necessary be defeated in a short amount of time, he would definitely lose.

But Luke was just too naive.

And his temperament was far too extreme.

He was the Head of the Shadow Association!. As the Shadow Association's young master, he naturally wouldn't have experienced such mockery. Ever since he had become powerful, he had been revered. But the mocking of Percy reminded him of all those times the rich family had mocked him when he was a servant.

Moreover, after he acquired the powerful dark profound energy, he had yet to encounter an opponent who could match him.

As for Percy, not only did he have the experience from two lifetimes, he had also experienced many life and death battles. Earlier, Luke had roared that he had "gone through hell," but all of the things that Percy had suffered through were things that even Luke would never be able to imagine.

Therefore, even though his strength surpassed Percy, it didn't mean… that he was be able to beat Percy!  
In his past life, there had been many with strength far beyond Percy's. Yet a countless number of them had ended up falling at Percy's hand anyway!

"Looks like we didn't need eight hours at all," Percy spoke in a low voice. He focused his mind and used all of his strength to deal with Luke who was closing the distance to him like a beast.

Hope City, Thunder Dragon Clan.

Frank was floating in the air, looking to the east silently. To normal citizens of Hope City, the explosive bursting and ripping sounds were just strange sounds in the distance, but he knew that, behind every sound, shocking power was hidden.

"The fight has been going on for four whole hours," Frank lowered his eyebrows and said in a low voice. "Brother Percy was even able to withstand the phoenix nirvana… to think that the strength of that young Luke had actually reached such a shocking degree!"

"Dear Calypso… don't worry. Nothing will happen to Percy. Even if he can't beat Luke, he can use the movement skill you taught him and come back immediately," Aphrodite continuously comforted Calypso… because Calypso's aura had been chaotic this entire time. Her expression had yet to relax for a moment, and her face was filled with worry, terror, and fear. Her forehead had also become covered with a fine layer of sweat.

Calypso's hands had been gripping Aphrodite's snow robe very tightly. She begged once again, "Sister, please bring me over there… I am so worried, I…"

"Percy, he… he will definitely be safe," Aphrodite said, comforting her. Then she bit her lips softly. In her heart, she was not any less worried than Calypso. On top of that, she had heard Percy himself say that… he was not an opponent for Luke.

"Nothing bad can happen to my Percy. He even saved me twice! If he was killed by Luke, I will never have any peace of mind again… I must go and stop them… They have already fought for so long, it's enough!"

Calypso's voice trembled as she began to panic. The sounds coming from the east clearly described just how cruel and violent the fight of hatred had become. It was probable that the battle between Luke and Percy would only stop when one of them died.

If Percy died, she would no longer want to live. But she feared that he was weak before Luke.

"But… but I promised Percy. I need to listen to Percy's words," Aphrodite panicked and shook her head.

At this moment, the oppressive sounds of explosive combat from the east suddenly stopped. Even after a long time, it didn't resume. The faint oppressive force they felt, from the battle that was hundreds of kilometers away, had even disappeared at this time.

"Ah? Is it finally… over?" Frank said in a low voice, and at the same time everyone's expressions became serious.

Since the fight had lasted a full four hours, it was impossible for them to predict just how tragic the outcome would be.

Aphrodite hurriedly picked up her sound transmission jade and asked in a very nervous tone, "Percy! are you okay? Did you beat him?"

Each breath after the transmission felt suffocating as they waited for a response. However, Percy's voice quickly transmitted back.

"Rest assured, I am fine. After all, there's no way anything would happen to me. You all don't need to worry at all… I will return in another two hours at most…"  
Percy's voice was very relaxed and full of confidence. A faint chuckle could seemingly be heard as well.

At that instant, everyone felt relieved.

A.N.: yeah, Percy dodging like a boss! No long note today, just review and Pm that's all.


	20. Percy Vs The Demon King

**Third Arc: Percy Vs The Demon King**

 _-Eastern Ocean-_

Percy slowly put away his sound transmission jade, then coldly looked at Luke in front of him. Percy's hair had become completely disheveled, and there were no longer any clothes covering his body. Other than the corners of his mouth, no blood was visible on his body. However, his body was covered in black marks from where his flesh had been charred. He was breathing heavily… but he was in far better condition than Luke.

Luke had stopped attacking, but his eyes were still wolflike. His chest intensely heaved up and down as if it could explode at any time. The aura surrounding his body was much weaker than it was at the beginning, but the despair, violence, coldness, and killing intent still remained.

"You… are… purposely… consuming my… strength!" A bloody light flashed through Luke's pitch-black pupils.

Luke was proud and self confident. Furthermore, he held extreme hatred and murderous intent for Percy. Thus, it had been very easy for Percy to enrage him and cause him to attack in a wild rage. As he attacked and failed, it had only made him even more angry… These four hours, he had madly attacked Percy constantly, and the profound energy surrounding his body had decreased by more than sixty percent!

As for Percy… his profound energy had decreased by less than thirty percent!

The sword strike just now had churned up huge waves in a three kilometer radius. When the cold seawater descended, it had drenched Luke's entire body, shocking him as the chill assaulted his mind. However, this had also cleared up his mind, causing him to suddenly realize Percy's true intention.

Percy remained calm as he said with smile, "Right. In the end, you managed to see through it after all. However, it took you a full four hours of battle to realize this, you truly cannot be considered intelligent."

Luke scoffed, and the pitch-black sword in his hands made terrifying sounds, "The current you is just garbage that must die! No matter what mind games you use today, you can stop thinking about leaving here alive!"

"My, my, looks like even saying you are not intelligent is flattering you." Percy's expression was a relaxing, slight smile, "I only defended without attacking during these four hours of your continuous attacks, but I am not dead and they didn't cause a serious injury. Even an idiot should understand by now that, with my movement skill and speed, you wanting to kill me now… is simply foolish nonsense!"

Earlier, when Luke had gone entirely the offensive, his strength and momentum had both been frightening, but Percy now had Luke completely figured out. Luke's movement skills and speed were undeniably at least level below him!

Long before this battle, Percy had decided to use this method to deal with Luke. He believed in his superior movement skills and speed and hoped that they would give him an advantage… Currently, it seemed that not only did this advantage exist, it was also greater than he had expected.

Now that Luke had noticed it, he naturally couldn't continue doing so. Percy also had never any intention of remaining on the defense without any sort of retaliation either.

Clang!

Red light flickered, and the Heaven Smiting Sword was in Percy's hands once again. At that instant, under the incomparably tyrannical aura of the sword, the ocean's waves and howling wind died down, as if they had been frozen still. An indifferent smile emerged on Percy's face as he coldly sneered and said in a low voice, "Not only that, today, the one who will not be leaving here alive… is you!"

"You want to engage him head on?" Artemis asked softly. "Even though he has already exhausted more than half of his profound energy, it probably hasn't dropped to the level of your expectations. If the present you wants to forcibly engage him in direct combat, it is still too much to ask."

"It doesn't matter," Percy said in an assured manner. "Even though his profound strength is absurdly powerful, he still hasn't been able to gain full mastery over this new power. Furthermore, the rate that he is exhausting his profound energy is clearly far higher than normal. Before this, I only defended without attacking, yet he practically hurt himself from the backlash of his attacks a few times… it appears his hatred has drowned out his rationality. He was too anxious for success and he focused only on getting stronger, neglecting to take time to stabilize himself."

Luke's explosive increase in profound energy was due to him absorbing and fusing with what Artemis called the "devil origin" and was not something that he had gained through his own cultivation. Moreover, he had only had a short period of time to increase his power, so it was clear that his body had not completely merged with the Devil Origin yet. As a result, he had yet to obtain complete mastery over his new power.

"Oh, so you've already noticed this…" Artemis said blandly.

"Coupled with my weapon's superiority and the weakness in his personality… even if he still has nearly forty percent of his power left, there is still a possibility that I can defeat him in direct combat!"

Holding the Heaven Smiting Sword in a two handed grip, Percy made a normal arc through the air with the sword. In a split second, the ocean beneath Percy's feet churned as waves exploded out and an extremely heavy and overwhelmingly tyrannical aura shot out over an area that was hundreds of kilometers wide. All of the ocean life in the area curled up in terror. It was as though they had been fixed in place, for they didn't dare move an inch.

In that instant, it seemed as if an ancient demon god had suddenly descended from above, enshrouding the earth in its terrible majesty.

Luke's pupils suddenly contracted, his cold gaze forcibly drawn then locked onto the vermilion greatsword in Percy's hands. Percy's aura did not create the least bit of pressure for him at all, but the moment that vermilion greatsword appeared in Percy's hands, he could clearly feel an oppressive and stifling sensation.

Furthermore, as he focused his gaze on that sword, his energy was suddenly thrown into turmoil as an horribly unpleasant sensation filled his entire body. This sensation did not fade as he circulated his profound energy, instead seeming to intensify for some reason. It reached the point where it was so unbearable that it as if something was viciously ripping his organs and soul apart.

Luke's face twisted violently and he abruptly turned his gaze aside. Immediately, the unbearable feeling began to lessen; however, his discomfort still remained.

The difference between the time when he had first met her on the Primordial Profound Ark and the current Hong'er who had pigged out recently was simply incomparable. The power of the Heaven Smiting Sword was completely different as well. It had even begun to radiate a faint aura of majesty and power capable of "shaking the heavens and the earth."

However, this change was not entirely a good thing for Percy as the Heaven Smiting Sword's rate of growth had already far outstripped his own growth rate. Furthermore, he had recently been pouring all of his time and effort into practicing the Extreme Mirage Lightning and had not touched the Heaven Smiting Sword in nearly a months. So now that he held the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hands, he instead felt an extremely large strain… it even felt as though he might lose his grip on it.

Just how many things had Hong'er stolen to eat during this month?!

Could it be that… she had actually snacked on one of the Overlord swords?!

And even if one did not take into account the peerless sword power of the Heaven Smiting Sword, the sword imparted the feeling that it was as heavy as a mountain. Percy's conservative estimate was that the Heaven Smiting Sword was at least five hundred thousand kilograms!

Percy's expression remained completely calm, and his posture was that of someone confident in their victory. He had taken notice of Luke's bizarre reaction when the Heaven Smiting Sword had made its appearance. He had some suspicions regarding that reaction, however he did not take them to heart. "This sword's full name is the 'Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword', so let me bear witness to how long you can endure its presence!"

And immediately after Percy spoke, he let out a low roar. Flames burned high in the sky as the Heaven Smiting Sword struck downwards… Given his profound energy being far from the depth and thickness of Luke's and the huge amount of energy exhausted holding the current Heaven Smiting Sword, he could not afford to tarry any longer.

It was a straightforward attack without any flourish or profound skill yet it held all of the power in Percy's body. The oppressive power of the attack was so large that it seemed like there was a mountain crashing down from the sky.

Luke's gaze grew cold and focused as he released a black light that was even darker than the darkest of nights from every orifice of his body. The sword in his hand was also fully wrapped in black light. An alarmingly wild and violent dark profound energy crazily surged from the sword, releasing an awful screech as it tore through space to meet the oncoming Heaven Smiting Sword.

Clashing directly with a heavy sword was definitely not a smart move… In fact, it could even be called an extremely stupid move.

But, even if Luke had been aware of this, he still would have made the same decision anyway.

All because of his strong pride and ego!

And this was exactly the "weakness in his personality" that Percy had spoken of.

Clang!

Both swords smashed together and the sound of metal on metal ripped through the clouds as it shook the skies and ocean. The waters below instantly morphed into a hellish disaster zone that made ordinary hurricanes seem tame. Hundreds of gigantic waves screamed to life as they surged towards the heavens.

Amidst the gargantuan churning waves, the clash between the scarlet red and the pitch-black light was still extremely glaring and obvious. At the point where the lights intersected, the two swords were still locked in a deadly struggle. The flaming Heaven Smiting Sword still radiated its divine might while the black sword in Luke's hand, despite being already bent like a crescent moon, refused to break as it endured the attack of the Heaven Smiting Sword.

The gazes of both parties swept past their blades as they glared at each other, their faces not more than a meter away from each other. One's face was calm while the other's was ice-cold… However,in their hearts, they were filled with shock and alarm.

Percy was astonished that Luke, who had already exhausted most of his profound energy and only had the Emperor Profound black sword, had able to actually block an attack that he had delivered at full force with the Heaven Smiting Sword. Furthermore, with the support of his incomparably powerful profound strength, the sword had not even snapped.

Meanwhile, Luke was even more shocked that Percy, who only had the aura of Emperor Profound Realm practitioner, could actually take a strike from his sword at full strength as well!

The black sword in Luke's hand was originally an Earth sword. However, in the years where Luke's strength had grown by leaps and bounds, this Earth sword had undergone a fundamental change under the influence of the dark profound energy that he had been releasing. And in the short span of a few years, it had absorbed a large amount of dark profound energy, resulting in it growing into a low-grade Emperor Sword.

While an Emperor Profound Sword could be considered a monarch of swords within the Hope City and it would even still be considered an exquisite treasure among the swords of the Gaia Continent, if it were to go up against Percy's Heaven Smiting Sword… Without a shadow of doubt, Percy had the absolute advantage when it came to weapons!

And despite this fact, Luke was still able to fully block Percy's attack. So it was clear that even though his profound energy had been largely exhausted, he definitely still surpassed Percy in terms of strength.

Luke's eyes grew so sinister that they looked like the eyes of a feral, bloodthirsty wolf. The black light surrounding his body fiercely swelled up once more… It was at this moment, however, that he suddenly felt the dark profound energy in his body riot, as if it had received some kind of trauma. Not only did the black light surrounding his sword fail to flare up, it even began to abruptly twist and warp in the air. As it was twisting and warping, bits of the black light began to disappear as though being silently swallowed an invisible black hole.

The pressure coming off Luke suddenly weakened. Percy's eyes grew focused as the Golden Crow flames in his body explosively surged forth while he swept the Heaven Smiting Sword forward once again. Luke let out a dull moan as a huge force rammed into his chest, ruthlessly flinging aside his sword arm. His body shook in the wind like a leaf as he was blasted far away.

"Oh?"

Percy had been concentrating his heart and mind, so he had not noticed the changes in Luke's dark profound energy. But Artemis had witnessed the whole event and a strange light immediately flashed in the depths of her eyes.

The deadlock between the two evenly-matched opponents had lasted for only a short period of time and was broken when Luke could no longer maintain the pressure. This was the first instance where both parties had officially clashed, but Luke, who had the absolute advantage in profound strength, was sent flying by Percy, who now had the absolute advantage in weaponry.

Percy also felt greatly shocked that he had been able to gain the upper hand so easily. He gave a cold laugh and lifted up the Heaven Smiting Sword as he rushed forward like a maelstrom. "Luke, it looks like you're really not much after all… let's see how many blows you can take!"

Luke somersaulted backwards in the air many times before he finally managed to stabilize himself in the air. The heavy sword storm that Percy had smashed out was no small thing. Even though Luke had only been smashed aside by the sword wind, it had caused all the blood and energy in his body to churn, practically causing his internal organs to flip over… Normally this would only have been a trivial injury to him. Even if he received an injury that was ten times worse, he would not even raise an eyebrow. But this time, for some unfathomable reason, that weird, unpleasant sensation surfaced again, causing him to feel dizzy and nauseous.

Percy roared as he drew close and smashed down the Heaven Smiting Sword, carrying with it the aura of a mountain, once again. Luke's pupils released a blood red light as all of the dark profound energy in his body exploded forth crazily…

Clang!

The immense energy storm swept out in all directions and a spatial ripple that was a full thirty meters wide spread out from the epicenter of the clash. The Heaven Smiting Sword once again clashed with the black sword. This time the black sword was nearly bent into a black-colored full moon. The sword blade quivered as it let out a shrill that was reminiscent of wailing ghosts.

The clash between both swords, once again, did not persist. After a fraction of a second, the power of the black sword swiftly receded once more.

Boom!

The flames and the black light simultaneously exploded, both people being shot out in opposite directions. Percy simply flipped in the air before regaining control over his balance, yet Luke still flew far into the distance. The black sword in his hand had already been bent to an alarming angle and it had been nearly snapped altogether.

Percy, who had already regained his balance, did not give the disadvantaged Luke a chance to even catch his breath. He activated Extreme Mirage Lightning and his body morphed into a black-colored streak of lightning as the Heaven Smiting Sword fiercely smashed down once again, carrying with it the howl of thunder.

Clank!

Boom!

Boom!

It was as if the hammer of the heavens had come fiercely crashing down as horrifying ripples of sound rebounded along the ocean waves, shaking the sky.

Percy's every sword stroke caused Luke to retreat rapidly. The black sword in his hand was bent more and more out of shape with every blow, yet it never snapped. As it nearly bent in a circle from every stroke, Luke's face ran through a gamut of expressions as it twisted up, warped in pain, showing extreme discontent, malevolence…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amidst the huge noises that continued to shake the sky, Luke had been smashed five kilometers back. All of the blood and energy in his body were churning and crimson-black blood continued to spew from his mouth. From the moment Percy had unveiled the Heaven Smiting Sword, Luke had been at a complete disadvantage since the very first stroke. And he basically only had the power to fend off Percy's blows… and right now even fending off those blows were a bigger and bigger ask.

"Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash!"

Boom!

The howl of the Sky Wolf intertwined together with the cry of the Phoenix as the attack ripped through the sky. Luke shot out like a falling star as he fiercely smashed into a small reef that was several kilometers away, causing the reef to be completely obliterated. Behind him, an extremely deep trench had been dug across the surface of the ocean, and it did not disappear for a long time… it was as if this large patch of ocean had been directly cut in half.

"Cough… Cough, cough…"

Luke stood on the surface of the sea as he staggered to his feet and continued to cough out blood that was clearly darker than a normal person's….

What is going on…? What is wrong with my power…? Why would it suddenly go out of control…? Why would it suddenly disappear…?

Just what was going on…?

Behind him, a wild gale swiftly drew close. Luke stubbornly forced down a mouthful of stale blood. As he turned around, he exuded a baleful aura which rushed out to the heavens. The first thing he looked at was not Percy, but the gigantic vermilion greatsword that was almost as big as Percy's body. Immediately, all the blood and energy in his body began to frantically churn once again, and the unbearable sensation of his soul getting stabbed once again assaulted him.

In that instant, he finally noticed something…

It was Percy's sword!

That bizarre unpleasant sensation he had felt always occurred when his gaze or power had come into contact with that sword!

It was precisely when his own sword had come into contact with Percy's sword that his profound energy suddenly spiralled out of control and disappeared as if it had been devoured!

That sword… is actually able to restrain my power!?

Clouds could not be seen for kilometers on end and the skies were completely clear. Yet anyone in Hope City would be able to see a heavy layer of darkness hovering in the skies to the east of them. It was so gloomy that it threatened to sink straight down, and if one were to look at it, it would cause that person's chest to feel heavy and tight.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The never-ending sound of explosions rang out from the east, and each explosion sounded heavier than the last… One could even feel an incredibly intense and frenzied aura emanating from there.

"It started again." Grandholme muttered under his breath as an astonished expression surfaced on his face once again.

"Aphrodite!" Calypso's heart simply could not remain calm, and the explosions that continued to ring out were more than she could bear. Both of her hands tightly gripped Aphrodite's snowy sleeve. "Hurry up and bring me there! They really can't continue fighting any longer. Percy is there!. If anything happens to him of them, I won't be able to live it down for the rest of my life! Aphrodite… I'm begging you, please bring me there. Please!"

"But… but… Aphrodite's heart was also agitated and anxious, and she had nearly been seized by the impulse to rush out to the battleground more than ten times already.

"Aphrodite, the reason why Percy does not want me close by is that he is afraid that he might hurt me by accident. If Aphrodite is there to protect me, then there won't be a problem no matter how close I get. Furthermore… Aphrodite, you're also very worried for Percy, right? Since they've already fought for so long, it has truly been enough already. If they continue to fight each other, what if… what if…"

Aphrodite's already wavering resolve completely collapsed in that instant. Without even mentioning the need to protect Calypso from the aftershocks of the clashes, if Percy and Luke combined their powers and attacked Aphrodite, she would still be able to protect Calypso given her current level of strength. "I… I understand. Little Sister, you must remember to hold onto me tightly."

Aphrodite gave a gentle wave of her snowy hand, causing Calypso's body to rise above the ground. A gust of fragrant wind blew as she shot towards the dark patch of sky in the east as quickly as possible.

—

"His aura suddenly started fluctuating, almost as if he lost some control over himself. It looks like the negative side-effect of forcibly merging with an exceedingly strong source of devil profound energy was more severe than I thought… or perhaps I thought too highly of him in the first place?"

Percy hauled the Heaven Smiting Sword behind him as he swiftly rushed toward Luke, who had been blasted far away. He had originally thought that, the moment he began to face Luke in direct combat, he would be drawn into a bitter, fierce battle. He never thought that he would gain such a huge advantage from the very beginning. For every clash after the first, Luke was not only completely suppressed, but his profound energy grew more and more chaotic. It also grew weaker and weaker. After he had endured more than ten sword blasts, he had sustained external and internal injuries throughout his body… and those injuries were definitely not superficial.

This entire series of events, and the subsequent result, was something that Percy had never expected to happen. He had even begun to feel that his previous caution and meticulous planning had been pointless.

"Don't drop your guard. This definitely isn't the full extent of his power! Devote all your strength to crippling him!" Artemis yelled in a low voice.

At this moment, Percy was already within sixty meters of Luke. Bringing along a power that could capsize the heavens, the Heaven Smiting Sword smashed down toward Luke.

Luke's gaze was still as crazed and ferocious as it had previously been, and the sinister black blood splattered across his face and body made him seem even more dreadful and tyrannical. As he faced Percy's terrifying and peerless heavy sword blast once more, Luke chose not to forcefully take it head on. The black light surrounding his body flashed as he unexpectedly retreated backwards.

Luke's speed could not match up to Percy's in the first place. Now that his profound energy was in complete disarray and he was heavily injured, his speed had taken a huge hit. How would it be possible for him to easily dodge Percy's attack? He barely managed to dodge Percy's first strike, but the second strike directly smashed toward his chest. He had no choice but to circulate all of the profound energy in his body as he raised his black sword to block the blow.

Boom!

Luke's body shuddered violently as the space around him trembled. It was exactly the same as it was the last few times; the profound energy he had infused into his dark blade would receive a tremendous shock each time it came into contact with the Heaven Smiting Sword, and it would dissipate swiftly like a terrified spirit. This caused the might of the heavy sword, which originally could have been resisted, to smash downward… and as another huge explosion rang through the air, his body flew like a cannonball as it fiercely shot toward the waters below.

"UUAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

In the next instant, Luke was already rushing into the air as a huge pillar of water exploded out behind him. His gaze grew even more ferocious and violent. Most of the veins in his arms had exploded and his sword hand trembled so greatly that he could barely hold on to his pitch-black sword. His face, which was covered in blood, twisted as the black-colored profound energy that his body was releasing also began to twist. At this moment, the aura he released was like that of a berserk devil who had been completely consumed by fury, only being fueled by bone-cutting hatred.

"I… was actually… this pathetic…"

"How could I… how is it possible… that I lost… to you!"

Luke let out a low moan. His voice was so hoarse and deep that it sounded like it belonged to a demon from hell.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH… Night Devil Heaven Burial!"

Luke roared mournfully as all of the black profound light surrounding his body abruptly exploded outward. A row of gigantic waves exploded toward the sky, carrying a darkness that could blot out the sky as they rushed towards Percy.

Night Devil Heaven Burial was a unique domain that operated on the concepts of darkness and devouring. When Luke had initially released it, Percy managed to struggle free of it. Now that Luke's profound energy was in a state of disarray, and he had exhausted most of it, the power of the same Night Devil Heaven Burial had weakened by several magnitudes.

The world around Percy instantly turned pitch-black, but he was not the least bit flustered by this. The Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand began to burn with the glaring flames of the Golden Crow. He fiercely slashed the air around him, and as the Heaven Smiting Sword danced wildly in the air, scarlet trenches were being torn into the newly birthed domain of darkness. In the blink of an eye, it was already ripped to shreds.

Even though the scorching Golden Crow Flames were shredding layer after layer of this domain apart, it did not suppress the darkness which shrouded the heavens and the earth. At this moment, an ice-cold aura that seemed to originate from the very depths of the netherworld itself suddenly shot toward Percy's back.

Luke had been covered by the Dark Domain, and he had even blended his aura with that of the domain, but it was still not enough to escape Percy's spiritual perception. Yet Percy did not choose to flee. Instead, he shifted his vital organs slightly as he allowed the cold light to approach him…

Bang!

A black sword that was completely shrouded in black light cut into Percy's right shoulder. The sword easily sliced through his flesh, but the moment it hit his bones, an extremely deep, dull sound of metal striking bone could be heard. Luke felt as if he had smashed his sword against a boulder that was countless times stronger than refined steel. He had originally thought that he could take one of Percy's arms with this sword strike, but now he actually could not even push his sword an inch further.

Percy's bones were infused with the Dragon God's Marrow and had been tempered by enduring the Blood of Poseidon. They could be considered the toughest and most resilient things in the entire Gaia Continent.

Furthermore, the Heaven Smiting Sword whistled through the darkness at the same time and it solidly smashed into Luke's body. A strange red light that escaped Percy's notice appeared on the vermilion sword as it burst into Luke's body along with frenzied profound energy.

Boom!

Even if it was a Luke that was at the peak of his powers, he would still sustain heavy injuries if he took a sword blast from Percy's Heaven Smiting Sword at full strength. Amidst the explosions which caused the surface of the ocean to vibrate violently, more than ten bones in Luke's chest were simultaneously shattered. His chest directly caved in as his entire person flew away like kite with a cut string and a miserable howl of pain spilled from his lips.

"UUAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The blood in Luke's chest thrashed about wildly and he briefly lost consciousness. When he came to, he felt an extremely painful sensation flooding his body and soul—it was so agonizing that he nearly wished he was dead.

"Why… did his sword… have such a terrifying might…?"

"I only suffered a single blow from his sword… but why does it hurt so much… that it seems like my very soul is being ripped to shreds…"

The extreme pain not only tore at Luke's soul, but it also intensely agitated his primal instincts. He forcefully brought his tattered body to a stop. It seemed like he did not even care about the gaping wound in his chest as all of the black light surrounding his body surged and the black energy in the surrounding area crazily gushed toward him. They formed a deep and gloomy black vortex in front of his body that resembled a black hole.

"Percy… Jackson!" Luke's hoarse voice was filled with so much pain that it no longer even resembled a human being's."I… will rip… you to shreds!"

Luke howled wildly as he rushed toward Percy, carrying the black energy vortex along with him. He was using every last bit of strength he had to bury Percy in that merciless darkness forever.

Percy did not retreat from this attack. Instead, both his arms slowly rose in the air as the flames on the Heaven Smiting Sword suddenly intensified and changed color—from a scarlet red into an eye-catching and captivating pure gold!

"Golden Annihilation!"

Despite being engulfed by the darkness, the golden-colored flames still blazed with a glaring light and was not suppressed in the slightest.

The moment the golden sword beam collided with the black whirlpool, only an extremely soft, muffled explosion could be heard. A split second later, the sinister, frightening, void-like black whirlpool was completely cut in half by those golden flames, nearly dividing in two. It was reduced to two black currents which streamed to either side of Percy's body while the golden sword beam still rocketed forward, smashing into Luke's black sword.

The black sword was not bent by the impact this time, and the golden sword beam was only stopped for a fraction of a second before cutting through the body of the black sword and brutally smashing into Luke's chest. Golden light immediately exploded outward crazily as the heavy sword energy and Golden Crow flames blasted mercilessly into Luke's body.

"WARRGGHHHHH!"

An incomparably shrill wail tore through the heavens. Luke became a figure shrouded in golden flames as he was flung far away. A large amount of blood sprayed through the air, scattering everywhere. It was a ghastly sight indeed.

Riiip…

Luke's body fell into the sea and large amounts of steam erupted from where he fell. The patch of the ocean that was more than three hundred meters wide began to boil crazily, but the fires that were scouring Luke's body still did not die out… The flames of the Golden Crow would not be so easily extinguished by mere sea water.

The two halves of the broken black sword also fell into the ocean almost at the same time, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared as well.

Pain… Indescribable pain was eating away at Luke's entire body at this moment. He felt like nearly every single cell in his body was being cut to pieces. This pain could even be compared to the pain he experienced all those years ago, during his forced absorption of the devil origin…

Despite the pain he was going through, Luke's will refused to break and he desperately released all his power in an attempt to extinguish the Golden Crow flames. It was only when he had sunk hundreds of meters that the Golden Crow flames finally weakened, but his entire body had nearly been burned beyond recognition at that point.

The physical pain he was experiencing was not even a fraction of the pain that his soul was suffering.

His body continued to sink into the ocean and his entire body hardly moved, as if it had become completely still. Yet his eyes were filled with pain, hatred, discontent and humiliation…

I clearly gained such incredible strength…

Why… am I still unable to kill him…

Why did I still lose in such an ugly, humiliating manner…

Why is it always like this…

Vengeance… the only reason for me to go on living… For the sake of vengeance, I went through hell… and paid the most disastrous price…

Could it be that I cannot even achieve… the only thing that I am living for now…

NO…

How could I… how could I… lose to him… How could I lose?!

Luke's body continued to sink into the deep waters, but he finally began to move. His right arm began to slowly rise up as a bead of jet black blood rose up from his fingertip. His eyes focused on that bead of blood and he mumbled a few words as if he were talking in his sleep, "Daylight Devour… Lightless Eternal Night…"

On the surface of the waters, Percy had not retrieved the Luke who sunk deep into the ocean. Instead he stood there, staring quiety at the water. His face solemn and grave because he was beginning to feel that something was amiss with the whole situation.

To think that he could so easily injure Luke to such a serious extent.

Even the wound on his right shoulder was taken so that he could land a heavy blow onto Luke.

The entire process was so easy that it felt rather unnatural.

When he thought about it calmly, when he had been dodging and defending, Luke's power, aura, and every single one of his dark attacks had all been peerless and terrifying. Yet the moment he had engaged Percy in hand to hand combat… his profound energy continuously grew weaker and more chaotic each time they clashed. The power of his dark attacks also continued to plunge as well.

Even if his profound energy was not stable, it should not have become this wild in such a short period of time.

So what exactly was going on?

"Be careful!" Artemis's cold voice rang out all of the sudden, "There is no way that he would be defeated so easily. Even though the wounds he has suffered are considerably heavy, he still has a measure of strength left. Furthermore, it seems as if he is planning to release all of that strength in one shot."

"Mn, I've noticed it as well." Percy said, his gaze growing more and more intense as he stared at the waters below. The Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand blazed with flames once more.

Under the blue ocean, Percy could feel that Luke had stopped sinking. Even though he was seriously wounded, the aura on him was still expanding with surprising speed… In the blink of an eye, he had actually surpassed the peak status of the profound strength he had before, and was continuing to increase with extreme speed.

At the same time, an extremely gloomy, suppressed aura spread through heaven and earth silently, as if a terrifying storm that could end the world was quietly brewing.

Percy's eyebrows also tightened more and more. Of the two strikes that hit Luke before, the first strike smashed all of the bones on his chest, and the strength of the second strike destroyed his whole body. If it was someone else, that person would've died instantly. Even though Luke was seriously injured, it wasn't enough to kill him. However, when he was knocked into the ocean, his vitality and the aura of his profound energy became incredibly weak… But it was at this moment, an unusual burst of power appeared.

Could it be… under his unwillingness, he triggered some kind of forbidden power?

As Percy was surprised by it, the ocean region below him suddenly became all pitch-black… this severe change did not happen gradually, instead, it happened in an instant. As far as the eyes could see, the huge blue ocean region had become black, a thick ink-like black. Before Percy could react, the world before his eyes also became pitch-black all of a sudden, and he could not see any trace of light anymore.

Hundred of kilometers away, Calypso brought Aphrodite and flew to the edge of the ocean region. Just as their bodies passed the edge of the ocean coast, a pitch-black world appeared before them.

"Ah!" Aphrodite and Calypso both exclaimed at the same time.

This pitch-black world was a couple hundred kilometers away, but it was as if it was right before their eyes. The region that was covered by the dark night was like a black hole that was carved into the world. The things within it were all completely swallowed, disappeared, and turned into nothingness.

A gloomy, irritating emotion shrouded Aphrodite's mind and soul. She immediately became alert, and used the profound energy to protect her heart. At the same time she transferred a large amount of energy to protect Calypso. This pitch-black color overflowed with power which possessed an aura more terrifying than anything Aphrodite had ever seen. The unsettling feeling she felt increased more than ten times. She held Calypso tight with her arms and said hastily, "Let us hurry."

Before her anxious voice faded, Calypso's whole body burned with Phoenix flames, her flying speed increased suddenly as they rushed towards the pitch-black regions like a Phoenix resurrected in fire.

Percy's surroundings had become a field of darkness. Moreover, it wasn't just normal darkness due to the absence of light as within the darkness, Percy felt as if he had been fallen into a pitch-black swamp as the air surrounding him became viscous and thick. Even simply moving a finger took many times more strength than normal. Countless oppressive, ghastly, ice-cold auras came from all directions and surged into his mind, eroding it. This kind of mind erosion was extremely terrifying. If these auras had entered the minds of others, they would already have corroded those minds with negative emotions, and perhaps even driven those people crazy. However, due to the Dragon God Soul, Percy didn't need to fear these auras for now.

"This 'Lightless Eternal Night,' one of the high level domains within the 《Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night》!" Artemis said in a serious tone, "With Luke's current ability, he can barely activate it. He might even need to pay an enormous price."

"Lightless Eternal Night?" Percy started to feel countless spooky, bone-piercing aura gush crazily towards him. Slowly, he felt like he seemed to be swallowed into the stomach of a giant monster, and would be digested into nothingness anytime.

"Everything that is covered by this domain will be swallowed whole once they are covered by this domain. Not a single trace would be left… including light!" Artemis said in a low voice, "Now that this domain has covered an entire seventy five kilometers, even if you used all your strength, you would still unable to forcefully escape from it before it completely devours you… the only thing you can do right now is to forcefully tear it open."

Even with his spiritual perception, Percy was completely unable to perceive the edges of this pitch-black domain, as if it were endless. As his surroundings became increasingly dark and viscous, the range of Percy's spiritual sense continued to decrease, and the amount of effort for each breath doubled. It reached a point where Percy began to feel a trace of despair from being trapped within this endless black hole.

"Percy… Jackson!" The sound of devilish voice wailing resonated over from the depths of the dark domain. It was none other than Luke, who had become completely twisted due to his immense hatred and enmity, "Disappear… forever!"

He could hear Luke's voice, but he wasn't able to detect where he was because this voice came from every corner of the Dark Domain. At this moment, Percy was almost suffocated and couldn't even breathe. The devouring energy shrouded his whole body and the whole world, and his protective profound energy was almost pushed to its defending limit.

As the time of the terrifying crisis became increasingly near, Percy's face remained extremely stiff, but the glint in his eyes became increasingly frosty and serene. At this time, a trace of light suddenly appeared below the corner of his eye.

A light which shouldn't have been able to appear within this dark domain.

Percy's vision was quickly redirected as he focused below him… the light wasn't a hallucination or illusion. Although it weak, it was real. Moreover, it appeared to contain a unique vermilion!

Percy was incredibly familiar with this smear of vermilion… it was the color that belonged to the Heaven Smiting Sword!

As Percy's mind willed it, in the blink of an eye, his entire body's profound energy was condensed atop the Heaven Smiting Sword. The next moment, the Heaven Smiting Sword became enveloped in burning flames. Using the Heaven Smiting Sword as a catalyst, Golden Crow flames began to blaze fiercely. An extremely intense glow of fire emerged amidst the darkness within this dark domain which had devoured all light.

The Golden Crow flames blazed atop the Heaven Smiting Sword, illuminating its blade along with Percy's face and figure. It also completely dispersed the darkness around him within a diameter of three meters. Within this seemingly endless dark domain, he had easily burned out an area of light.

After burning a hole in this area, a strange light flashed through Percy's eyes as they became focused and he sliced out in front of him with his sword.

BOOM!

A dull roar followed the trajectory of the Heaven Smiting Sword's slice as the dark space in front of Percy was viciously torn apart. A several meter long trench of blinding, blazing flames began to burn amidst the darkness in front of him, only disappearing after quite a while.

"An extremely strong aura and a similarly terrifying momentum. However, it seems… it's not that special after all."

The pressure which had been weighing on his mind suddenly lessened by several times. The feeling perceived by Percy's body and spiritual sense earlier could be described as extremely terrifying. He had been unable to free himself from it, and was even more incapable of tearing it. At the time, he could even clearly feel the aura of death… He had never thought that this shockingly powerful dark domain would actually be so vulnerable against the Golden Crow flames. It might have seemed scary on the outside, but on the inside, it was just a paper tiger which broke with the slightest touch!

Artemis, "…"

If so…

Percy's hands gripped the Heaven Smiting Sword which was ablaze with flames. As the flames burned, two faint scarlet flames carrying traces of gold emerged within Percy's pupils. Behind him, the image of a giant golden crow slowly appeared and then quickly came into being as a heatwave crazily spread through the surroundings.

"Golden Crow flames' destruction domain, Yellow Springs Ashes!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

The silhouette of the golden crow gave a long cry toward the sky, causing the air to tremble and the earth to crash. The flames which originated from a primordial true god were extremely hot and carried an unparalleled power of incineration as they forcefully tore through layer after layer of the Dark Domain. Even with the dark profound energy as a medium, the darkness which had devoured all light suddenly combusted and became blindingly bright due to the extreme flames.

Deep howls echoed around the dark domain like ghostly wails as the darkness which hid the day madly attacked the Golden Crow flames in hopes of enveloping and devouring them. At first, the darkness was still barely able to contend with the Golden Crow flames to a standstill. However as more and more of the domain was torn and blown apart, the Golden Crow flames quickly became an unstoppable force as thousands of rips and hundreds of holes appeared amidst the formerly complete world of darkness.

"Ah!"

In the face of the oncoming heat, Aphrodite suddenly stopped as she let out a sound of shock. The originally cool ocean breeze became hot like a flame as several hundred meters of high waves began to madly roil and surge in the ocean below, forcing Aphrodite to fly up to an altitude of three thousand meters. As she looked forward, she saw that the giant area of darkness had undergone enormous change as streak after streak of flames pierced out the sides of the darkness. In the blink of an eye, the world of darkness had already become ragged.

The darkness struggled as the flames devoured. Atop the roiling ocean, it was as if two giant beasts were fighting; a scarlet beast and a black beast were ruthlessly tearing at each other's throats.

However, the darkness was clearly not an opponent for the scarlet flames which had later emerged. Before long, exposure to the burning scarlet flames caused the area of darkness to fall apart and turn into countless scattered fragments. Even without touching the incinerating flames, these fragments quickly dissipated on their own. As the flames continued to burn, they became increasingly intense. They had long since dyed the dark sky a thorough red, and had caused an extremely thick layer of steam which was hundreds of meters long to emerge atop the ocean and linger there.

The gusting winds were now no longer suppressed, and became increasingly violent and hot. In order to protect Calypso, Aphrodite propped up a giant scarlet red shield. Afterwards, they welcomed the violent gusts, and used it to increase their speed as they flew east.

Percy… Please don't let anything happen to him…  
In the sky within an area of five kilometers, only the blazing Golden Crow flames remained as they continued to burn until the last trace of the darkness had been exterminated.

Under Percy's "Yellow Springs Ashes," Luke's "Lightless Eternal Night" had been completely defeated.

It seemingly didn't even have the power to put up any resistance.

The arm Percy had raised slowly fell as he withdrew the Heaven Smiting Sword into the Styx Soul Inner World. Once the Heaven Smiting Sword left his body, a heavy feeling of near collapse was felt through every inch of his body. Even though it could be said that the process of destroying Luke's Dark Domain went through without a hitch, it didn't mean that he could relax. The aftermath of releasing a Yellow Springs Ashes which contained all his power left the profound energy in his body at a deficit. The reason why he had withdrawn the Heaven Smiting Sword was because he probably wouldn't even be able to lift the Heaven Smiting Sword for ten breaths in his current condition.

But at least his condition was by far better than Luke's.

The flames that filled the sky began to fall with each ball of fire leaving behind an expanse of water vapor which shot into the sky… If the power of the Golden Crow flames Percy released was increased by just a little bit, even water vapor would not arise for it would instead burn the water into nothingness.

Phew…

Percy let out a slow exhale, then extended his hand. As his palm faced the boiling ocean's surface, he quickly released a streak of profound energy.

Bang!

The surface of the ocean exploded as a black human silhouette flew out in a straight line at Percy, and was firmly sucked into Percy's grasp.

Even though he had been soaked in ocean water for a long time, Luke's bloodstains still had not completely been washed off his body. There were at least tens of external injuries on his body that still slowly oozed with blood. The blood which stuck on his wounds and body was an abnormal scarlet black color.

Luke's life force and profound strength aura was already incomparably weak. Only the phrase "hanging on by a thread" could be used to describe his current appearance. All four of his limbs dangled as he was being grabbed by the back by Percy. Although he was no longer able to use even an iota of his strength, his consciousness had not collapsed yet. In a weak, hoarse, and painfully low voice, he uttered…

"Why… would… it be like this…"

"How… could… I possibly… have lost…"

"How could… I lose…"

A.N.: that's what I'm talking about! This epic battle was based off Against The Gods. But wait till the next chapter before cheering folks!


	21. The Successor of Hades

**Third Arc: Successor Of Hades**

Suddenly, Luke laughed. Percy frowned at him." Are you so happy you're about to die?"

"hahahaha! Percy, Percy, Percy… you never learn." Luke chuckled softly and suddenly a dark mist surrounded them. Percy immediately grew nervous and looked around.

There was a flicker of movement and suddenly, he was surrounded by three people wearing dark armor and a pitch black helmet. Percy raised his sword." Oh, so you're gonna hide behind your subordinates now?" Luke laughed." Who said they were my subordinates?"

The three of them removed their helmets, revealing themselves to be… Luke? Percy's eyes widened and Artemis shouted out immediately." Percy, he's split his soul into Four Pieces!" Luke raised his hand and all the dark mist was sucked into him." I worked for more than two thousand years… do you know how I lived so long?! I resurrected myself! Every time, I ended up at the peak of Level Nine, but I was unable to take that final step into legend realm. And without that, I could never hope to destroy hope city…"

Artemis frowned." That explains his aura. He cultivates the thousand soul resurrection." . Percy immediately asked." What's that?". She grimaced." They sacrifice a thousand infants and bathe in the blood of virgins, and so they shift their soul from a dying body into a baby's body, and so they have a new life! But the pain of doing such a cruel act, the heavens will punish him with eternal pain. It will feel as if he is being stabbed in every single part of his soul with a thousand needles, every day after sunset. And he will be wracked with this pain until sunrise. So every night will be torment beyond understanding. Which means, not only does his body suffer the pain of following The Path of Slaughter and Sex, his soul suffers from Thousand Soul Resurrection!" Percy frowned at Luke.

The three other Luke's floated to the original and then all four merged. Immediately, all of Luke's injuries healed and his power began surging. then his aura smashed into Percy and that was almost enough to knock him down by itself.

Percy's eyes widened and even Artemis was astonished." Percy Run Right now! You're not his match!"

Luke was glowing with power." You want to know how i can fly? That's because I've already reached the legend realm! AHAHAHA"

Percy Grimaced and held up the heaven smiting sword. But Luke just smirked and flicked a finger. A deadly blade of wind smashed into Percy, sending him tumbling. Percy grit his teeth and forcefully stabilized his flight. Then Luke looked up." Oh looks like Aphrodite and calypso have come to give themselves to me! Ahahaha!" He reached out a hand and both of them were sucked over from over a hundred miles away.

Percy growled." Leave them! Our fight isn't over yet!" Luke laughed maniacally."oh it is over! Bloodline Suction!" he held out his hand towards Percy and Percy felt his very blood being pulled towards Luke. He almost vomited blood, and struggled to stabilize his blood. He grit his teeth and roared" Dragon Soul Domain!"

Behind Percy, the Phantom Of the Primordial Azure Dragon came to life, stretching its wings as it Roared, Challenging the Heavens! The seas shook, and the waves tumbled as they rose, surging and smashing wildly. Luke froze, feeling fear from deep within his heart.

"T-this…" he gasped, eyes wide. To him it felt as though the true Primordial Azure Dragon stood before him, glaring into his eyes. Then his own bloodline activated.

"Bloodline of Charybdis! Consume all!" the phantom of the Demon God appeared behind Luke and he shattered the illusion!

Percy gasped and fell to his knees. Using the dragon god soul domain had nearly drained him. And now he had only one trump card, that being his Divine Sea Transformation. However, he barely had any energy left.

Luke snorted and boundless pressure engulfed Percy, sealing him entirely. Artemis started to grow frantic." Percy! Percy! I can't leave your body! Percy!"

Luke looked at him with laughter in his eyes." I know you practice the Thousand Soul Resurrection as well. That's how you're so strong! I can clearly feel that other soul in your body. But I'm sorry. Such pathetic power is still far from my level!" Luke turned to calypso and Aphrodite, who were both bound by his pressure and struggling. He reached out a hand and caressed calypso's face.

"Such a beauty! I will ravage you a hundred times before finally feeling satisfied!" Luke laughed maniacally.

His hand rose and he slapped calypso with his right hand. A clear crack echoed and her head jerked and blood flew from her lips.

"You're looking to die!" Seeing that scene, Percy was instantly as furious as thunder. Layers of killing intent emerged into his eyes. His scowling complexion was as sinister as a monster.

But it was useless as no matter how much more he struggled, he was still unable to get rid of the pressure that bound him. He could only watch as his own woman was slapped and could do nothing at all.

The black-coloured gas started to take over Percy's eyes bit by bit. It was killing intent. Extremely dense killing intent. Percy never had such terrifying killing intent before.

But it was useless as the Demon King Luke acted as if he didn't feel Percy's killing intent at all. The smile on his face got wider and wider, and as he spoke, his arm shook, stabbing the blade of light in his hand towards Calypso's face.

*boom*

But just at that time, a violent aura suddenly exploded outwards from Percy's body. The power was strong, and the Demon King Luke was unable to hold it back as he cried out in pain and was blown several thousand meters away.

"What's happening?"

"This…this…this brat, what's with him?"

The strong force caused the Demon King Luke to spin a few circle in the air, then when he cast his gaze back at Percy, his face instantly changed greatly because he astonishedly discovered that right now, Percy's eyes became black.

Those black-coloured eyes were extremely terrifying. They were like a beast's as they flickered with horrifying bloodlust. They weren't even the eyes of a human. They seemed more like a demon's.

And at the same time Percy's eyes changed, two types of lightning even coiled around Percy.

They were the blue-coloured lightning and the golden-coloured lightning. The two lightning interweaved together and kept on making crackling sounds and endlessly created two different types of sparks. It seemed simple, but in reality, it emanated extremely terrifying aura.

It was as if the two lightning weren't lightning but two terrifying huge ancient beasts that contained terrifying power which could destroy the world.

*boom*

Just at that time, an explosion suddenly rang out from above the sky and quickly afterwards, endless black-coloured clouds appeared.

The black clouds appeared in the air as they rolled over. Almost in a blink, they covered the entire Eastern Ocean and they were even continuing to expand, enveloping the entire land at that place.

"Heavens! What's this? What happened?"

The day was originally clear for ten thousand miles with the sun setting in the west, but black clouds suddenly appeared, causing that region to be enveloped by darkness. If one stretched their hands, they would not be able to see their fingers. They would not be able to see anything.

The only thing that could be seen were the two lightning endlessly interweaving in the sky which were roaring out, and with the illumination of the lightning, people were able to see that Percy's expression was extremely sinister.

He no longer seemed to have the appearance of human, nor of a monster. It was indescribable, but it was extremely horrifying. With a single glance, one would be scared out of their mind and break out in a cold sweat.

"Why did you harm her, how could you dare to harm her?"

Finally, Percy spoke. His voice seemed to be calm, but it contained infinite bloodlust. It was simply not the voice of a person, but more like of a terrifying demon.

His voice was horrifying. Those who heard it couldn't help trembling, let alone the Demon King Luke who the voice was directed at.

"Wha…wha…what are you? What kind of monster are you?!" The Demon King Luke loudly questioned. He was doing his best to keep calm. After all, he had the cultivation of the Middle Stage Legend realm currently, so he didn't feel that Percy, who was only in the Early Eight Level, would be able to gain any advantages from his hands.

Even though right now, the sky was covered by black clouds and it enveloped that entire area, even though an extremely terrifying aura was being emanated from Percy's body and was getting stronger and stronger, he was still unwilling to believe. He was unwilling to believe that he would lose to a brat like Percy. So, he furiously roared, and unrestrainedly blasted out his aura of the middle stage Legend realm. He revolved all the Martial power in his body and used a Powerful martial skill.

*boom rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble*

When the attack came out, even the air trembled. Everyone was able to see a huge sword of light condensed by Heaven power appearing in the air.

The huge sword was several hundred meters long. It was simply even larger than a small-scale plaza. The most important part was the power it contained. It was extremely horrifying. The might that the huge sword let out caused almost everyone on scene to feel fear and to turn pale.

"This is the unique skill of the Long lost Pontus Empire, the Heaven Battling Sword. Although it's a martial skill, it infinitely nears Divine Weapons in power. It was created by the Sword God, Murong Feng."

At that instant, even Calypso's and Aphrodite's faces changed because the power the sword of light contained was doubtlessly able to cause them to disappear like smoke dispersing without even leaving anything behind.

*bzzbzz* However, when the sword of light was a thousand meters away from Percy, one of the two lightning surrounding Percy's body suddenly explosively shot out.

It was the golden lightning. It, which was originally blinding, became even more beautiful when it flew in the air like a swimming dragon. However, behind its beautiful back was terrifying might because cracks appeared in the areas it passed. Even the air wasn't able to hold its might back and was forcibly shattered.

*bang* Finally, the lightning and the sword of light met one another and in the instant they touched, the sword of light became fragments. It turned into a rain of light, fell down, and lit up the pitch-black sky.

"Ahh!" At the same time, the Luke also cried out in pain. Quickly after, a mouthful of blood was sprayed out and it splattered on his clothes.

It was because the sword of light was the attack of his full strength. When he used that attack, he was fated to suffer heavy injures. But he could do nothing about the fact that his strike didn't have the slightest effect and instead, harmed himself.

"How is this possible? Is it possible that he truly isn't a person?" After seeing his own self receive severe injuries, his aura started to rapidly decrease and in a blink, the Demon King Luke was utterly terrified.

Because, he felt like he didn't have any more hope. Percy was too scary. In his entire life, he had never seen such a terrifying existence. So terrifying that it made him feel despair, as if nothing could hold him back.

At that instant, from the bottom of almost everyone's hearts, they were thinking about one thing. It was that…was Percy even a person?

"Percy, what's wrong? Are you okay?! Percy, hurry up and answer me, don't scare me!"

At that instant, even Calypso panicked. She was the closest to Percy, and also the person who could feel how terrifying Percy was right now the most.

If one were to ask how terrifying Percy was at that moment, even as a God beast Descendant, she felt very anxious because her Divine Power was restlessly being agitated, as if it felt the disturbance of Percy's power. The most important thing was that it was the first time Calypso felt the agitation of her Divine Power.

But she was even more worried because she discovered that not only did Percy's eyes change, his entire person seemed to have changed. He did not seem to be the Percy she knew, and in reality, ever since Percy changed, he was only fiercely glaring at the distant Demon King Luke and had indeed not even glanced at Calypso.

*ta*

Suddenly, Percy moved. He started to move forward, walking slowly towards the Demon King Luke. As he walked, he spoke. Thunder-like voice resonated throughout that land.

"There will be, one day, when this sky shatters because of me, when this land collapses because of me, when the sun, moon, and stars change because of me."

"If that day, the one I love is no longer here, then I will make this world's people die with her!"

*boom*

As Percy spoke, the lightning around his body started to surge everywhere and the black clouds in the sky started to extremely quickly spiral.

*rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble*

The wind power got stronger and stronger. Even the Seas started to collapse and shatter. The region of Water in that place sank into chaos and countless waves surged out in that place.

"Percy! Percy!"

At that instant, Calypso originally wanted to get closer to Percy, but she could do nothing as the wind power blew because of Percy. The closer she got, the more overwhelmingly strong it got. Even though she kept on emitting layers of Golden aura and her Divine Power got stronger, she was still unable to near Percy.

"Junior Percy, are you okay? Dammit, dammit! This damn wind!"

At the same time, Aphrodite was not aware that the wind came from Percy and she even thought that Percy was in danger. She also tried her best to approach Percy, but even though it was him, she was unable to approach Percy right now.

*bzzbzzbzz*

Suddenly, an extremely ear-piercing sound rang out. It wasn't simple thunder. It was more like the roar of a fierce beast, and looking more carefully, Aphrodite's and Calypso's already fearful complexion instantly changed greatly.

It was because they astonishedly discovered that in the direction Percy was at, the gold and blue interweaved lightning were rapidly expanding.

As they expanded, they faintly formed two shapes. They were the shapes of two huge beasts. They had never seen such huge beasts like those before, but they were extremely terrifying.

And also at that instant, the two of them were engulfed by the two huge lightning beasts.

*boom rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble*

Quickly afterwards, a boom that shocked the world rang out. The entire continent of the Gaia heard that sound. Some people in other continents also heard that explosion.

Percy collapsed, Trailing smoke and flames as he fell into the ocean. Luke was gasping and trembling, his entire right arm was completely covered in blood. He shivered as he looked at Percy's broken form.

Then suddenly he burst into laughter." Hahaha! Now I have won! And you Percy, even after all that, You still lost!". He reached out a hand towards calypso and suction engulfed her. then suddenly, a cold voice spoke up." You wreck my homeland, hurt my brother in law, you molest my brother in laws girlfriend, and on top of that, you wear such a stupid black armor. How am I supposed to let you off?" Luke spun in surprise. Even calypso and Aphrodite glanced over. Aphrodite choked in surprise then laughed." Brother!"

There stood a Young boy, dressed entirely in black. His hair was long and wild, fluttering in the sea breeze. His face was sharp and feral and his dark eyes brooding, as if hating everything they saw. He held an enormous spear in one hand, and raised this spear to point at Luke."I am the true King of Slaughter, The Herald of death. I am the Successor of Hades, God of the Underworld!"

A dark aura erupted from him, managing to suppress even Luke's aura. Luke grew stiff and then glanced at him with horror."Peak ninth rank warrior!? B-but how? From where are you?". Aphrodite laughed." He's my adopted brother. We found him in the old ruins of the necropolis of death. He was sealed in a crystal coffin. He has the most powerful bloodline in existence, the blood of Hades, God of The Underworld!" Luke glanced around with surprise, then scowled." This might be your win, but I'll be back! And I have news as well. Within a few months of time hope city will be over run! I have already told the envoy of Tartarus about hope city! He is leading his armies here, to personally end your pitiful existences! Ahahahaha!"

Luke laughed again, then streaked away like a ray of darkness. Nico floated down to Aphrodite and smiled at her." hey big sis!" Aphrodite smiled back as well, then her expression grew grim." Percy!" she floated down to Percy with the help of Nico and they knelt by his side.

Calypso was hugging him, sobbing and shaking as she tried binding his wounds. He was still emanating a deathly aura and even Nico was unable to come closer than five feet around him. Aphrodite grimaced then walked into the aura." Big sis! Its dangerous!" Nico called but she had already swept knelt by calypso and both of them started patching his wounds.

Percy's eyes flickered open and he smiled slightly. Aphrodite frowned and slapped him." You bloody idiot! What do you get, giving us these heart attacks! And now you smile as if you've done some great accomplishment! You fool! Idiot! Do you think we'd want to stay alive even if you saved us by sacrificing your life!" Aphrodite's face went red and she stood up and stormed away angrily.

Calypso immediately rebuked her." big sis! Percy is injured! Don't yell at him!" Aphrodite snorted." You pamper him too much!" calypso blushed and looked away.

Artemis snorted with anger." Really, you just threw your life away for any girl huh! Are you such a big pervert, that your own life is unnecessary as long as you can impress a girl!?". Percy chuckled softly." You know, if it was for you, even then I'd throw my life away a thousand times." Artemis huffed angrily." Big words are easy to speak. You can't fool this princess you biiig pervert!"

The deathly aura soon faded from around him and Nico lifted him up and they flew back to hope city. And it was then that Percy learnt many secrets of the city of hope.

"You mean Hope city isn't the last stronghold!?" Percy gasped and sat up. Grandholme nodded with a smile." Humanity still has a few more settlements. Which also include Hope city. Of course these aren't cities, but rather schools or ancient societies. Nico was training at one of these societies, but I called him back since we needed his help against the Shadow Association. The closest society would be the Pontus Grand Society. They're a guardian society, whose only aim is to seal away a dangerous location from the rest of the world. If this location were left unsealed, dark and powerful Yin energy would spread, killing all life across the oceans and finally even reaching the gaia continent!"

Percy was surprised." What is this dangerous location!?". Artemis was even more interested." Yin energy? Percy! The Underworld Python Flower also Blooms in areas of powerful yin energy!" Percy laughed in excitement, then looked to Grandholme." Sir Grandholme. Can I visit this area?" Grandholme frowned." You're still bedridden and you're currently suffering from severe injuries and having difficulty circulating your energy. And you already are planning a trip to the most dangerous area in the continent?" Percy chuckled. He sighed then nodded." I'll see what I can do."

Soon everyone trickled out, leaving only calypso and Percy in the room.

Percy smiled and touched calypso's cheek." You're the best friend anyone could ask for." Calypso blushed and turned away." Percy… that power… what was it…?" Percy thought about it for a few seconds, consulting artemis." are you sure you want to tell her?" artemis asked, though she knew the answer. Percy smiled a bit." There are only two people in this world who I can trust with anything. My master artemis and my best friend calypso!". Artemis sat down with a huff." Idiot disciple."

Percy looked at calypso and then smiled." Like Nico, I have the bloodline of a God. I have the bloodline of the Creation Level God, Poseidon, Master of the Seas!"

Calypso gasped in astonishment , then looked at Percy." Then I was right all those years back!?" Percy chuckled a bit and nodded. Calypso mumbled a bit and then slowly pulled at Percy's blanket, then slid in next to him. Percy turned red despite himself." C-calypso! W-what…?" calypso turned her red face away." Idiot. I want to sleep. But if I leave you alone, you'll run off to get yourself killed. So I'm staying right here. Or do you want me to sleep on the chair like every time?" Percy shook his head." No, no!"

Calypso smiled and closed her eyes. Percy slowly brushed her hair, feeling her presence. Like always, it calmed him down and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Percy's dragon bloodline started circulating faster. Calypso's phoenix bloodline reacted the same way. Both intertwined their resonances and without the knowledge of their owners, they transferred energy to each other. Percy's healing speeded up and without him even realizing he reached the peak of Eight level. Meanwhile calypso broke through, becoming a Level Eight Warrior as well.

Artemis watched the entire process with a small pout." Damned dragon and phoenix. Their bloodlines resonate. No wonder they're so attached!"

And so the night passed.

A.N.: not as intense as the other battle chapters, but hey, that moment of Percy's anger was pretty intense. The power was the fused power of the thunder dragon and the Primordial Azure Dragon God, for those who haven't guessed. Also the story is speeding up! Soon Percy will head into a dark and dangerous area, to complete his task given to him by artemis! Of course things don't go as planned. If they did, we wouldn't have such cute Pertemis moments!


	22. Tartarus Burial Grounds

**Third Arc: Tartarus Burial Grounds**

After a few weeks of rest, Percy was ready to head back into the thick of things. He headed off with Calypso and Nico, under the guidance of Grandholme.

Grandholme escorted Percy to the Pontus Grand Society and to his surprise Grandholme stopped outside the palace and bowed to an old man standing nearby." Senior. I leave this young man in your hands." He looked at Percy." Percy this is old master blue, one of the greatest warriors, and Nico's teacher." Nico grinned and nodded.

Master blue smiled, then asked Percy." You wish for an audience with the sovereign of the seas, one of the Four Great masters." Percy smiled and nodded."I bring a gift as well." He flipped his palm upwards and ten boxes of pills floated out."t-this!?" master blue was astonished by the sheer power within these pills. Percy smiled and said," these are pills I made, that are capable of boosting the power of a Legend Realm Warrior!" master blue smiled in anticipation." Each box contains ten pills, so that is a hundred pills!" master blue laughed and flipped his arm up and a small ring floated up." This gift is very expensive. This spatial ring of mine contains fifty Kilograms of Divine Soul crystals. Please accept it."

Percy's heart shook." Fifty kilograms?!" master blue laughed lightly then began moving towards the palace.

As they came increasingly close to the floating Ocean Palace, Percy asked Ancient Blue, "Senior Ancient Blue, I wonder if you have any understandings about the 'Tartarus Burial Grounds'?"

"Tartarus Burial Grounds? What kind of place is that?" Nico leaned over, his face full of curiosity.

"…" A trace of shock flickered across Spiritual Master Ancient Blue's face. It was clear that he was surprised that Percy, who had never before come to Supreme Ocean Palace, actually knew this name. He prudently stared at Percy for a moment before slowly saying, "You actually know of the 'Tartarus Burial Grounds'. In that case, you should also know why Supreme Ocean Palace perennially resides atop this blue ocean. However, outside of that, even I do not know much about the Tartarus Burial Grounds. To us mortals, that place is an extremely taboo existence. You absolutely must not develop any curiosity towards it."

"Why is that?" Percy furrowed his brows.

"Because it has existed for tens of thousands of years, but the enigma behind it still has yet to be unlocked." Spiritual Master Ancient Blue's voice contained traces of seriousness as he continued, "Things which are unknown are often filled with unknown dangers. The longer an enigma remains unsolved, the more likely the dangers within are greater. This name 'Tartarus Burial Grounds', you should treat it as a false legend. Don't try to get to the bottom of it… don't even go close to it so as to avoid going beyond redemption."

By the time Spiritual Master Ancient Blue finished speaking, Supreme Ocean Palace was already right in front of their eyes. He suddenly flailed his whisk, and immediately, a gentle wind surged from below, causing the four of them to quickly float forward, "We've arrived… let's go in."

As their bodies passed through a layer of light blue colored profound light, Percy brought along Calypso and gently descended atop the floating isle atop the blue ocean.

The very moment they entered Supreme Ocean Palace, the atmosphere surrounding them completely changed. Not the slightest trace of the ocean's scent could be smelled, and the ocean breeze had completely disappeared… It was as if they had suddenly left an ocean world and entered into an independent, completely different world.

Below their feet were great numbers of profound jade, each of which released a faint, cold light. They were all priceless. Looking out into the distance, towers, halls, and courtyards of varying sizes mixed with a widespread amount of flourishing flora. Moreover, an unbelievably dense profound energy, which was filled with several times more vitality than usual, enshrouded the entire ocean palace.

"Princess Calypso." Master Blue Bowed his head slightly. Calypso stiffened and looked at him." Me?" he smiled." Yes, you are after all the descendant of one of the royal Phoenix's. I just wished to enquire, will you be staying in the Female's quarters, or would you wish to share a room with Percy?"

"I'm definitely not leaving him alone." Calypso muttered and hugged his arm. Nico chuckled." If big sis Aphrodite or piper saw you they would be so jealous right now" calypso laughed lightly.

"Then, it shall be as Princess Calypso wishes." Master Blue nodded. At this time, the blue jadestone in his hand shimmered, causing him to stop in his steps and turn towards Percy, "Little friend Percy, the Sovereign of the Seas told me a few days ago to notify her of your arrival right away. Just now, upon learning of your arrival ocean palace, the sovereign immediately dropped all the matters currently at hand and requested that I bring you over, no matter how."

"The Sovereign of the Seas is already waiting for us at the Ocean Imperial Palace in front of us. Before going to your residence, please come meet the Sovereign of the Seas with me."

"My pleasure." Percy naturally had no reason to decline.

For him to enter the Tartarus Burial Grounds, he first had to gain the agreement of Supreme Ocean Palace's Sovereign of the Seas.

"We have reached Ocean Imperial Palace." Master Blue stopped and turned around, "Princess Calypso, I will trouble you to wait here. Master Percy, please follow me."

"Percy, I will wait for you here… you must be careful," Calypso gently said, stopping.

"Relax, I'll be back before you know it."

Ocean Imperial Palace was situated in the exact center of Supreme Ocean Palace. In a sense, it was the core of the entire ocean palace and was a symbol of the palace's ten thousand years of prestige and glory.

The appearance of the Ocean Imperial Palace was not much different from all of the other palace halls Percy had passed during his walk here. However, the moment he entered the vicinity of Ocean Imperial Palace, his mind and senses simultaneously became unsettled… in that instant, he felt as if he had left the mortal world and stepped into a heavenly palace. A deep feeling of reverence spontaneously emerged within the depths of his heart, causing him to suddenly feel the desire to kneel in worship. His originally extremely perceptive spiritual sense became hazy as even his vision began to blur.

Percy's dazed state was only for a very brief moment while he was in shock. Afterwards, he quickly concentrated his mind. Because of his body's Dragon God Soul, his soul power had reached an extremely high level. Thus, his five senses were quickly restored to their normal states.

"Below this Ocean Imperial Palace, there is indeed a strange profound formation. If one's profound strength or soul power isn't enough, I'm afraid one would fall to their knees upon entering," Artemis suddenly said in a cold tone.

Arriving at the door to the Ocean Imperial Palace, Master Blue turned around and looked at Percy, only to discover that Percy's eyes were both clear. Moreover, his demeanor was still composed, and his footsteps were still smooth. Not the slightest trace of fear or anxiety was apparent on his face. He was instead leisurely appreciating the surrounding scenery.

An expression of deep shock flashed through Master Blue's pupils. The entire Ocean Imperial Palace was enveloped within a giant profound formation. Furthermore, this giant profound formation, called the "Oceanus Shroud Formation," was the most powerful profound formation within Supreme Ocean Palace. Upon entering the formation, one would become subject to extreme pressure as if one was facing a true god. Those under the Legend Realm would feel their bodies become weak upon entering the formation and begin to shiver. Those under the level nine would immediately collapse to the ground and kneel, becoming completely incapable of walking.

Even Master Blue himself, middle stage Legend Realm that he was, would feel his heart continuously palpitate in fear every time he entered Ocean Imperial Palace.

He had originally believed that Percy, even with his own abnormal talent, would at least experience unsteady steps, a pale face, and cold sweats upon entering the "Oceanus Shroud Formation" for the first time without preparation… he had never thought that Percy's face would be so leisurely and composed, as if he weren't affected at all by the "Oceanus Shroud Formation."

Just… just how could this be? Could Percy's mental strength actually be higher than his own?

Master Blue thought in shock.

The great doors were pushed open, and the two entered with Master Blue lowering his head as he entered. After taking three steps, Master Blue had already stooped down in a bow, "Reporting to the Sovereign of the Seas, Hope City's Master Percy has been brought over."

After Master Blue entered the Ocean Imperial Palace, he had constantly kept his head down. Percy then immediately moved towards the figure in the middle of the giant palace.

The Sovereign of the Seas stood there with their back facing them. Their figure was exquisitely slender, and they wore a long palace robe which was sparkling with a blue glow. The highest collar of their robe directly reached their hair which was in the shape of a top knot.

This back figure caused Percy to momentarily stop in astonishment.

A… female?

The Sovereign of the Seas was a… woman?

"You may withdraw."

The Sovereign of the Seas spoke. Their voice was like that of a middle aged woman's, very gentle, but each word was like a heaven shaking bell, majestic and full of power.

"Yes." Master Blue withdrew and closed the great doors of the Ocean Imperial Palace.

"Junior Percy greets Senior Sovereign." Percy took a step forward and respectfully saluted as he acted in a dignified manner. After all, the person in front of him was the leader of one sacred grounds which had lorded over the Profound Sky Continent for ten thousand years! She was one of the peerlessly strong practitioners who stood at the peak of the Profound Sky Continent, and was the first leader of a sacred ground that Percy had met!

Only, Percy had never imagined that the Sovereign of the Seas, one of the four sacred masters, would actually be a female!

The Sovereign of the Seas slowly turned around, exposing her true appearance to Percy. She had the appearance of a middle aged woman, but without the slightest trace of femininity. Instead, each contour contained an extremely solemn dignity and sharpness.

Her eyes were extremely clear, and her pupils were as profound as the ocean. Within her eyes, there was a trace of emotion trickling around. The awkward oppressive silence lasted for a full ten breaths before she finally spoke. She slowly nodded, "Seeing is indeed better than hearing from others. Even while standing in front of this sovereign within the 'Oceanus Shroud Formation,' your eyes are still as clear as a mirror, your heart still as sturdy as a rock. This sovereign had always believed that the rumors surrounding you were over exaggerated, but meeting you now, you are even better than the rumors! No wonder 'that person' has such a high opinion of you."

Percy didn't bother asking who the 'person' she spoke about was, and instead faintly smiled as he replied, "This junior doesn't dare receive the Sovereign of the Seas' praise. This junior only came to Supreme Ocean Palace to participate in the Devil Sword Conference and enter Tartarus Burial Ground. I wish for Senior Sovereign's consent."

"Master Percy is truly straightforward." The Sovereign of the Seas' eyes furrowed as she slowly walked forward. Every step closer she got, the stronger the pressure enveloping Percy's body became. "This sovereign had wished to converse with you for quite a while, but it seems like Master Percy has no interest in this."

"To be able to meet Senior Sovereign is already this junior's greatest fortune. Senior is the leader of Supreme Ocean Palace, and is a powerful overlord under the heavens. Each breath of your time is as valuable as ten thousand jin of gold. How could this junior dare delay you?" Percy replied in a manner which was neither humble nor arrogant.

"Is that so?" The Sovereign of the Seas reached a point three steps in front of Percy and stopped. She was impressively half a head taller than Percy. "The reason for why you want to enter the Tartarus Burial Ground is already known by this sovereign. However, this sovereign is very curious about why you are willing to pay such a cost to pick a Underworld Python Flower. From what this sovereign knows, the Underworld Python Flower is an extremely evil and vile thing. Even if a Sovereign nears it, just a simple mental attack will result in death. Outside of using it for murder in a traceless manner, I've never heard of any other uses for it."

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Percy sincerely said, "The Underworld Python Flower is needed by my master. Truthfully, this matter should not have been told to others, but since it's requested by Senior Sovereign, this junior will naturally tell."

The Underworld Python Flower was something Artemis needed, and Artemis was indeed his master. Thus his words were justified and true. There was no way for the Sovereign of the Seas to find any trace of lies.

"Your master?" The Sovereign of the Seas' eyes narrowed, "This sovereign heard that your respected master has heaven defying abilities, an ability to turn a Sovereign to ashes just by flicking her fingers. Since it's something your master needs, why doesn't she come pick it himself? I trust with your respected master's ability, there is no where in this world she cannot go."

"It's because the task of picking this Underworld Python Flower was given to this junior by my master as a test." Percy chuckled and said, "Since master has ordered it, this junior must try to complete it at all costs. These last few years, this junior has constantly been inquiring about this matter concerning the Underworld Python Flower and has finally been fortunate enough to learn that they have appeared before within the Tartarus Burial Ground. Thus, this junior has to go in and search no matter what… this junior beseeches senior to agree."

"So it's like this." The Sovereign of the Seas slowly nodded. However, the fluctuations in her eyes were still there, as if she still wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. "While we are on this topic, where is your respected master currently? This sovereign wonders if she could have the opportunity to meet her?"

"Master has long since been a person who doesn't care about the mortal world. She already almost never sets foot into the mortal world as she doesn't want to be bound by any responsibilities. Thus, although this junior is her disciple, I don't know where my master is currently nor where she will go next. Only when this junior cannot help but beg will his master reveal himself." Percy repeated again the same words he had previously said to Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.

"That is indeed unfortunate," the Sovereign of the Seas casually replied. Suddenly she changed the topic, "Tartarus Burial Ground is the most taboo place of my Supreme Ocean Palace. We don't allow any outsiders to enter. However, Tartarus Burial Ground hasn't been opened for the last thousand and three hundred years, and it is about time for this sovereign to arrange for people to enter and check for any abnormal changes. Moreover, considering how my ocean palace has already received ten of your 'Six Flavor Emperor Pellets', wouldn't it make my ocean palace's words worthless if I rejected you?"

Percy's eyes stared blankly… what? Six Flavor Emperor Pellet? What the hell was that?!

Could it refer to… the Overlord Pellet?

Holy shit! Just what kind of crappy name did Master Blue come up with?!

"Thank you for your consent!" Percy joyously said.

"Don't get happy too early," the Sovereign of the Seas coldly said, "Tartarus Burial Ground's seal can only be opened once every five hundred years. Moreover, each time it is open, it is only for the extremely short period of a hundred breaths! After a hundred breaths, the passage will forcefully close and become sealed for another five hundred years. Even my Supreme Ocean Palace has no way of forcing it to open before then. This is to prevent any yin energy from leaking out into the Profound Sky Continent. As for the Underworld Python Flower, it only blooms once every twenty four years and wilts three days after blooming. For you to find a blooming Underworld Python Flower in the time of a hundred breaths is pretty much impossible. That's not to mention the fact that we are unsure whether or not there are still Underworld Python Flowers existing in the Tartarus Burial Ground."

"Thus, just forget about entering the Tartarus Burial Ground. Even if you enter, it will just be a wasted trip."

"This junior already knows this. However, junior still hopes that senior will allow him to try," Percy said without hesitation.

"Since you are so persistent… this sovereign will allow you to enter the Tartarus Burial Ground. When do you want to enter?" the Sovereign of the Seas asked.

"The earlier the better!" Percy said after thinking for a while, "If possible, I would like to enter today."

"Alright!" Sovereign of the Seas slowly nodded her head, "Since it's like this, this sovereign will help you! I will arrange for someone to bring you to the Tartarus Burial Ground right now!"

Master blue escorted Percy outside and left him under the guidance of Grandholme." Grandholme, Escort this young man to the Burial Grounds." Then he smiled at Percy and left.

Grandholme sighed." Well then lets go!"

"This is the barrier that is used to seal the Tartarus Burial Grounds." Grandholme said as he slowed down, "The Tartarus Burial Grounds is inside this barrier."

"This place is located in the ocean and it is more than one thousand five hundred kilometers away from the mainland. Normally, no one will approach this place because there are always disciples of Pontus Grand Society keeping watch. Even if someone manages to enter by accident, the Sovereign of the Seas will be alerted immediately once that person comes into contact with the barrier."

The four of them descended towards the island. Immediately, an incredibly strong repulsive force struck them. The strength of all four people was at the very peak of the Gaia Continent, but they immediately found it hard to breathe as an oppressive force constricted their chests.

"What a powerful barrier!" Nico di Angelo exclaimed in a low voice, "We are so far away and yet the repulsive force that struck us was strong… Master said that this barrier has persisted for more than ten thousand years, and that it could even be called the strongest barrier that exists within the Gaia Continent. It looks like the reputation it has for being indestructible is richly deserved."

"Just based on its isolating ability alone, this barrier is indeed unparalleled." Grandholme said as he nodded his head, his expression filled with admiration and reverence, "The founders of Pontus Grand Society used more than half of the Tyrant artifacts that exist in the Gaia Continent and used up an incredible amount of profound crystals in order to set up this barrier all those years ago. If not for this isolating barrier, that dreadful yin energy would have run rampant for the past ten thousand years and the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"My Ocean Palace has flourished for ten thousand years and even though we have made our shares of mistakes through the years, we have also maintained this barrier for ten thousand years as well. So my Ocean Palace has always been able to search its own soul without being found wanting, truly living up to the name 'Sacred Ground'!" Grandholme's calm voice was laced with pride. He strode forward slowly and the Ocean Emperor Seal, which was flickering with blue light, was already in his hand.

Percy took a quick breath before walking up to Grandholme's side. It had already been an entire Five years since Artemis had first mentioned that she needed to find a Underworld Python Flower. In these Five years, the only place where it was possible to even find a Underworld Python Flower was the Tartarus Burial Grounds that laid enclosed in a barrier before him.

And now, Artemis had already been cleansed of the devilish poison and all the materials that were needed to reconstitute her body had been gathered, save for that very Underworld Python Flower… Even though there was a very slim chance that they would be able to find one, here he was. He could only hope that he was able to find the miracle flower in full bloom during the short hundred breaths that he could stay in the Tartarus Burial Grounds.

The closer they drew to the barrier, the more they understood just how strong this barrier was. Percy was completely convinced that even if he had ten times the amount of strength, he would not even be able to make a dent in this barrier.

When Grandholme stood right in front of the barrier, he raised the Ocean Emperor Seal and hesitated for a moment before turning around to address Percy, "Percy, even though we are already here, and I know that I shouldn't say anything to dampen your hopes… but you should be very clear that the chance of finding a Underworld Python Flower in full bloom is extremely slim. Moreover, even if you do miraculously find one, how will you obtain it?"

"Those Supreme Ocean Elders who had seen the Underworld Python Flower all those years ago were all peerless powerhouses who were at the Legend Realm. Even though they only looked at it from a distance for a few moments before swiftly departing, all of them suffered through a terrible illness after that. So it is hard to imagine the consequences of even coming close to that flower, much less picking it. And from my own knowledge, there has never once been a recorded instance where the Underworld Python Flower was successfully harvested in the history of Gaia Continent. The only records we have of this flower are the countless deaths that occurred because of it and its reputation as the 'evilest of flowers'."

"I have my own methods." Percy said confidently.

The moment he had spoken those words, Artemis's voice also rang out in his mind, "If there is really a Underworld Python Flower, you must definitely not approach it. Even though you have the Dragon God Soul, if you come within thirty meters of it, you will definitely be wracked by extreme pain. And if you come within fifteen meters of it, you are simply begging for death! Leave the harvesting of the Underworld Python Flower to me, I will bring it into the Styx Soul Inner World fully intact."

"I know." Percy replied.

Grandholme slowly nodded his head. He did not attempt to speak any further. Instead, he slapped the Ocean Emperor Seal heavily against the surface of the barrier in front of him.

Immediately, they could see the barrier ripple where it came into contact with the Ocean Emperor Seal. Grandholme's brows sank and he said in a solemn tone, "The moment the seal on the barrier is released, there will be a large amount of yin energy expelled. This yin energy is extremely domineering and if normal people and weak profound practitioners come into contact with it, their lives will be put in danger. The yin energy within the Tartarus Burial Grounds is even more dreadful, and even if it is us, the moment we enter this place, our profound strength will be suppressed by two entire realms. At the same time, our vitality will also be drained away swiftly. Right now, you need to use all your strength to protect yourselves! You definitely must not underestimate the Tartarus Burial Grounds!"

Percy turned around and spoke to his two companions, "Nico, Calypso, this place is extremely dangerous. I think it's best that neither of you accompany me in and wait outside. And no matter whether this place has the thing that I am looking for or not, I will also leave as soon as possible."

"That's enough, Brother-in-Law." Nico di Angelo shook his head as all of his muscles bulged fiercely and his body was surrounded by a peerless and domineering profound energy aura, "Since we have already come here, how can I not go in and have a look?"

"Junior Brother Percy, if I am not by your side to protect you, all the Junior and Senior Masters will definitely blame me." Calypso said in a soft voice, her expression completely devoid of fear.

"Alright." Percy said as he grabbed Calypso's tiny hand, "Calypso, you mustn't let go of my hand. Nico, you must be careful as well! If anything happens, remember that the first thing you should do is to run away!"

Sssss!

A sound like thunder ripped through the air, as both the barrier and the Ocean Emperor Seal simultaneously emitted a glaring blue light. In the next instant, Grandholme retreated swiftly as he gripped the Ocean Emperor Seal tightly while the a square-shaped hole that was two meters wide and long appeared in the barrier.

Tendrils of ebony darkness crazily gushed out from inside the barrier.

This was…

"We only have a hundred breaths, hurry up and go in!" Grandholme shouted as he swiftly put away the Ocean Emperor Seal and rushed through the gap in the barrier.

"Be extremely cautious!" Percy did not have the leisure to think anymore, he pulled Calypso along as he rushed inside as well, with Nico di Angelo hot on his heels.

When they entered the Tartarus Burial Grounds, it felt as if they had stepped into a desolate, icy abyss. A chill washed through them, body and soul. All of the hairs on their bodies instantly stood on end. Percy felt Calypso's hands tightly grip onto him as she pressed herself against him.

The sun was shining really brightly over the South Ocean, and a hole that was two meters in length and width was big enough for the daylight to shine through and illuminate a large portion of the abyss. But, after they had taken three steps forward, they were thrust into the inky darkness once more; they could scarcely see even a glimmer of light.

When they turned around, all they could see of the entrance was a hazy white outline.

"The daylight is unable to penetrate this darkness!?" Nico di Angelo exclaimed in shock.

"This is darkness energy." Percy said as his brows knit together. When he had fought Luke, he had used profound energy of this exact element, "This darkness energy will swallow all light while restricting your spirit perception at the same time… it may even affect your five senses!"

"That's right!" Grandholme's voice rang out in the darkness, "This is only the entrance of the Devil Nest, the further you venture inside, the thicker the aura of darkness will be. Your spirit perception will be suppressed to barely a tenth of its normal strength! And your five senses will be similarly restricted! When you have reached the deepest parts of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, even your profound strength will be suppressed to the Seventh or Sixth Realm."

"I am already beginning to feel… my profound strength being restricted." Nico di Angelo said through gritted teeth as he raised an arm, "It feels as if my profound veins are being constricted by something, and I find it far harder to circulate my profound energy than normal."

"…Sir Grandholme, we only have the space of a hundred breaths, so we need you to immediately bring us to the location where the Underworld Python Flower was last seen." Percy said calmly.

"Yes!" Grandholme replied.

Within the darkness, Calypso raised her arm and a scarlet cluster of Phoenix flames began to burn on top of her tender and white palm. The Phoenix flames that she had conjured were far purer than Percy's Phoenix flames, so the light that these flames released would shine brightly over large distances. But within this Tartarus Burial Grounds, they could only illuminate the space that was within ten steps of them.

Furthermore, they were still only at the entrance.

Under the light of the Phoenix flames, Percy could see the floor that was still pitch-black despite being illuminated by the Phoenix flames. But he could not see the walls or the ceiling of the Devil Nest. It was clear to him now that this nest was far more spacious than he had expected it to be.

"Don't worry, the Tartarus Burial Grounds only has one passageway, the path doesn't fork or branch. As long as you follow the path, you will reach the end of the nest. Furthermore, this nest isn't very deep. Given your current speed, you should be approaching the end of the nest in around thirty breaths." Grandholme was in front of them and he was moving at a respectable speed. Even though it was the first time he had entered the Tartarus Burial Grounds, he had heard and read the records that the Pontus Grand Society had kept of this place so many times that he had practically committed it all to memory

"So that is to say that the Underworld Python Flower that was discovered one thousand three hundred years ago was located at the very end of the Devil Nest?"

"That is right." Grandholme replied as he nodded his head, "Ten thousand years ago, the seven Ocean Palace Ancestors who discovered the Tartarus Burial Grounds also plumbed its deepest reaches. The weakest among them was at the Late stage Legend Realm, but once they had reached the deepest part of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, all of their profound strengths had dropped to the middle of the Sixth Realm and their vitality was being drained away swiftly as well. Afterwards, they ran into the Typhon who was only at the initial stage of the Ninth Level and they were massacred. Only one of the ancestors managed to escape with his life… After that, this ancestor established a law for us. The law was that we were forbidden from entering the deepest parts of the Tartarus Burial Grounds unless we could confirm that Typhon was already dead."

Grandholme was steadily increasing his speed, but the profound energy aura he was releasing was growing weaker and weaker." Typhon is the name the monster shouted out when our ancestors asked him who he was. The he killed all of them, and only one escaped, because typhoon could not bear the sunlight! Then our ancestor's created this seal, sealing this dangerous Yin energy and Typhon as well!"

The radius of the light given off by the Phoenix flames were swiftly shrinking as well.

"So has the death of the Typhon been confirmed?" Percy asked gravely.

"It's only a Ninth Level beast after all.. Even the most powerful Legend Realm beasts only have a lifespan of a few thousands years. So no matter how strong a Ninth Level beast is, it will definitely not have a lifespan that extends past ten thousand years. Even though we have yet to discover its corpse… it should have long ago turned into dust within the darkness." Grandholme replied.

"Are there any clues as to where this yin energy is originating from?" Percy asked, his brows furrowing together as he looked ahead. At the same time, he checked his own profound veins.

The profound energy auras of Grandholme, who was in front of him, Calypso, who was beside him, and Nico di Angelo, who was behind him, were all steadily growing weaker with each passing second. Grandholme's profound energy aura was weakening at the fastest rate, Calypso's aura weakened the second-fastest, while Nico di Angelo's aura weakened at the slowest pace. Now that they had reached the middle of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, Grandholme's profound energy aura had already dropped to roughly the Ninth Level.

Calypso Had dropped to peak of Seventh level. And Nico was still in the late stages of ninth Level.

And the reason why he could so clearly feel the change in their profound strength was because…

His profound veins had not been affected in the slightest!

He did not even find it hard to circulate his profound energy either.

Artemis had indeed been right. Poseidon's profound veins could not be restricted by ordinary means. The Heaven's Might Soul Suppressing Formation would not be able to restrict them, and neither could the Tartarus Burial Grounds!

The suppressive power Calypso was facing was weaker than Grandholme, and it was clear that it was because of her Phoenix bloodline!

As for Nico di Angelo, he was the person who possessed the Tyrannical Emperor's Divine Veins, Granted by the Blood of Hades!

"This is the greatest unsolved mystery of the Tartarus Burial Grounds." Grandholme said as he exhaled, his breathing becoming slightly uneven, "The origin of this dreadful yin energy is something that my Ocean Palace wants to find out more than anyone else. But for the past ten thousand years, we have yet to find the answer to that question. Perhaps the origin of this yin energy is located in the deepest part of the Tartarus Burial Grounds. It is just that the yin energy in the deepest part of the nest is far too terrifying. It will cause a person's profound strength to drop drastically and muddle their five senses. Perhaps even if the Sovereign of the Seas herself came into contact with it, she would unable to remain for longer than twenty breaths. So attempting to conduct a thorough search is a task that is as hard as soaring to the heavens."

As their profound strength grew weaker, the scope of the spirit perception would grow smaller as well. It got harder and harder for them to breathe and their five senses kept growing weaker as well, to the point where they could not even hear the sounds of their own footsteps."

"To think that such a place existed in this world. Sss…" Nico di Angelo said through gritted teeth. The feeling of having his profound strength and spirit perception suppressed was unbearable. It felt as though he had sunk into a deep marsh, and he found it difficult to even move his feet.

"Artemis, have you figured out where this yin energy may have come from?" Percy asked in his heart. There was one thing that had caused him great concern… and that was the fact that Artemis had kept silent ever since they had entered the Tartarus Burial Grounds, and she had not said a single word since then.

"The yin energy in this place…" Artemis's voice grew extremely heavy, and Percy could hear traces of disbelief in that voice as well, "What exactly is going on here!?"  
Percy ground to halt as he quickly asked, "Could it be that there is something irregular about this place?"

"This is something that is far beyond the word irregular!" Artemis's voice was frightfully low and heavy, "Based on strength alone, the aura of darkness in this place isn't too intense, and one might say that it is actually rather weak. But… but if we are talking about the level of this darkness, it is so high that it is frightening."

The words "so high that it was frightening" caused Percy's heart to lurch in his chest. Because these words had been uttered by Artemis herself.

"And as for the principles of darkness contained in this place, they are so profound that even I cannot understand them!"

Within the Styx Soul Inner World, Artemis had a serious expression on her face, an expression that she had never adopted before. Her eyes which flashed with red light contained a fierce disbelief, "This level of darkness energy, I have not even seen it on the plane that I was born in, much less this plane! Just what sort of thing could release such an aura of darkness!"

"…" Those few words of Artemis had shocked Percy a million times more compared to when Grandholme was telling him about the Tartarus Burial Grounds.

"Percy! Leave this place immediately!" Artemis suddenly yelled in a shrill voice, "The situation here is completely out of my expectation! There must be some incomparably terrifying object hidden inside this place! That's the only explanation for this yin energy! Leave immediately and do not bother with the Underworld Python Flower right now! Because even if you…"

"Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…"

At this time, an incomparably sinister laugh rang out from the darkness ahead of them. Ever since they had entered the depths of this place, their five senses were being heavily suppressed. Yet all of them could clearly hear this dreadful sound that sounded like the cackling of demons. It sounded like weeping and laughter all at the same time, and it seeped into their very souls.

"Ah!" All four people came to an abrupt halt. Calypso had let out a cry of alarm as she dove into Percy's chest, "Wha… what was that sound… it's so scary!"

"The… there's someone inside!?" Nico di Angelo said as he leaped forward to shield Percy and Calypso, as all the profound energy in his body surged crazily… However, even though he was Nico di Angelo, at this time, he was unable to combat the feeling of fear that coursed through his body.

Grandholme was greatly shocked by the profound energy that Nico di Angelo had released with all of his strength. At this point, his profound strength had already been suppressed to the latter stages Sixth Level Realm, but the enormous might and pressure that was being released by Nico di Angelo was shockingly belonged to the Middle stages of Ninth Level!

Grandholme's heart was completely flustered… The place where they were at was exceedingly close to the deepest part of the Tartarus Burial Grounds and his own profound strength had already been suppressed by four entire realms, but Nico di Angelo's strength had only been suppressed by Half a realm!

Even though it was only a difference of three realms, it was undoubtedly the difference between the heavens and the earth! Under normal circumstances, Nico di Angelo's profound strength was weaker than Grandholme's, but right now, Nico di Angelo could kill him with a flick of his fingers.

Could this also be another advantage provided by the Tyrannical Emperor's Divine Veins?

"Wait! This sound…" Percy said as he got over his momentary fright. After he had taken the necessary precautions, his face suddenly relaxed as his eyes became filled with a triumphant light. He let go of Calypso and shot forward as he rounded a stone wall.

Immediately, the world before him was no longer pitch-black, instead he could see a bright, pulsing, purple light.

Within this dreadful darkness, Calypso's Phoenix flames had only been able to light up an area that was roughly three meters wide. But the purple light that filled his vision radiated a full hundred meters outwards and it was indelibly burned into Percy's eyes. It seemed as if even the deepest darkness in this world would be unable to devour this purple light.

The purple light gently flickered. However that bone-chilling and terrifying devilish laughter had also come from that purple light.

Percy's heart began to pound in his chest like a hammer and his eyes widened into saucers as he stuttered, "That is… that is…"

"The Underworld Python Flower!" Grandholme's voice rang out from behind Percy.

"Ah? That is… the thing that Junior Brother Percy wants to find!?" Calypso cried in a voice filled with joy and amazement.

"That's right! This is the Underworld Python Flower… The strange bright purple light, the ghostly wail that it emits every time it sways. This is exactly as my teacher described it!" Percy said excitedly as both his hands curled into fists.

For an entire Five years, he had not been able to find a single trace of the Underworld Python Flower. Yet today, he had entered the Tartarus Burial Grounds knowing that it would be a futile attempt, akin to trying to find a needle in a haystack… but who would have thought that he would have such a miraculous encounter!

"Artemis, we found it… we found it!" Intense surprise and excitement had taken over Percy for a period of time. But at this moment, he noticed that something was wrong. Because he suddenly did not hear anything behind him, even the sound of breathing had completely disappeared.

Percy turned around in a flash. To his surprise, he found that Grandholme, Nico di Angelo and Calypso all stood there with slack expressions on their face. Their eyes were completely blank and their pupils dilated and contracted intermittently. It was as if their souls had left their bodies.

Percy's heart was filled with alarm as he rushed over and swiftly grabbed Calypso with his right hand, hugging her close. At the same time, his left hand shot out, releasing an energy wave that shoved Nico di Angelo and Grandholme far away. He roared loudly and frantically, "Retreat! Don't look at the purple light!"

The three of them shuddered simultaneously, as if they were waking up from a dream. Calypso immediately hugged Percy tightly as she curled into his chest, not daring to raise her head again. Percy could clearly feel that her heart was racing. Grandholme and Nico di Angelo practically fell over themselves as they scrambled backwards, and their expressions were ones of stark terror.

"This Underworld Python Flower indeed lives up to its reputation… No! It is far more terrifying than the legends describe it!" Grandholme said as his heart hammered in his chest. His face was green and he was unable to compose himself at the moment. That purple light radiated at least one hundred meters outwards and despite that distance, it had so easily drawn him into this nightmare.

"To think that such a terrifying thing… actually exists in this world!" Nico di Angelo said in a rather traumatized voice, "Is it truly just a flower?"

"What did all of you experience just now? What exactly happened?" Percy asked as his brows furrowed. When Percy had stared at the purple light, he had only felt dazzled for a moment. He had not experienced any abnormality.

"Let's not talk about these things right now!" Grandholme said somberly. He leaned on a wall, not daring to look at the Underworld Python Flower again. Even then, he still had a vague feeling that a pair of demonic eyes were staring at him from some place and his heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would explode at any moment, "Percy! We only have a short hundred breaths! Right now, more than half of that time has passed! Your luck is extremely good. To think that you were actually able to find this dreadful Underworld Python Flower. Moreover, it is in half-bloom as well… Quickly seize this opportunity and retrieve it with the fastest possible speed! If we are not able to leave within the designated time limit, we will all be trapped here and die! There will be no chance of survival!"

"I understand!" Percy nodded his head, and once he had deposited Calypso beside the wall, he yelled out a warning, "Calypso, Nico, lean against the wall! You definitely mustn't turn back. I will harvest the Underworld Python Flower shortly!"

"Junior Brother Percy… you must definitely be careful!" Calypso said in an extremely worried voice. Percy had told her about many of the legends associated with the Underworld Python Flower. But in that brief, horrible instant, she now knew that the dreadfulness of the Underworld Python Flower had far exceeded her wildest imagination.

"Don't worry! Since I dared to come here, I definitely have a foolproof plan as well!"

Percy said this as he rounded the corner, taking more than ten steps towards the Underworld Python Flower. After that, he stopped and just as he was about to call Artemis to go harvest the Underworld Python Flower, he heard Artemis yell sternly, "Were you not listening to what I just said? Immediately leave this place! Don't bother with the Underworld Python Flower anymore!"

Percy was taken aback, "But…"

"No buts from you!" Artemis said in an extremely somber tone, "Haven't you noticed that even though this Underworld Python Flower has already started to bloom, it is only in half-bloom!"

Percy was stunned by those words and he raised his head to stare that at that gently swaying purple light.

Within the deep darkness, the Underworld Python Flower's appearance was still clear for all to see, as if it was right in front of Percy. It was slightly taller than three meters in height, its stem and leaves were greenish-black in color. In the middle of that fantastical bright, purple light, a bewitching flower could be seen. Every petal seemed to be made of radiant purple jade, but the flower bud was still faintly curled up and the petals had not fully unfurled. Even though it had an extremely bewitching and enchanting appearance, it had not fully bloomed yet.

The Tartarus Burial Grounds was a desolate place, and the air was stale and stagnant. Yet the half-bloomed Underworld Python Flower gently swayed as it released a light purple mist that seemed to come from the underworld itself. And from time to time, it emitted that nightmarish sound that seemed to be a mix of both wailing and laughter. It was so sinister that it caused the souls of those who heard it to tremble.

And just as Artemis had said, it had not fully bloomed yet!

Given Percy's knowledge regarding plants and herbs, even though this Underworld Python Flower had not fully bloomed, it looked like it would not be long before it reached full bloom. Perhaps it would take a few more days, or even a few more hours, for it to bloom!

At this moment, the purple light suddenly flashed, and the scene in front of Percy blurred before becoming awash in a sea of purple.

A boundless purple world. It was as if he had stepped into some fantastical wonderland, and it caused his heart to become intoxicated and bewildered. All of the nervousness, apprehension and caution in his heart… seemed to melt away completely along with the rest of the emotions in his heart. He became completely relaxed and he felt as if his body had become as light as a feather. He could not help but desire to float up in the air so that he could fly even deeper into this purple-colored world, to the point where he could become one with this fantastical world…

After being lost in delirium for that brief instant, Percy jerked back to wakefulness. The purple-colored world instantly shattered before his eyes as it morphed into a pitch-black world which flickered with a bewitching purple light.

What a terrifying ability to invade the soul… Percy thought as his forehead was matted in cold sweat and his heart thumped wildly in his chest. A Underworld Python Flower that had not fully bloomed and was nearly one hundred meters distant from him had actually been able to hypnotize him, someone who possessed the Dragon God Soul, for a brief period of time!

If he had drawn close to it, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

Artemis had told him that if he was within thirty meters of the flower, he would be wracked by indescribable pain and if he was within fifteen meters of the flower, he was practically committing suicide… Right now, Percy was completely convinced that these were not words that were just meant to frighten him.

"Even though it hasn't fully bloomed, it is about seventy to eighty percent done! Will the difference be that drastic if you used this instead of a fully bloomed one?" Percy asked in a low voice as he looked to the side.

"It is the difference between the earth and the sky!" Artemis said sternly, "Only a Underworld Python Flower in full bloom can perfectly merge my soul with my reconstituted body. The level of power of a Underworld Python Flower that has not fully bloomed is far from enough and even if you plucked ten thousand of them, they would not be able to perfectly merge my body and my soul. If we attempt to force a merger, I will end up becoming like the current Luke. My body will be wracked with intense pain due to the rejection of my soul and within a few short years, my physical body will die once more and my soul will be destroyed."

Percy, "…"

"No…" Percy clenched both his fists tightly as he spoke through gritted teeth, his expression colored with discontent, "It was so hard for us to even find a clue regarding the Underworld Python Flower… and now it is right in front of us. It is so close to being in full bloom as well…"

"If we miss this chance, the next time it will bloom will be an entire twenty-four years later… Furthermore, we will only be able to enter this Tartarus Burial Grounds five hundred years later…"

How could he let go of this Underworld Python Flower that they had spent seven whole years to find!

"Percy, you better listen up and listen good!" Artemis said gravely, "I desire to obtain a fully bloomed Underworld Python Flower more than anyone else! But right now, even if there was a fully bloomed Underworld Python Flower before our eyes, much less this half-bloomed one, we would still not be able to obtain it! Right now, what you need to do is to leave this place quickly!"

"…Why?" Percy did not understand and he made no move to retreat as well… he could hear the discontent in Artemis's voice and he was just as discontented as well!

"This place is terrifying beyond the boundaries of what you can imagine!" Even though the intensity of the darkness energy in this place is extremely weak, but the level of this darkness energy is so high that even I have never seen it before. If my body and soul were whole, the darkness energy in this place would not be able to affect me in the least, but right now, I only have a spirit body. I don't have a physical body to anchor me so I have no way of keeping darkness energy of this level from eating away at my existence! If I were to materialize my spirit body in this place, I would suffer very serious injuries in a matter of minutes and even my soul origin would receive extreme damage!"

Percy, "…"

"My spirit body was being eroded by that devilish poison for many years and it's only now that I have completely escaped from its clutches. But I am still many times weaker than I would be in my complete state! I will only slowly regain my true strength after my body has been reconstituted. But if my current spirit body is eroded by darkness energy again… the consequence is that I will not be able to ever fully recover! And my spirit may even end up dissipating forever!"

Every single word that came from Artemis's mouth was extremely heavy and they rooted Percy in place.

"So even if that was a Underworld Python Flower in full bloom, I would also not be able to materialize and harvest it. It is even more impossible for you to do it." Artemis's tone grew more serious by the second, "I am not exaggerating anything in the least! For darkness energy of this level to be continuously released for the past ten thousand years, there must be something that is far more terrifying than anything that you could think of that is hiding in this Tartarus Burial Grounds! Even though I am in the Styx Soul Inner World right now, I can still feel my spine tingle in a way that it never has before. Even my spirit perception has been suppressed to a certain…"

Artemis suddenly stopped talking, causing Percy's heart to skip a beat. Then she started shouting sternly, "Hurry up and leave! There is a living creature hiding somewhere above the Underworld Python Flower… and it is looking at you right now! Flee immediately!"

"What?" A jolt of shock raced through Percy's heart and he unwittingly raised his head to look at the ceiling above the Underworld Python Flower but all he could see was inky darkness.

At this moment, Grandholme howled at him from behind, "Percy! What are you doing!? You only have thirty breaths left, if you don't hurry up, you won't be able to make it!"

Percy did not have time to hesitate any further, he quickly turned around and yelled, "We're getting out of here!"

"But that Underworld Python Flower…" Nico di Angelo said as he hesitated for a moment. Because the purple light was still shining and that meant that Percy had not been able to successfully obtain the flower.

"Don't worry about it, let's hurry up and leave!" Percy shoved Nico a long way towards the exit with his palm. He grabbed Calypso's hand tightly and he used the light of the Phoenix flames to guide him as he rushed towards the exit at the fastest speed possible.

"Is that 'monster' following us?" Percy asked anxiously. Because they had just travelled down to his path to reach the deepest part of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, they were familiar with it, so they fled at a much greater speed than when they had arrived.  
"No, it isn't". Artemis replied.

"…" Percy let out a small sigh of relief as a thought flashed through his mind: A living creature that is hiding within the Tartarus Burial Grounds. Could this be the legendary Typhon?

The Typhon should have died more than six thousand years ago. It was not possible for a Ninth Level beast to survive for ten thousand years!

Furthermore, the urgency in Artemis's voice told him that the monster hidden in the darkness was a creature that was too strong for him to fight… So it would definitely not be the Typhon which was only at the Ninth Level.

Just what was it!?

"What kind of monster is it? Do you have any insight as to what it's power level is?" Percy asked.

"It is far bigger than a normal human. And as for its strength… it should roughly be at the Peak of Ninth Level Realm! The caveat being that my suppressed spirit perception might not have captured its power level correctly!" Artemis said in a doubtful voice.

The Peak of Ninth Level Realm… Percy increased his speed yet again as a complicated light flashed in his eyes.

"We still have ten breaths worth of time left. Don't worry, we'll make it." Grandholme said as his voice grew more relieved but his heart was still shaking with adrenaline and fear… When he had spoken to the Sovereign of the Seas, he had told her that he would yank Percy out of the Tartarus Burial Grounds once fifty breaths had passed. He never would have thought that they would be in this desperate situation. If they were not able to leave this place within one hundred breaths, the four of them would all die in this place.

"It's just that Brother-in-law was not able to obtain the Underworld Python Flower." Nico di Angelo said in a somewhat disconsolate voice.

"That was to be expected. Given how terrifying the Underworld Python Flower is, even if the Four Sacred Masters were to join hands to obtain one, they would definitely not be able to survive the attempt." Grandholme said as he sighed. Even though Percy's objective had not been fulfilled, Pontus Grand Society had lived up to its end of the bargain.

Just a few breaths before the opening in the barrier closed, the four companions finally saw a hazy glimmer of light appear in front of them.

"We're at the exit, let's hurry up and get out of here!" Grandholme, who was the furthest ahead, yelled as his figure blurred and he dashed towards the exit.

"Brother-in-law, hurry!" Nico di Angelo yelled, he was hot on Grandholme's heels and the moment he exited the barrier, he turned around, fearing that Percy was lagging behind.

The exit was right in front of them and once they left, Percy would only be able to enter this place again five hundred years from now at the minimum.

Even if he managed to enter five hundred years later, there were no guarantees that they would be able to find a Underworld Python Flower like they had today.

Percy began to slow down. He used both hands to give a mighty shove to Calypso's shoulder, flinging her far out of the opening of the barrier. Then, he stopped right at the opening itself.

"Percy! What are you doing… hurry up and get out!" Artemis had guessed his intentions in a second and her small face immediately went pale.

"Brother-in-law!"

"Junior Brother Percy!"

One breath later, Percy still had not emerged from the opening made in the barrier. Nico di Angelo and Calypso both realized that something was wrong at the same time. Nico di Angelo's expression changed dramatically while Calypso's pretty face lost all of its color as they both rushed towards the opening at the same time.

"Don't worry about me!" Percy roared as he pushed both his arms out at full strength towards the opening. He blew the nearby Nico di Angelo and Calypso, neither of whom could react fast enough to defend themselves, at least three hundred meters away.

"I am going to wait for the Underworld Python Flower to reach full bloom, so I'm going to have to stay here for a few days… Don't worry about me, I have Divine Blood!"

"Junior Brother Percy…NO!" Calypso's teary cry could be heard from outside the barrier.

"Hurry up and leave!" Artemis yelled with such anxiety and fury that it caused Percy's heart and soul to quake, "The laws of space in this area have long ago been distorted by the darkness energy, even the Power of Poseidon…"

Ssssss!

With a sizzling pop that sounded like the discharge of lightning, the opening in the barrier that had lasted for one hundred breaths instantly snapped shut. The entire barrier glowed with a flowing blue light which blended with the barrier. Not even a small scratch could be seen on it presently, much less an opening, as it completely and perfectly separated what was inside the barrier from the outside world.

Percy was Trapped.

A.N.: Yes! We're Talking about the same Typhon that Poseidon Sealed away during the Great War. How is he Here? And what's going on? Wait and watch!


	23. Trapped

**Third Arc: Percy… where are you?**

Calypso was entirely distraught. Understandably, she had accompanied Percy to protect him, but now was entirely helpless to even reach him. Despite the power she had, she was unable to protect him, time and time again. All sh could do was look on as he braved dangers by himself, fighting adversities that she could never even imagine.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amidst ear-shattering explosions, continuously exploding Phoenix flames had dyed a large swathe of the sky and sea a startling crimson. As those frenzied flames fell from the sky, the small islets that came into contact with them immediately turned to magma.

The dreadful sounds and power being displayed had long ago alerted Pontus Grand Society but the Phoenix flames continued to wreak havoc with no signs of stopping and they kept growing hotter and wilder with each passing minute.

"Princess Thunder, please stop! This barrier can't be forcibly blasted open! Even if the Four Sacred Masters were to join hands, they would also not be able to do so!"

Grandholme was at the late stage of Legend Realm. But when he faced these terrifyingly powerful divine flames, he also had no choice but to keep his distance, he even had to keep retreating.

"Junior Brother Percy… JUNIOR BROTHER PERCY!" In front of the barrier sealing the Tartarus Burial Grounds, Calypso screamed as she crazily hurled phoenix fire. But no matter how the Phoenix flames assaulted the barrier, not a single scratch was formed on it. It did not even quiver in the slightest and it would only give out threads of rippling light every now and then.

"Little Sister Calypso, you need to stop at once!"

Nico di Angelo had also been forced to keep his distance. He had wanted to approach Calypso many times but her Phoenix flames were simply too dreadful. In the blink of an eye, he had already been blown half a kilometer away by those Phoenix flames. He could only howl helplessly and anxiously but no matter how he and Grandholme tried to counsel Calypso, they simply could not get through to her.

At this moment, the Phoenix flames suddenly stopped and the firelight that had shrouded the entire island began to wane. Nico di Angelo thought that Calypso had started to come to her senses but just as he was about to advance… An enormous and extremely glaring fire lotus gorgeously bloomed around Calypso.

Boom!

An all-encompassing wave of heat assaulted Grandholme and Nico di Angelo. They both felt a pressure on their chests, as if they had been smashed by a giant hammer that had come from the depths of a fiery purgatory. They fiercely shot backwards and their clothes and hair started to burn.

This was a Star Scorching Demon Lotus performed with all of Calypso's might and it was also the strongest attack that the Phoenix flames could display on this world! It was more than ten times stronger than the strongest Phoenix flames that Percy could produce.

"Little Sister Calypso… hurry up… and stop!"

Nico di Angelo's cries were now tinged with pain. He retreated at full speed. His body felt like it was being wrapped in purgatorial flames as every inch of skin was being burned to the point where the pain was unbearable. It was a long time before the burning sensation finally subsided to a level he could endure. He anxiously extinguished the flames burning on his body as he began to noisily gasp for air. Every single breath that he expelled from his chest was boiling hot.

The Phoenix flames that had been raging for a long time finally began to die down as their light swiftly receded. Nico di Angelo took ragged gasps as he desperately sought to regain his composure. It was only then that he discovered that he had been blasted five kilometers away from the island that the Tartarus Burial Grounds was located in.

Even though he had seen Percy use his Phoenix flames before, he had never once seen Calypso in action. It was only now that he came to the startling realization that this girl, who was as beautiful as fairy and who would tenderly and gently call him "Scary Big Brother" was actually extremely terrifying!

On the other side, even though Grandholme had not been pushed as far as Nico di Angelo, the trembling of his pupils were no less intense than Nico di Angelo's… His profound strength was Much greater than Calypso's, He was at the Late stage Legend Realm. And when it came down to it, he was still stronger than her. But right now, he was utterly convinced that if he were to face Calypso in battle, he would definitely eat a loss!(A.N.: he feels he'll lose. He won't actually lose. He's stronger than her, but her royal aura is immense.)

This was the terrifying awe and pressure of a Divine GodBeast!

The Early Level Eight coupled with the purest Phoenix bloodline and Phoenix flames; it was a power that was definitely able to match the profound practitioners of the Four Great Sacred Grounds who were at the Peak Level Eight Realm!

The light of the flames had completely dissipated but the sea breeze was still boiling hot. It was just that the original island had completely disappeared and the only thing that was left was an enormous ocean-blue barrier shimmering on top of the sea as it sealed off the Tartarus Burial Grounds from the rest of the world. The island that had existed outside the barrier had been completely obliterated by Calypso's Star Scorching Demon Lotus.

"Why did it turn out like this… Junior Brother Percy… Junior Brother Percy…"

Calypso floated above the barrier all alone, her shoulders faintly shaking. She stared at unharmed blue barrier dumbly, her eyes filled with misery and heartbreaking words spilling from her lips.

"Little Sister Calypso, don't be too worried." Nico di Angelo said as he quickly flew to her side. His appearance was quite pathetic, his face and his entire body had been burnt black, his clothes were dotted with innumerable holes due to the flames, and even half of his eyebrows had been singed off. However he bore no resentment towards Calypso. Instead he now liked her even more… Because she had fallen apart on behalf of Percy.

"Brother-in-law is a very clever person… Since he chose to remain inside that place, he definitely has an objective he needs to fulfill and also a method of escape." Nico di Angelo said as he tried to comfort Calypso. But his own palms were soaked in cold sweat and he was so anxious that he felt like his heart was about to burn to cinders.

"But… that place is so dangerous. Sir Grandholme also said that if someone were to be trapped inside there, that person would… that person would…" Calypso sobbed, her voice quivering with barely restrained weeping.

"Don't worry, it will be alright." Nico di Angelo did his best to remain calm and comfort Calypso, "Brother-in-law was the one who made the decision to remain in that place, he wasn't forcibly imprisoned within. So he definitely must be confident that he can get out. Between Brother-in-law and Grandholme, the one you should trust is definitely Brother-in-law! Just now Brother-in-law himself said that he would be out in a few days. Moreover…"

Nico di Angelo quietly ascertained where Grandholme was standing before concentrating his profound energy and sending a sound transmission to Calypso, "Don't forget, Brother-in-law still has a divine bloodline, so he can bend space and travel through it."

The two words "Divine Bloodline" caused Calypso's teary eyes to immediately sparkle prettily. Nico di Angelo's words was not an empty consolation and it helped her confused and frightened heart regain a semblance of calm.

"I also think that there is no need to worry too much." Grandholme flew over from afar. Even though his body was scorched all over, his calm and tranquil attitude remained, "Even though I am convinced that absolutely nobody on this earth can break this barrier, do not forget that Percy's master is an expert who has transcended this world so breaking out of the Tartarus Burial Grounds should be as easy as waving her hand."

"Yes, yes, yes, that is definitely the case." Nico di Angelo quickly went along with Grandholme as he nodded his head vigorously. But his anxiety was not eased in the least… because he was extremely clear that Percy's so-called "master" was fake.

"What just happened!?"

A stern voice echoed from the distant north and at the same time, they could feel a energy wave pressing in from afar. Both the tone and the actions of the approaching person were fraught with anxiety.

Nico di Angelo turned around and saw a blue-robed man flying over at an astonishing speed. Behind him, thirty meter high waves were roaring in his wake as the sea had been agitated by the profound energy he was releasing. And far behind that blue-robed man trailed four people who were all clothed in red.

"Pontus Grand Society's great elder Master Blue!" Nico di Angelo blurted out in surprise.

The four red-clothed people trailing behind him rooted Calypso in place for a while. But after that she excitedly took flight as she went to meet them, "father, Grandfather, and… Great Grandfather!?"

As they saw Calypso come to welcome them, the four red-clothed men also slowed to a halt, their faces showing their great excitement at seeing her again. Aleck Thundre cried out emotionally, "It's Calypso… It's really Calypso!"

Calypso had just used the full power of her Phoenix flames to assault the barrier and in doing so, she had radiated an overly strong Phoenix aura that spread out over fifty kilometers. This had startled the members of the Thunder Dragon clan who were currently staying in Pontus Grand Society. The only person in this world who was able to release such a refined and pure Phoenix aura was Calypso!

After they reached the legend realm, the members of Hope city would leave the city and join a society. Hence even though in reality many legend realm warriors were born in hope city, most of them had already left. Only one warrior remained behind in order to guard the city and this was Grandholme!

In reality, once they broke into legend realm, they would announce that they had died, then leave to join a society. Calypso's Thunder Dragon Aristocratic family belonged to the Thunder Dragon Clan of the Pontus Grand Society. Her Great grandfather and grandfather had broken through into legend realm, then gone away to join the Pontus Grand society. But upon sensing calypso's aura how could they not come see her?

At that point, all four of them dropped everything else and flew towards the south at full speed. Now they had once again been reunited with the Calypso.

"Great Grandfather?" After hearing Calypso's cry of surprise, Nico di Angelo's gaze immediately fell on the Blue-clothed man who stood on the extreme right. He had a head full of white hair and his face was as ruddy as scarlet flames. But his eyes seemed to be two Crackling balls of lightning and just meeting them caused Nico di Angelo's eyes to feel an electrifying sensation.

Little Sister Calypso's great grandfather… Oh that was right! It was the man whom master called the number one person in the entire Thunder Dragon Clan… Zukui Thundre!

Nico di Angelo had heard Spiritual Master Ancient Blue personally mention this person before. He had said that Zukui Thundre's profound strength was already at the Peak Legend Realm one hundred years ago and because of his intimacy with the Phoenix flame, his overall strength was even higher than Spiritual Master Ancient Blue!  
Outside of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, he was also the undisputed number one person in the Gaia Continent!

Zukui Thundre very rarely appeared anymore and even among the Thunder Dragon Clan disciples, very few of them had personally seen him before. But it was not surprising to see him attending this Devil Sword Conference.

"Sir Grandholme, what happened here?"

There was only that blue barrier below which was still shining on the surface of the sea, all the other islets and the island itself had disappeared without a trace. Master Blue's brows twitched violently as his face was colored with shock.

Grandholme made a small gesture before saying, "We didn't meet any great enemy. It is only that Percy is still stuck inside the Tartarus Burial Grounds."

"What!?" Master Blue gasped in astonishment.

"However, it wasn't because he couldn't make out it in time. Rather, he chose to remain inside. Grandholme said, "And after hearing what he said, it seemed like he was unable to harvest the Underworld Python Flower because it had not reached full bloom yet. He decided to remain inside so that he could wait for it to fully bloom."

"This…" Master Blue's face twitched before he said in a deep voice, "This is the Tartarus Burial Grounds we are talking about. If one is sealed inside, the only thing awaiting that person is death! The Sovereign of the Seas has personally said that even she would not be able to last in that place for more than six hours! For him to decide to remain inside there… it's no different from digging his own grave!"

Grandholme shook his head in disagreement, "If it was any other person, that would most certainly be the case. But even though he is a haughty man, he is not so arrogant as to gamble his own life by underestimating the Tartarus Burial Grounds."

He turned around and faced the barrier surrounding the Tartarus Burial Grounds before calmly continuing, "Right now, I am actually very curious to see whether he will really be able to survive for long within the Tartarus Burial Grounds. And whether he will be able to escape this isolation barrier… Also whether he will be able to successfully obtain the Underworld Python Flower that nobody has ever approached and lived!"

Master Blue fell silent.

"However, my anticipation will only continue until this time tomorrow." Grandholme said, "Percy's 'master' may have the ability to transcend the heavens but Percy's strength falls slightly short of the Early Legend Realm and his vitality is far below even that. In a place where even the Sovereign of the Seas is not able to survive for six hours… If he is not brought out by his 'master' within a day, then it is impossible that he will still be alive. At which time, that 'master' of his either does not know of his predicament or simply doesn't exist in the first place."

"Sir Grandholme has indeed reminded me of something. The laws of space within the Tartarus Burial Grounds are very different from the laws of space here. Among these differences is the fact that all Sound Transmission Jade and spatial profound artifacts will be rendered useless in there. If Percy's trump card is to use a sound transmission to get his 'master' to save him or to use a spatial profound artifact to escape this place, then he has truly dug his own grave this time." Master Blue said in a relaxed voice.

"…" Grandholme's brows sank by several degrees and his originally calm face was now creased by uncertainty and pity, "In short, we should return to the Ocean Palace first so we can make our report to the Sovereign of the Seas. We need to devote all our efforts to getting ready for the Devil Sword Conference. We can't afford to be distracted by anything else."

"Yes." Master Blue said as he nodded his head as he turned around to leave. It was not important that the island that the Tartarus Burial Grounds was located on was destroyed. Because the barrier sealing the Tartarus Burial Grounds was absolutely impregnable and indestructible.

"Calypso, why are you here?" Aleck Thundre asked in both concern and agitation. The people with him were Tianwei Thundre, and last but not least… Zukui Thundre!

"I came together with Junior Brother Percy. I did not inform Father because I was not sure if Junior Brother Percy would bring me along. Great Grandfather, you actually came as well, Calypso has already… not seen you for the longest time now." Calypso bowed gently towards Zukui Thundre.

"On the other hand, during the Six months that Calypso was unconscious, I went to see Calypso many times." Upon seeing Calypso, Zukui Thundre's mood had become extremely good. A weak and shallow smile suddenly appeared on his calm and imposing face. After he gave Calypso a few deep and measured looks, the red light in his eyes immediately gleamed even brighter and the smile on his face grew deeper as well. He nodded his head heavily as he sighed, "Calypso, you are truly the precious gem of our entire clan. In just a few short years, your Phoenix profound strength has actually exceeded your own father and grandfather. Perhaps by this time next year, even this old fogey will be left in your dust! Hahahahahaha!"

Zukui Thundre threw his head back in laughter and everyone could hear the immense elation and joy contained in that great laugh. From the moment Aleck Thundre could walk and talk, he had only seen Zukui Thundre laugh four times and every single time he had laughed, it was because of Calypso. This time, his laughter was far more joyous and jubilant than it had been on any of the previous occasions. He took a step forward and bowed as he said, "Grandfather, it has to be said that Calypso's transformation is truly thanks to that Percy. One month back, Percy had shared the burden of the Phoenix Nirvana with me. This event allowed Calypso to attain a true mastery of her Phoenix flames and also caused her strength to soar."

Tianwei Thundre's gaze swept across the surrounding area and he said with furrowed brows, "Calypso, you said that you came here with Percy. Why are you here by yourself right now?"

These words caused Calypso's delicate body to faintly tremble as two tears instantly fell from her beautiful eyes. Even though Percy was the person that she trusted the most in this world, and even though she knew about the existence of the Divine Bloodline… she could not quell the intense fear and worry that gnawed at her soul.

Aleck Thundre and the two other elders were immediately struck dumb.

Aleck Thundre asked Calypso in a low voice, "Calypso, what exactly happened here?"

Calypso bit her trembling lips and it was only after a long while that she could finally speak in a grief-stricken voice, "Junior Brother Percy, he… he is trapped inside the Tartarus Burial Grounds."

"What!?" Tianwei Thundre's and Aleck Thundre's faces immediately lost all color.

The existence of the Tartarus Burial Grounds was known to only one other sect besides the Four Great Sacred Grounds… and that sect was the Thunder Dragon Clan.

"There is no need to be so worried." Zukui Thundre's expression remained calm as he spoke, "I just heard the discussion between Pontus Grand Society's Sir Grandholme and great elder Blue. Percy seems to have chosen to stay behind, so he definitely has confidence that he can escape. Furthermore his master is someone legendary who has the ability to transcend the heavens. So being sealed within the Tartarus Burial Grounds may not end in his death."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Calypso's tears stabbed into Aleck Thundre's heart like needles, so he hurriedly nodded his head in agreement as he said, "Your great grandfather is completely right! If anyone else was trapped in the Tartarus Burial Grounds, it would indeed spell their doom! But Percy is different! Even the Phoenix Nirvana couldn't contain him all those years back. You should follow your father back to the Ocean Palace first and maybe by the time you wake up tomorrow, he will already be out of this place."

Calypso raised a jade hand as she wiped away the tears from her Calypsoy face. She softly said, "I know… I believe more than anyone else that Junior Brother Percy will definitely… definitely come out of there in one piece. So, I will wait here for Junior Brother Percy. Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Royal Father, Crown Prince Brother, Calypso is alright. All of you should return to the Ocean Palace first. Calypso will immediately come and see you all once Junior Brother Percy returns."

"Calypso…"

"You don't need to advise her any further." Nico di Angelo walked over as he said with a serious expression on his face, "No matter what you say, she will definitely not leave this place right now. Return to the Ocean Palace first, I will wait here with her. And once she has regained some of her composure, I will advise her to return as well."

"This man is Nico di Angelo, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary's disciple who possesses the legendary Tyrannical Emperor's Divine Veins! He is Percy's brother-in-law." Aleck Thundre sent a sound transmission to both Tianwei Thundre and Zukui Thundre.

The look in both Tianwei Thundre's and Zukui Thundre's eyes changed drastically once they heard those words.

Aleck Thundre knitted his brows before he let out a soft sigh, "Since that is the case… Calypso, we will be waiting at the Thunder Dragon Palace that is located in the northwest part of the Ocean Palace. If anything happens, you must definitely send a sound transmission to inform us… No matter how anxious and worried you are, your royal father will be even more worried and anxious than you. No matter what, don't be too headstrong and put too many burdens on yourself."

Calypso's eyes grew misty as she said, "Father…"

The four people of the Thunder Dragon Clan departed and Grandholme left along with them. Only Nico di Angelo and Calypso were left in the now quiet ocean region. They mutely stared at the blue-colored barrier, neither of them speaking a single sword for a long time.

"Brother-in-law, you will definitely be alright!" Nico di Angelo tightly clenched a fist as he murmured these words over and over again in his head.

"Junior Brother Percy, Calypso will wait here for your safe return." Calypso placed both hands on her chest and she closed her beautiful eyes, her Snowy lips softly whispering, "If Junior Brother Percy does not return in a day, then Calypso will wait a day. If you don't return in a year, then Calypso will wait a year… If… if Junior Brother Percy never returns, then Calypso will remain in this place forever… so that I can accompany Junior Brother Percy here forever…"


	24. Inside The Tartarus Burial Grounds

**Third Arc: Inside The Tartarus Burial Grounds**

 _-palace of styx-_

Percy had even been trapped in tartarus. So this was absolutely nothing. But his memories were sealed and the fates were eating popcorn as they watched Percy put against his first trial.

"I bet three quid he'll regain his memories while fighting. After all, the person who originally sealed Typhon was Percy's father." Lachesis cackled.

Clotho shook her head." How can our mother chaos's seal be broken so easily?"

Lachesis paused, then laughed." That is true. But I give you ten to one odds, that he's gonna kick the bucket."

Clotho chuckled." Indeed, I don't understand why mother chaos pit him against Typhon so fast. Typhon is a being who is on the level of the gods. Of course, after being sealed by Poseidon, he has lost much of his strength, but he's still a very powerful being."

Atropos chuckled softly." You underestimate that boy too much. He is his fathers son. He will kill Typhon, don't doubt that for a second."

 _-tartarus burial grounds-_

The sealed Tartarus Burial Grounds was blanketed in inky darkness.

For the first time in his life, Percy experienced what true darkness was. The world he was trapped in seemed like a bottomless abyss; there was not a single trace of light or life. In this world of absolute darkness, he could not see anything else, he did not even know where he was and what direction he was facing. His mind was under a lot of pressure and he started to feel a little dizzy.

"Percy… Do you know what you've just done!" Artemis yelled through gritted teeth as her voice echoed in Percy's mind.

"Of course I know." Percy replied as he took a deep breath, trying his best to compose himself. Within the Tartarus Burial Grounds, even drawing breath was several times more difficult than it was normally.

"I had already told you very clearly, there isn't any way that I can materialize to go harvest the Underworld Python Flower in this place. And I was even more clear about the fact that there was no way that you could do it with your current ability. You won't even be able to go anywhere near it, you…"

"I know." Percy said with a somber expression on his face, "I will definitely not question what you have told me. But we have already looked for the Underworld Python Flower for a whole Five years! And during these Five years, whether it was in the Gaia Continent or the Heavenly sword Trial Ground, we have not been able to find even a clue regarding it. Now there is one that is growing in the Tartarus Burial Grounds and it is extremely likely that it is the only Underworld Python Flower in this world! Furthermore, it is right on the brink of fully blooming… so how can you expect me to just give up on it like that!"

"When I saw this Underworld Python Flower, I had an powerful feeling that if we left like this, we might never see a second Underworld Python Flower in our lives ever again. Which also means that you will never be able to obtain a new body." Percy said solemnly, "Furthermore… furthermore, truth be told, I'm not too afraid of that Underworld Python Flower. Just now, even though it was able to enthrall me briefly once I entered within a hundred meters of it, the moment I concentrated I was able to break out of its spell. My condition was far less serious than Calypso and the others. This should be related to the fact that I possess the Dragon God Soul… and if my Dragon God Soul is fully unleashed, it should be very possible for me to resist its ability to steal one's soul. At the very least, let me try it out."

"Foolishness!" Artemis said sharply, "Do you know how big a difference there is between a Underworld Python Flower that has fully bloomed and one that has not? Once a Underworld Python Flower reaches full bloom, its ability to steal your soul will grow at least ten times stronger!

"…" Percy stammered out in a stunned voice, "Te… ten times!?"

"For the past Five years, since I mentioned the Underworld Python Flower until now, I have always asked you to locate one but I have never ever once asked you to actually go obtain one. It is not something that a person from this plane, such as you, can even come into contact with!" Artemis's voice was filled with fury and Percy could well imagine that she was so shocked, upset and frustrated that she could barely contain the desire to smack him so hard that he flew tens of kilometers.

"Are you thinking that if you aren't able to succeed, you will be able to escape using the divine bloodline's power to tear apart space? If you are, then you are truly naive! Having to endure more than ten thousand years of darkness energy which is of such a high quality slowly eating away at it, the laws of space in this place have long since been distorted! You will barely even be able to use your divine bloodline to even bend space to move around in this Tartarus Burial Grounds, much less use it to leave this place!"

Percy, "…"

"Also, I clearly just warned you that there was a living creature hiding in this place! It's strength is at least at the Peak Ninth Realm! Furthermore, to be able to survive in such a dark environment, it is very likely going to be an extremely evil creature! Perhaps you will die under the claws of this foul beast before you can even approach the Underworld Python Flower! And even if you wanted to flee at that moment, you wouldn't be able to!"

"You've basically made your own grave! And this is a grave that even I can't dig you out of!" Artemis yelled in fury.

"Heh heh." At this moment, Percy suddenly let out a small laugh.

"…To think that you are actually able to laugh right now." Artemis said in an exasperated voice.

Percy faintly smiled as he said, "I just suddenly thought of the many times you've scolded me because I always risked my life for women. Every single time, I gave you the same reply. If it was for you, I would also be willing to throw my life away. But you've never once believed me. However, now that we've reached this point, are you starting to believe those words?"

"You…" Artemis's voice ground to a halt immediately.

"Artemis, you've given far too much already. On the other hand, I have never really been able to do anything for you. Even cleansing that devilish poison from your body was only possible due to the existence of the Styx Soul Inner World. I have never ever needed to give up anything or pay any price. Right now, this Underworld Python Flower may be the only hope of you getting a new body. So even if the risk was ten times greater and the chance of success was ten times lower, I would still choose to stay behind."

Artemis, "…"

"Moreover, I was not being completely reckless when I chose to stay behind. I had already carefully weighed the pros and cons in my mind. Our situation is far less dire than you made it out to be. Even though the Dragon God Soul in my body has already become a part of my own soul, because my spirit power is too weak, even I am not able to tell just how strong it actually is. Therefore, it is impossible for you to know either, Artemis. If my will is resolute enough and I am able to draw out even more of the Dragon God Soul's soul power, approaching the Underworld Python Flower is not an impossibility!"

"And even if that living creature that is hidden in the darkness is an evil beast, if it is at the Peak Ninth Realm, it isn't impossible for me to beat it either. Two weeks ago, Luke had around the same level of strength. In the end, not only did I manage to beat him, it was a complete victory!" Percy said in a voice that was brimming with confidence as his eyes widened in the darkness.

"…" Artemis remained silent for a while before viciously spitting out a response, "IDIOT! The reason why you were able to beat Luke was entirely because of Hong'er! You really thought that the present you could be a Peak Ninth realm!?"

"Because of… Hong'er?" Percy asked in a stunned voice.

"Forget it." Artemis said as she gave a faint sigh, "Now that things have reached this point, it would be useless even if I scolded you another ten thousand times. If that foul beast can survive in such an environment, then it means that it must be a creature of the darkness element, so it should also be vulnerable to Hong'er just like Luke was. If that is the case, then you might have the ability to face it in open combat… but it isn't a sure thing! Right now, the first thing you need to do is to get accustomed to this environment so you can remain in your peak state indefinitely!"

Artemis's tone remained stern but she had subconsciously softened it already. Though she still felt that Percy choosing to remain in the Tartarus Burial Grounds to wait for the Underworld Python Flower to bloom fully was the stupidest and most reckless thing he could do, that it was akin to digging his own grave, it had all been because of her this time around… completely because of her.

Moreover, this was a man that she had spent the most time with in her life, the man whom she understood the most. From start to finish, he had always been this kind of person…

"When you're in this place, do you feel a weight on your chest, do you start feeling dizzy and does it get harder for you to breathe?" Artemis asked with surety in her voice.

Percy nodded his head, "Yes. Furthermore, these sensations are far more intense now than when I had first entered this place. Darkness energy is able to devour one's life force and soul, so the sensations that I am feeling right now should be considered quite normal."

"Hmph! The only reason why you are able to maintain your present state is because your life force far exceeds that of a normal person. If it was a normal Level eight practitioner, he would have lost all the strength in his body and he would be teetering on the state of unconsciousness after one hundred breaths. But even with your life force, you still won't be able to hold out in this place for too long. In two hours, you will…" Artemis's voice suddenly stopped and when she spoke again, her voice had become neutral and emotionless, "It looks like I don't need to remind you about this after all. If you dared to stay behind, then you've definitely thought of this as well."

"That's only natural." Percy said as he stuck out his chest, "The origin of energy in this world is the energy of heaven and earth and darkness energy is naturally also no exception. The Great Way of the Buddha could even absorb and transform the energy from the Dragon God's Trial into vitality for my body, much less the Water element found in the Eastern Sea. So it stands to reason that the darkness energy in this place can be absorbed as well! The richer and denser an element is in one place, the stronger the ability of the Great Way of the Buddha to absorb and transform said element into vitality for my body. So it can definitely cancel out or maybe even exceed the rate at which my life force is being eroded by the darkness energy in this place."

Percy's brows twitched as he suddenly asked a question, "The level of the darkness energy in this place truly surpasses your level as well? You said that you would not be able to stop it from devouring your spirit body but why do I not find it quite so terrible?"

"Hmph, didn't I say this just now. The level of the darkness energy is extremely high but its intensity is extremely weak." Artemis said as her voice grew serious once more, "But what worries me the most is that this darkness energy is still clearly in an active state, it has not lain dormant."

"…What is that supposed to mean?" Percy asked.

"It means that this darkness energy is clearly being constantly released from some place. Furthermore, despite the fact that it has been unable to spread due to being completely sealed in this place, it still remains so thin even after ten thousand years have passed… It is highly likely that some dreadful thing that is hidden in this place has been releasing this high level of darkness energy while some other thing has been steadily absorbing this darkness energy! If not, why would the darkness energy in this place still be so thin despite this place being sealed away for ten thousand years and why is the darkness energy still in an active state!?"

"Otherwise, given the level of the darkness energy here, if it were to get dense enough, it is not something that Pontus Grand Society's barrier could seal away!"

Artemis's words sent a fierce jolt through Percy's body. After that, he asked in a low voice, "Could it be… that it is the darkness-element Profound beast that has been hiding in here along?"

"Compared to a mere darkness profound beast, I am much more curious about what exactly could be releasing this level of darkness energy!" Artemis said in a somber tone, "Since we are already sealed in this place, we might as well find out what kind of mysteries are hiding in this place!"

"Just based on this bizarrely high level of darkness energy, the thing that is hidden in this place is far more dreadful and complex than what Pontus Grand Society thinks it is!"

Artemis's words caused the whole atmosphere of the Tartarus Burial Grounds to abruptly change for Percy.

Something whose level surpasses Artemis and something that Artemis called "dreadful"… just what could it be!?

But all of these things were secondary to him right now. What he needed to do first was to get accustomed to this environment. After that… he would use all of his strength to obtain that Underworld Python Flower that was almost within reach, no matter what the cost.

Within the darkness, Percy sat down, calmed his mind and focused his heart. The Great Way of the Buddha circulated slowly at first, but after that, it began to circulate faster. All fifty four of his profound entrances began to gradually open up along with the pores on his body. A thread of extremely refined and pure energy of heaven and earth began to flow into his body like a cool stream, becoming part of his strength and his life force.

A faint Silver pagoda hazily appeared over Percy's head as it began to slowly revolve in place.

In this world that was filled with darkness energy, his life force and profound energy was being swiftly chipped away and even his soul was under assault. At the same time, the Great Way of the Buddha drew out the energy of heaven and earth that was far purer than normal from this darkness energy and it swiftly recovered both his vitality and his profound energy… Gradually, as the golden colored pagoda soundlessly spun, the rate of erosion and recovery easily balanced each other out.

Percy opened his eyes… All of this was proceeding far more smoothly than he had expected.

As such, he could now survive in the Tartarus Burial Grounds, a place that would cause all who knew of it to blanche just at the sound of its name, for a sufficiently long period of time.

After Percy stood up, he raised an arm. With an explosive pop, violent Golden Crow flames sprang to life on his palm. The Golden Crow flames fought desperately to pierce the incomparably dense darkness and they managed to illuminate an area that was roughly ten paces around Percy.

Percy began to move slowly towards the deepest parts of the Tartarus Burial Grounds once more. Given what Artemis had just said, if the darkness energy in this place was not being absorbed by something and was allowed to build up over time, then it could completely… and easily destroy the sealing barrier that Pontus Grand Society boasted was the strongest in the entire continent. But the barrier had lasted for a whole ten millennia, and nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened either…

Could it be because the thing that was hiding in this place… was deliberately maintaining its sealed state!?

As that thought flashed through his mind, Percy immediately trembled in fear.

Within the Tartarus Burial Grounds, even Artemis's spirit perception was greatly restricted, much less Percy's own spirit perception. As he walked towards the deepest parts of the nest, he could not sense anything else besides the boundless darkness. If not for Artemis's warning, he would not even have known about that "living creature" that was hiding within the darkness.

The entrance of the Tartarus Burial Grounds was rather narrow and cramped but the further one went in, the more spacious it got. In the middle segment, the path had already broadened out to an unknown height and width. As Percy neared the deepest part of the devil nest, the area the Golden Crow flames could illuminate shrank drastically. And at this time, an extremely bewitching purple light once more appeared before Percy's eyes.

It was the otherworldly purple light of the Underworld Python Flower!

Percy raised the Golden Crow flames a little higher as he averted his gaze from where the Underworld Python Flower laid. He spoke in a low voice, "Artemis, where is that monster currently located?"

It was a while before Artemis finally responded, "It is still right above the Underworld Python Flower, roughly one hundred meters above it. It hasn't moved from its previous spot. If my spirit perception isn't wrong, its gaze is currently locked right onto you!"

"What about its profound strength? Can you confirm that it's at the Peak Ninth Realm?" Percy asked again.

"…I don't dare to use too much soul power right now, and my spirit perception is heavily restricted in this place, so I am unable to confirm anything. But at this distance, even if there is a difference between its real and currently measured strength, it shouldn't be too big of a difference."

"Good…" Percy murmured quietly before sucking in a quick breath. His face grew cold as he raised his head and looked at the spot that was roughly one hundred meters above the Underworld Python Flower. After that, he spoke in an immeasurably calm voice, "I apologize for disturbing your peace and quiet, Typhon!"

"Typhon?" Artemis said in a voice filled with suspicion, "Are you trying to test it?"

"Not completely." Percy replied seriously, "I just have this feeling that it… should be the Typhon that Grandholme was talking about! Grandholme said that it had died more than six thousand years ago. For the last six thousand odd years, the disciples of Pontus Grand Society who entered the Tartarus Burial Grounds have not found any traces of the Typhon. However, when the four of us first entered this place, it was clearly alive but it did not make a move from beginning to end… So it is extremely likely that its death was always an facade!

"Because it did not need die in the first place! As long as it remained hidden here, even if the Four Sacred Masters themselves entered this place, they would still not be able to detect its existence!"

Two pinpricks of deep gray light suddenly sprang to life in the boundless darkness that was hanging over Percy's head.

Those were a pair of immeasurably dreadful eyes! Percy felt his body and soul fiercely tremble the instant those eyes opened.

"Foolish human! Was the reason you disregarded your own life to remain in this place to beg this king to personally send you on your way!?"

It was not the least bit bewildered that Percy had discovered its existence and its hoarse and raspy voice was filled with a violence and arrogance that caused one's heart to palpitate.

"…So that is to say that you are indeed the Typhon that lived here ten thousand years ago?" Percy asked as his heart leaped in his chest.

Even though Artemis had already told him that there was a dreadful monster hiding in this place, upon seeing it himself, his heart was seized by shock and horror. Because its existence was something that even Pontus Grand Society, who had been guarding the Tartarus Burial Grounds, was not aware of!

"Hahahaha!" That dreadful voice erupted in laughter, "This king has only stated his name once to you humans but who would have thought that you would still remember this king's name after ten thousand years have passed. Even though this king has not seen the light of day for ten thousand years, making a single appearance was enough to plunge you pitiful creatures into an eternal abyss of terror, hahahahaha…"

The Typhon's voice was extremely unpleasant and Percy could barely make out what it was saying. Furthermore, every single word that was uttered from its mouth caused his body to cramp up and its laugh was extremely hard to bear. But the words it uttered had completely admitted to the fact that… it was truly the Typhon that Pontus Grand Society thought was long dead!

That also meant that… it had survived for the past ten thousand years till now!

The strongest legend realm warriors would have died several times over in the space of ten thousand years, yet it still remained despite a whole ten thousand years having passed!

This lifespan was completely inconsistent with logic and common sense!

And it was far stronger than the Ninth Level beast that it was rumored to be!

"To think that it really was this guy!" Percy said to Artemis in a low voice, "It has not passed away despite ten thousand years having gone by, it is definitely some kind of abnormal monster!"

Artemis, "…"

Percy sucked in a quick breath as he regained his composure. He raised his head once more and spoke in a calm voice, "Even though you have never shown yourself in the Gaia Continent, the name of the Typhon has never once been forgotten. As for me, I am merely what you termed a pitiful human being. I have no grudge or vendetta against you, so I definitely do not want to become your enemy. I am here only for the sake of one thing, once I obtain it, I will leave this place immediately. I will definitely not speak a single word regarding your presence… I just spoke out because I wanted to apologize for disturbing your peace and quiet."

It was very clear that Percy had no desire to enter into a deadly struggle with a horrifying creature that could survive in this environment of darkness for at least the past ten thousand years. If it did not obstruct his attempt to obtain the Underworld Python Flower and they both remained amicable to each other… That would naturally be the best result that could be reached.

However, Percy's hopes were dashed just as those words left his mouth.

"You foolish, pathetic and insignificant lower lifeform!" The Typhon thundered, that ear-piercing and soul-scalding voice filled with fury, contempt and disdain. That pair of eyes which seemed like two dark grey abysses suddenly dropped down from the air, "Not only do you have designs on this king's Underworld Python Flower, you're actually still dreaming that this king will let you live!"


	25. Typhon

**Third Arc: Typhon**

 _-Palace of styx-_

 _The fates raised their hands and mumbled an incantation." The devil that was sealed by gods, shall rise and stand against all odds, and face offspring of his ancient foe, both have met yet neither know. He stands with a blade that chaos did make, and upon this weapon his life he doth stake. The ancient bane of the gods rises again, but at the hands of a demigod, he is slain."_

Clotho finished mumbling and then blew onto a small thread. She raised it and looked at both her sisters." This contains both Typhon's life as well as Percy's life. Once it is cut, one of them must die."

Lachesis grimaced and the scissors in her hands went 'Snip'. Their fate was sealed.

 _-Tartarus Burial_ Grounds

Bang!

With a huge explosion, an enormous gray figure landed heavily in front of Percy.

A baleful aura that seemed to come from hell itself assaulted Percy, forcing him to stumble back five steps as he reflexively clenched his fists. From its voice, Percy could tell that it was no more than thirty meters away from him but the only thing he could see in the darkness were those grayish-white eyes. Other than that, he was not even able to make out a hazy silhouette.

It knew that Percy wanted the Underworld Python Flower… Oh yeah! It had already heard the conversation that he had with Grandholme earlier!

Even though the Typhon was close by, he still could not see it. However, Percy did feel a dreadful pressure envelop him as it sought to crush both his body and soul. This pressure was entirely different from any other kind of pressure that Percy had endured in his life. Icy, violent rancor, arrogance and unreal bloodlust… Percy felt a thick wave of negative emotions envelop every corner of this dark world. All of a sudden, he was struck by the dreadful feeling that he was sealed in some kind of hellish volcano and that he was about to face the cruelest punishments imaginable.

"The root of this king's very life and soul had been left in tatters so I had no choice but to seal myself in this place, not daring to see the light of day for ten thousand years! The darkness energy in this place has helped this king slowly recover my vitality and strength and this Underworld Python Flower will be able to restore this king's soul origin! This is something the heavens have blessed this king with. It is the most precious thing to this king in my life! In this disgraceful place, the day on which this flower blooms every twenty four years is the day this king looks forward to the most! To think that a foolish and insignificant inferior lifeform such as yourself would dare to have designs on the object that this king treasures the most!"

When an immeasurably strong existence faced a "pitiful creature," it normally would not even be moved to anything resembling anger. But it was very clear that Percy had touched this creature's reverse scale, something that he definitely should not have done!

The baleful aura which it had suddenly released caused Percy's heart to race but after that, he quickly regained his composure. His eyes turned exceptionally cold as he said, "It looks like… there isn't much room for discussion after all."

Not only was he unable to attain his desired outcome but the situation had deteriorated in the worst possible manner… To think that this Underworld Python Flower was actually the "reverse scale" of the Typhon!

This also meant that if he wanted to obtain the Underworld Python Flower, he would have to kill the Typhon first!

He had to kill a monster that had lived for more than ten thousand years! A monster that was surrounded by boundless mysteries!

"It was rumored that your strength was around the initial stages of the Ninth Level ten thousand years ago. Now a whole ten thousand years have passed, yet you are only at the middle stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm…" Since it had devolved into a life-or-death struggle between them, Percy naturally dispensed with all formalities and courtesies. Instead he gave it a cold smile as he continued, "Even the most ordinary human being could outstrip this pitiful rate of growth! It looks the monster who keeps calling us inferior lifeforms… is nothing much after all!"

"Hahahahaha!" The Typhon was not provoked by Percy's words. Instead, a wild laugh erupted from his throat, "Foolish and pathetic creature, how could you even deign to understand the true might of this king! This king's current isolation is only because the very roots of my life and soul have been wounded! As long as this Underworld Python Flower is not destroyed, this king's vitality and his soul origin will have completely recovered after three thousand more years! When that time comes, this king's body and soul will swiftly recover and this king's strength will grow by leaps and bounds! And at that time, everything in this world will have to bow at this king's feet!"

Artemis, "…"

"Tch." Percy snorted disdainfully, his expression filled with contempt, "I have met quite a few strong people in my life and there's a whole bunch of people who are stronger than you. But when it comes to being boastful and arrogant, I don't think I've met a single person who has beaten you yet. Oh… could it be that you've been crazy from the start? That sounds about right, in this environment of absolute darkness, it wouldn't be surprising for someone to be driven to suicide within a month or two, much less lose their minds. Speaking of that, I have to say that I am suddenly filled with admiration for you. Not only did you not commit suicide despite being holed up in this place for ten thousand years, you're actually doing just fine."

"Heh…" A dangerous chuckle coldly rang out in the darkness as the Typhon snickered, "This king has been able to endure for the past one million years, so what is a mere ten thousand years to me!"

Percy's brows fiercely jumped…

One million years!?

"How ridiculous! To think that this king would deign to waste his breath on a foolish and pathetic lower life form such as yourself!"

Boom!

An icy-cold energy wave exploded outwards as the Typhon's eyes turned from grayish-white to jet black. Around its body, dense black-colored mist gathered. In an instant, all of the darkness energy within the Tartarus Burial Grounds began to stir violently as an evil wind that seemed to come from hell itself mercilessly swept through and began to erode every part of the place.

Percy felt a pressure on his chest but after that he leaped backwards with all his strength, instantly retreating three hundred meters away. The darkness energy that the Typhon had explosively released made him feel as if he had instantly dropped into the pits of hell.

Wooosh!

Percy's left hand blazed with Phoenix flames while his right hand was engulfed by the Golden Crow flames. His entire body was being baptized by fire and his brows were fiercely knitted together. While he had been alarmed and shocked by the darkness energy radiating from the Typhon, for some odd reason, he could not help but feel a familiarity from it that should not have existed…

Familiarity?

"Ignorant lower life form, given your pitiful strength, approaching the Underworld Python Flower would only end in your death. This king does not even need to personally execute you. But at the same time, it would also stain this king's Underworld Python Flower with the dirty and inferior soul lower given off by you humans! So this king has no choice but to personally consign you to the dust within this darkness!"

The boundless darkness had completely camouflaged the Typhon. Percy could not see where it was and could only rely on his restricted spirit perception to sense it. So in this current situation, Percy had already been forced to assume an absolute defensive posture before they had even come to blows.

At this moment, an extremely low voice icily rang out:

"Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx!"

This voice had not come from Percy… instead it was Artemis who had said those words!

These six words caused Percy to be rooted in place while also causing the Typhon to abruptly to freeze in place just as he was about to make an attack.

"Who is it!?" The Typhon roared as its pupils suddenly radiated a hellish, ebon light. This hellish light fell onto Percy's body as it roared once more, "Oh, so that's how it is! Your body houses another soul… and this soul is actually able to recognize this king's devil art!"

"Artemis, what is going on?" Percy asked apprehensively. He finally knew where that odd sense of familiarity originated from… The darkness energy that was radiating from this Typhon was astonishingly similar to the energy aura that Luke had released the other day. It was only that the Typhon's aura was many times denser and purer than Luke's aura had been.

"This monster is neither a beast nor a man!" Artemis's voice was frighteningly low, because the shock and terror in her heart was many times that of Percy's own, "It is extremely likely that this monster is… from one million years ago… during the Primordial Era… it is from the Eternal Night Devil Clan…"

"A devil!"

The appearance of the "Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx" in the Gaia Continent had caused Artemis to sense that something was amiss. The Typhon standing in front of them was extremely likely to be the dreadful truth behind… the "Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx"!

"…!" Even though he had similar suspicions, hearing Artemis utter the word "devil" in an immeasurably somber tone caused Percy's heart and soul to fiercely quiver.

Devils! They lived during the Primordial Era and had dominated the Primal Chaos Realm together with the ancient gods. Their strength, vitality and spirit… were at a level that was far above humanity… and they were an existence that was greater than all other living creatures as well!

But the gods and devils had clearly gone extinct a million years ago!

The dead gods had at the very least left behind their scattered legacies but according to what Artemis had told him, the devils had long ago faded away completely, not leaving a single thing behind.

"Artemis… are you sure?" Percy asked as his heart remained stuck in his throat. If what Artemis had said was correct, then the monster standing in front of him was a terrifying creature of ancient legend that should have been wiped out one million years ago!

"It is extremely likely… The Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx that he had displayed may not have been too powerful, but it was incredibly pure! There is an entire world of difference between the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx it just displayed and the one that Luke used! If one's devil body and devil soul was not pure enough, it was impossible to use such a pure devil art… Furthermore the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx was a devil art that was supposed to have died out along with the ancient devil clan!"

Every single word that Artemis said weighed down on Percy like an enormous and heavy boulder, "The Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx that was used by Luke had very likely come from it!"

Percy, "…"

"Who are you! How could you recognise this king's devil art!?" Artemis's words had not only stunned Percy, they had also stunned the Typhon, causing the darkness energy that was swirling around it to sink slightly. But the black light that was shining in its eyes grew even brighter.

"Hmph, what a joke." Artemis said icily, "Do you think the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx is very rare? Within the Gaia Continent, there are tens of thousands of people who can use the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx!"

Artemis's words were clearly meant to sound things out.

"What a load of bullshit!" The Typhon roared as fury filled his voice, "The Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx is the devil art unique to my Eternal Night Devil Clan, and it is also the only devil art that still exists in this world! Under this sky, other than this king himself, it will definitely not be used by another!"

"Oh really? Since this devil art should solely belong to you, then can you explain how this princess could recognize it at first glance and how I was even able to correctly identify its name!?" Artemis replied icily.

The Typhon was dumbstruck for a short while. But after that, the dark mist around its body began to swirl violently as it become a violent tsunami of darkness, pushing Percy backwards by tens of steps once more. At the same time, Percy could clearly tell that the Typhon's fury was not directed at him.

"Oh so that is how it is… That's how it is!" The Typhon roared in fury, "It was that unfilial son of mine… that unfilial wretch! Not only did he betray this king, he even handed down our clan's supreme and unsurpassed devil art to humans… AHHHHHHHHHHHH! This king… should have torn you to shred all those years ago… TORN YOU TO SHREDS!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Typhon had completely lost control of its emotions and its power had gone berserk as well. The darkness profound energy spread all over the place as it lashed out crazily at its surroundings and deafening explosions blanketed the area.

"What did he say? His son?" Percy asked with bleak eyes as he remained on his guard. But he was completely unable to understand what the Typhon was roaring.

Artemis explained in a slow but low voice, "We definitely need to think of a way to get it to divulge all of its secrets! To think that there was actually another devil hiding in this world! This definitely can't just be categorized as simply an odd occurrence! This is a huge matter that is big enough to shock the entire Godly Realm!"

"If he is really a devil from the ancient devil race and he is really able to recover his strength one day, then… he will bring about a horrifying calamity to the entire Primal Chaos Realm!"

Percy's mind whirled before he shouted out in a stern voice, "Typhon! I can tell you one thing, the 'Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx' that we know of comes from a sword that is known as Riptide! Does riptide belong to you?"

"Riptide?" The Typhon said as he gave a furious laugh, "That is this king's Eternal Night Devil Sword!"

Eternal Night… Devil Sword?

The Eternal Night Devil Sword… so that was its true name!?

"Why is it in the Gaia Continent? Did you leave it behind on purpose?" Percy asked as his brows knit together. As he was speaking, he also began to quietly withdraw all of his concentrated profound energy. Percy did this because he knew that if he made himself seem weak enough, weak to the point where it looked like he did not have the strength to resist and was a dead man walking, it would be much easier to get the Typhon to divulge all of his secrets.

The Typhon's rage had still not dissipated and it seemed like the "unfilial son" he had mentioned was the greatest regret of his life. He roared in nearly uncontrollable rage, "Ten thousand years ago, this king had finally managed to escape the seal, and even though I did not die, the roots of my life and soul were completely destroyed. Anytime my body came into contact with the light of the sun and the moon, I was wracked with unbearable agony. Furthermore, it was highly likely that I would die in that condition so I had no choice but to cower in this dark abyss! In order for this king to find out what was going on in the outside world, I threw the Eternal Night Devil Sword into the outside world! And sealed inside the Eternal Night Devil Sword was this king's unfilial wretch of a son!"

"This king had thought that he would do this king's bidding and be this king's eyes and ears in the world. But this unfilial wretch actually cut off the soul link that he had with this king! He actually betrayed this king! And he even passed down the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx to you lowly human beings… AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"To think that this king actually personally destroyed his devil body all those years ago in order to seal his devil soul into the Eternal Night Devil Sword, all so he could escape death together with this king! But in the end, he wound up betraying this king… That unfilial wretch! THAT UNFILIAL WRETCHED SON!"

The Typhon's emotions were going berserk, and his deafening roars of fury threatened to rupture Percy's eardrums.

"…Artemis, do you understand what he is saying?" Percy whispered as he leaned against one of the walls towards the back.

"Riptide is the Eternal Night Devil Sword that he is talking about, and there is the soul of another devil hiding in that sword!" Artemis said in a somber voice, "However that sword is no cause for concern because if even the Phoenix and golden crow could easily seal it away, it means that its strength is already too weak to even be worth mentioning. Right now, even if the devil soul in that sword hasn't been completely extinguished, it is already teetering on the verge of oblivion. But this Typhon… why is he still alive!? And he was even able to survive to this very day!"

"This planet was created by Poseidon! Since he said that he was sealed away for one million years, it is extremely likely that Poseidon was the one who sealed him away! Since Poseidon had the power to seal him away for so long, then why didn't he just kill this Typhon in the first place? He also just talked about how he sealed the devil soul of his own son into his sword, so that his son could escape death together with him… What exactly is going on here!?"

A living devil, this matter was far more terrifying and serious than a normal person could imagine.

Artemis's voice once again rang out within the Tartarus Burial Grounds, "Typhon! You keep claiming that you are from the Eternal Night Devil Clan and you also keep saying that you've been sealed for a million years. Are you actually trying to tell us that you're a Descendant of Tartarus from the Ancient Era? Hah, how ridiculous! The god race and devil race died out one million years ago, this is a fact that any three year old child within the Primal Chaos Dimension can tell you. So every single word that you've uttered is foolish beyond belief!"

"This king's devil body is not something you lowly humans have the right to call into question!" The Typhon furiously roared back at her, "Yes, the gods fell and the devils died. Half of my Eternal Night Devil Clan died at the hands of the god race, the other half were destroyed by that scythe wielded by Kronos! Only this king survived! That damned Poseidon, he was clearly struck by the Blade of Kronos and was severely injured', yet he was still able to survive for so long after that. He was even able to use the remainder of his strength to seal this king into this lowly place!"

"…It was just as you had guessed! He was sealed by Poseidon!" Percy whispered to Artemis.

Artemis, "…"

"This king was sealed away for one million years… A whole million years!" The Typhon continued to howl in fury, as if he was giving vent to the berserk rage that was caused by his "unfilial son", "That damnable seal is eating away at this king's devil body and devil soul every second! This king originally believed that he would die due to Poseidon's seal but who would have thought that the seal's power would suddenly run out ten thousand years ago. That not only left this king with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin, it also gave me back my freedom!"

"…" The Typhon's words caused a flash of doubt to cross Percy's mind… Normally speaking, after being released from a seal, a person would say that "I had regained my freedom, but was left with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin after that", but what the Typhon said was, "This not only left this king with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin, it also gave me back my freedom."

So his words seemed to express that he did not have any freedom before he was sealed by Poseidon.

However, this doubt did not linger in his mind, because he knew that it was very likely only a difference in the way the Typhon expressed himself.

"That Poseidon would never believe that the seal that he exhausted all his strength to set was not able to kill this king… What's more, he himself lies dead one million years in the past, hahahahaha!" The Typhon's rage turned into wild laughter, "It is truly heaven itself which has protected this king. Heaven itself which has protected my bloodline!"

"Poseidon sealed this king in this incomparably inferior world for one reason. It must have been to ensure that if the day came where this king managed to escape his seal, I would be unable to regenerate my broken devil body and devil soul and the only thing I would be able to do was wait for death to claim me! He definitely would never have dreamed that a group of foolish, lowly humans would actually create a perfect barrier for this king. Not only did it completely obstruct the light of the sun and the moon, it also prevented this precious devil energy from dissipating, leaving it completely for this king's use! And what was even more marvelous was that a Underworld Python Flower was actually birthed in this place… So I could absorb this devil energy to recover my life force and I could consume this Underworld Python Flower to recover my soul origin. All of these things fell into place perfectly. It is clear that the heavens themselves are helping my Eternal Nyx Devil Clan to once again establish the reign of the devils!"

"!" At this point, Percy fully understood what the Typhon was saying.

The Typhon… A devil that Poseidon had used the last bit of his strength to seal away before he himself had fallen! The seal lost its power ten thousand years ago, allowing the Typhon to regain his freedom. But at the same time, the seal had been eating away at him constantly for one million years. So even if he managed to escape the seal, it was just a matter of time before he met his own end.

But as it happened, he was discovered by the founders of Pontus Grand Society not long after he had escaped his seal and so a barrier was erected around him… which simultaneously created the most optimal place for him to recover!

Furthermore, due to the accumulation of darkness energy, a Underworld Python Flower had been birthed in this place!

The Pontus Grand Society had wanted to seal away this dreadful devil energy and the Typhon along with it… But it had unwittingly saved him!

On the other hand, if not for this barrier, that terrifying devil energy that seemed to come out of nowhere would spread towards the Gaia Continent and the consequences of that were unthinkable.  
Just as Artemis had said, compared to the Typhon, the object that continuously released this devil energy was far more terrifying!

Artemis replied in a cold voice, "All those years ago, even Poseidon died due to the Scythe of Kronos, Backbiter, why is it that you were the sole survivor!? Moreover, sealing you for a million years would be far more difficult than killing you. So why did Poseidon choose to exhaust all his remaining strength to seal you away rather than simply killing you?"

"Heh." The Typhon gave a sinister chuckle and at this moment, his fury had begun to abate as well, "Because the Scythe of Kronos, Backbiter is not able to kill this king! And Poseidon is even less capable of killing this king!"

"Why couldn't they kill you!?" Artemis pressed on, " Even if you are the king of the Eternal Night Devil Poseidon, the Creation God known as Zeus, and Hades had fallen!… so why are you the only one that is still alive!?"

Boom!

The Typhon did not reply. As he regained his composure and his rage died down, the darkness energy around his body flared to life once more as a bone-cutting, icy aura heavily locked onto Percy. As he advanced, the entire Tartarus Burial Grounds began to fiercely tremble, "Since you are so eager to know the truth, then you can ask that damnable Poseidon after I've sent you to hell! Lowly and pathetic humans, if you had been trapped in here by accident, this king wouldn't even bother lifting a finger. Instead, I would let the devil energy in this place consume you. But you dared to lust after this king's Underworld Python Flower… So prepare yourselves, as this king will grant you the cruelest of deaths!"

A.N.: lets just keep cheering for Percy okay. And hope for an awesome fight. Also reviews!


	26. Percy Vs Typhon

**Third Arc: Percy Vs Typhon**

"Be forever consigned to dust in the darkness!"

The Typhon took a step forward. Immediately, the entire Tartarus Burial Grounds began to quake. The dark mist around his body billowed crazily as it transformed into a giant wave of darkness energy and surged toward him.

Absolute darkness and extreme cold engulfed Percy like a boundless, inescapable, abyss. In front of this wave of darkness energy, Percy felt his body becoming rigid and he felt like dust in front of a tidal wave that reached the heavens. He was not able to attack with the Golden Crow flames he had gathered up as every cell in his body screamed for him to "escape"! If he dared to face it head on, it would only end in his complete and total destruction.

This was the first time that an attack caused his very soul to tremble in fear before it even neared his body.

Percy abruptly bit the tip of his tongue as he activated both Moonlight Flash and Extreme Mirage Lightning at the same time as he darted backwards, quick as lightning. As he was making his swift escape, he felt his back smash heavily against a wall that he had no way of seeing.

Boom!

The Tartarus Burial Grounds shook again as the wave of darkness exploded at the place where Percy had been stonewalled. The exploding darkness energy seemed to spread out like a horde of evil spirits.

The interior of the Tartarus Burial Grounds had been saturated by darkness energy of an extremely high level for an entire ten thousand years. Every inch of its walls and every grain of sand within had become incomparably durable and it also had an immeasurably strong resistance against darkness energy itself. Even though it was being impacted by this peerlessly terrifying darkness, no dust flew in the wake of the attack and the wall itself merely shook but did not collapse.

Even though Percy had not been caught by the Typhon's exploding darkness profound energy, the icy cold aftershocks caused his whole body to be wracked by unbearable pain. His brows knitted together tightly as he took big gasps of breath. After facing the Typhon's first attack, his heart instantly sank to the bottom of his stomach… Both individuals were at the Peak Ninth Realm and both of them also wielded the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx but just based on the darkness profound energy that the Typhon had used in his attack, he was at least several times stronger than Luke!

Furthermore the icy cold might and pressure that were emanating from his body were at least one hundred times more stronger than Luke's!

Even when he faced the Sovereign of the Seas, the might and pressure that he had felt was vastly inferior to the Typhon's.  
Because, it… was a devil from ancient times after all!

"Percy, you better listen up and listen good!" Artemis yelled in an extremely serious tone, "This Typhon! No matter what tactics or trump cards you have to use, you must use all your strength to kill him, even if you have to put your life on the line! Only your strength is not restricted by the dark devil energy in this place! So you are the only person who can kill him on this Blue Pole Star! Otherwise, the day he fully revives is the day the entire Gaia Continent and all the living creatures on this world experience a catastrophe beyond imagination!"

"Heh, right now, I have no time to care about a catastrophe." Percy's hands tightened into fists as he barked out a miserable laugh filled with self-mockery, "If I'm unable to kill him, then I'm dead meat. So I have no choice but to put everything on the line anyways… It's only that this time, there really isn't any chance of victory."

Because the monster he was facing was a devil from ancient times!

In the million years since the fall of the gods and devils, Percy was astonishingly the very first person who had crossed arms with a devil in the entire Primal Chaos Realm!

"If it was just you alone, then you'd indeed be as good as dead, as you wouldn't have a Snowball's chance in hell of beating him." Artemis said in a deep voice, "But if we add in Hong'er… then we might just have a chance!"  
"Hmph, what a pitiful struggle!" The Typhon stretched out a pitch-black arm as a cluster of dark mist coalesced in front of him. After that, it started to pulsate like an enormous living organ. After the Typhon stretched out his finger, the dark mist fiercely tore itself apart as it shot out a thousand bolts of black lightning that stormed in Percy's location. Every single bolt of dark lightning was as slender as a needle but the might contained within each bolt of lightning caused all the hairs on Percy's body to stand on end as he instantly went pale.

"Don't even think of trying to break that attack, dodge all of them! If you are hit by any one of them, the darkness energy contained within will directly harm your soul!" Artemis yelled out an urgent warning.

Percy did not even stop to think about it. He clung to the side of the Tartarus Burial Grounds's walls as he once again activated Moonlight Flash and Extreme Mirage Lightning to escape from this attack at the fastest speed possible.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…

The dark lightning tore a thousand holes in the air before it collided against the stone wall with an ear-splitting wail. At the same time, vicious currents of dark energy spilled from the dark lightning uncontrollably. Many stone walls were scattered within the Tartarus Burial Grounds, so as Percy fled backwards with all his might, all of the dark lightning was soaked up by the stone walls… Despite the dreadful power that was contained by each bolt of dark lightning, power sufficient to easily pierce through Heavenly Firm Jade, none of these lightning bolts were able to penetrate a single stone wall in this place.

These stone walls that had been saturated by darkness energy for ten thousand years had clearly become a protective umbrella for Percy as he fled pathetically.

"Hah… hah…" Percy gasped violently as he leaned heavily against a stone wall, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Once he had managed to compose himself, he realized that the two attacks made by the Typhon had pushed him from the depths of the Tartarus Burial Grounds to its middle.

If this continued, he would simply flee until he was rendered unable to flee.

"This can't continue…" Percy mumbled through gritted teeth as he stared in the direction of the Typhon, "Merely escaping is completely meaningless in this place… I'll just have to put it all on the line, no matter what!"

"Ah, this has truly shocked this king! To think that a pathetically weak and inferior lifeform such as yourself could escape this king's punishment twice in a row. But it is such a pity, because you are not qualified to become a plaything for this king. So this time, even if you have ten more lives, even if you are ten times faster, you will disappear forever! Not even a single bone will be left behind!"

The Typhon's voice seemed near and far as it rang out from within the boundless darkness, making it hard for Percy to get a lock on his position. He gritted his teeth hard as he suppressed the terror that was welling up in his heart…

"Divine Sea Transformation!"

With a low roar, all of the profound energy in Percy's body explosively swelled up as the pupils of his eyes and the surrounding profound energy instantly turned a Blue Green.

"Burning Sun Rupture!"

Percy darted out from behind the stone wall as blazing Golden Crow flames frantically ignited and exploded with full force towards the onrushing Typhon.

Boom!

When the onrushing Typhon was still sixty meters away, the Golden Crow flames abruptly ruptured, but these rupturing flames of destruction did not release the power of the Golden Crow flames which would reduce everything to nothingness. Instead the flames were quickly extinguished within the darkness as they faded away. Within the short span of a single breath, everything was plunged into pitch-black stillness once again.

"Wh…at!" Percy said as he gritted his teeth fiercely.

"This is truly a meaningless struggle." The Typhon said with icy contempt and mockery, "If it was the flames of the Vermillion Bird, this king may feel the slightest hints of trepidation. But these lowly Golden Crow flames are merely a pitiful joke!"

"…" The fact that the Typhon was an ancient devil was confirmed yet again! Not only had he identified the flames as Golden Crow flames with a single glance but he also did not show the slightest bit of amazement at seeing them.

At this moment, the Typhon's aura abruptly grew thick and heavy as the expression in his eyes fiercely changed as well… because he had felt the change in Percy's profound energy and he had also noticed the strange profound light which glowed around him.

"Poseidon… Arts!" The Typhon said in a voice that trembled suddenly. But after that, it morphed into a roar of pure fury and rage, "You actually inherited the powers of Poseidon… AHHH! THEN YOU DESERVE TO DIE EVEN MORE! EVEN MORE!"

"This king has sworn countless of times that the first thing I had to do when I saw the light of day again was to destroy every single trace of Poseidon left in this universe!"

"So you, the human who who has inherited the power of Poseidon! This king will consign both your body and soul to oblivion forever!"

The seal had lasted for one million years and what was accumulated had been one million years of resentment and rage against Poseidon!

The moment he had felt Poseidon's power on Percy's body, all the resentment that festered within the Typhon erupted like a raging volcano. In a single instant, his fury caused the entire Tartarus Burial Grounds to shake and it was a million times more intense than the fury he had previously directed towards his "unfilial son".

The Typhon roared once again as he suddenly took to the air. He shot a claw out towards Percy and a thick and dense darkness that seemed to come from a devil god that dwelt in the depths of a deep abyss shot out from his body to engulf Percy.

He wanted to use that darkness energy to imprison Percy before using his bare hands to personally tear Percy into bits and pieces. All so that he could give vent to the million years of anger and resentment he held against Poseidon.

Percy steeled himself as he tried to push aside his fear and desire to flee but the dread that welled up in his soul and his body's instinctual desire to cower in fear was incomparably intense. The pressure from this devil simply wasn't something a mortal's body could bear. Percy being able to endure up to this point was already difficult beyond belief.

"I have to put it all in the line… The only choice I have is to put it all on the line! If not, the only thing that awaits me is a meaningless death!"

His body was still being wracked by uncontrollable trembling and he gritted his teeth so hard that he had nearly broken a few of them. However, the dread in his heart instantly turned into a violent rage…

"Hong'er!"

A vermillion light shone as the Heaven Smiting Sword appeared. Percy's body shot into the air at the same time as he braced to meet the darkness energy that he could not possibly resist. While he gave vent to his emotions with a great roar, he poured all of his energy into the Heaven Smiting Sword without reservation as he smashed it towards the boundless darkness before him.

It was also at this exact moment that Percy suddenly saw the absolute darkness clearing before his very eyes.

The body of the Heaven Smiting Sword released a vermillion light that Percy was quite familiar with. In this world of darkness, that the Golden Crow flames could barely illuminate, the vermillion light that emanated from the Heaven Smiting Sword was actually able to pierce through the darkness around Percy… it revealed the approaching whirlpool of darkness… and even managed to light up every corner of the Tartarus Burial Grounds!

It even clearly revealed the full appearance of the Typhon to Percy as well!

At the same time, he felt the all-encompassing, unconquerable fear that he held towards the Typhon, which had captivated his heart, suddenly disappear. It had disappeared completely, he even felt that the vortex of darkness which sped to engulf him had become far less dreadful. Even the dark might, which radiated from the Typhon, had become less heavy.

What's… this?

All of these changes had occurred the moment Percy had put his life on the line and rushed forth with the Heaven Smiting Sword. It was just that Percy did not have the time to be amazed by these changes or even think about them. Because in the very next instant, the Heaven Smiting Sword had heavily collided with the vortex of dark energy that had been conjured by the Typhon.

The instant the sword blade approached the vortex of darkness, Percy clearly saw the originally raging and surging vortex of dark energy become sluggish… or perhaps it would be better to say that it had curled up in fear!

Rippppp!

The dreadful vortex of dark energy was sliced cleanly in two by the Heaven Smiting Sword, as if it was simply a pitch-black curtain. The dark devil energy that rushed out did not attempt to rush up and devour Percy. Instead, it curled back as if in fear before twisting backwards as it fled desperately… as if it had come face to face with the one thing in the world that it feared the most.

The incomparably dreadful vortex of darkness had been dispersed with a single blow. Percy stared at the now empty space in front of him with with blank eyes as he could barely believe what he had just witnessed. The Typhon was equally stunned. He stopped in place as both of his eyes fell heavily on the sword in Percy's hand. The gray light in his pupils grew incredibly frenzied as he gasped, "That… that is…"

At this time, Percy finally came back to his senses. His heart no longer felt any fear or pressure as he used Moonlight Flash to appear in front of the Typhon, smashing the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword down fiercely on the Typhon's chest.

The Typhon was in shock as he was struck by Percy's attack.

"ARGGHHHHHHH!"

A hoarse and shrill cry blanketed the entire Tartarus Burial Grounds. Even though Percy's blow had been hastily struck, it still carried the force of a tremendous amount of weight and sent the Typhon flying.

Percy did not give chase. He only stood there, rooted in place… All he heard was the Typhon's shrill and miserable wails, which did not die out until a long time later.

An ancient devil who could endure a seal that lasted a million years, who had a mighty devil body had actually let out such a shrill and miserable wail after being struck by Percy's sword… It was as if he had suffered the cruelest punishment in this world.

The Typhon's pitch-black body heavily smashed against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away before it flopped to the ground. But he did not stand up. Instead, he began to roll on the ground as he let out cries that spoke of incomparable agony… As for the place where the Heaven Smiting Sword had struck his chest, it was astonishingly marked with a vermillion red wound. The vermillion light radiating from the wound was exceptionally glaring and it did not fade for a long time after, as streams of pitch-black blood poured out from within.

"Devil… devil slayer… sword!"

The Typhon's voice had been warped by pain but the three words "devil slayer sword" had clearly been uttered with deep dread.

Percy stared blankly at the scene in front of him. The Tartarus Burial Grounds was no longer a world of absolute darkness. It had now become completely stained in vermillion light. And the Typhon who was incomparably terrifying was now mewling in pain as he laid curled out up on the ground… Percy bent his head to look at the vermillion greatsword which was all too familiar to him with a dazed expression on his face. Yet at this moment, it almost seemed to be a stranger.

"Hahahahaha, that was the case after all!" Artemis crowed triumphantly, "The moment an ancient devil is wounded by a devil slayer sword, the pain it endures is a thousand times greater and the time the wound takes to recover is also ten times slower than usual! So devils who are more pure than others will fear the devil slayer sword even more!"

"So now, you should know why I said that as long as you have Hong'er around, there is still a chance that you can beat this Typhon!"

"So you're saying that the reason why I was able to defeat Luke so easily was also due to Hong'er?" Percy asked in astonishment.

"Hmph, what do you think?"

"…" Percy immediately grew depressed. Since he had beaten Luke, he had always thought that his strength had reached the stage where he could go toe to toe with a practitioner of the Peak Ninth Realm. But to think that it was actually because of Hong'er!

It was no wonder why the darkness profound energy that Luke had used during their duel was far weaker than the exceedingly terrifying aura that had radiated from his body… At that time, he had already found it exceedingly strange but he had not thought of Hong'er at all. Instead, he guessed that it was because Luke was unable to obtain complete mastery over the darkness profound energy which had come from an external source.

Under the vermillion light emanating from the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, the originally inky dark interior of the Tartarus Burial Grounds became incredibly clear and Percy could even see the small pebbles at the corners of the nest. He naturally could also see the full appearance of the Typhon… He was nearly five meters tall, black light radiating from his body. The Typhon's skin was a deep gray color while his hair was bone-white, trailing all the way to his feet.

At first glance, besides the Typhon's enormous build and the dusky hue of his skin, his appearance was basically no different from a human's. Having been tortured by a seal for a million years and having to hide from the light of day for another ten thousand years, Percy had thought that the Typhon would be exceedingly ugly and look as old as a ghost. To his surprise, the Typhon's features, while warped in pain, were exceptionally handsome, from a human's perspective. Furthermore, he did not look much older than a thirty year old man.

"It… it can't be… it can't be a devil slayer sword!"

The Typhon finally stood up, but he remained in a hunched posture and the gray hand that he held to the wound on his chest continued to tremble. Percy could still see that vermillion light leaking out from between the gaps of his fingers and it did not seem to be weakening in the slightest.

"The Sword Spirit God Clan… were the first clan of gods to be wiped out… So it isn't possible that a devil slayer sword still exists in this world!" The Typhon exclaimed in a voice that was still filled with pain. Besides a devil slayer sword, nothing else in this world could inflict a wound that would torment a true devil body for such a long period of time, despite only being only half a foot long.

"The sword light…" The Typhon's eyes widened as he let out a sudden howl, "Devil slayer swords emit a white-colored sword light… That isn't a devil slayer sword! Just what sword are you holding in your hands!? Where exactly did you get such a sword!?"  
Artemis, "…"

"Hmph, you don't need to concern yourself with where my sword came from. The only thing you need to know is that you will die at the hands of this sword… and that is enough!" Percy hefted the Heaven Smiting Sword, his expression no longer containing the slightest bit of fear or desire to flee. Instead, he looked supremely confident at the moment and his lips curled into a cold smile that spoke of his impending victory.

Artemis could naturally feel the change in Percy's attitude and she spoke out abruptly, "Aren't you getting a bit too overconfident right now? The Typhon only used half his power at most when he launched that attack at you. Furthermore, the only reason you were able to wound him at all was because you caught him off guard. Even though Hong'er's power is able to heavily restrict his own power, it definitely doesn't mean that your victory is assured! His powers are far more robust and stronger than your own! And it is absolutely sufficient to overcome the disadvantage that Hong'er has put him at."

"I know." Percy said as he gripped the Heaven Smiting Sword tightly but his voice still contained more than a hint of excitement, "I can roughly gauge his strength right now. The first thing I felt when I faced him was an overwhelming dread that I wasn't able to overcome at all. But after I summoned out Hong'er, for some inexplicable reason, that feeling completely disappeared. And right now, I don't feel the slightest bit of fear. Rather… I feel even more relaxed and excited than when I faced off against Luke."

Artemis, "…?"  
This was indeed strange. It was true that holy power and devil power mutually repulsed and restricted each other but Percy did not have a holy body and he did not possess any holy powers either. Furthermore, it was Hong'er's presence alone that was restricting the Typhon's devil body and devil powers.

But that was only his devil body and devil powers! It would not affect his soul!

No matter whether it was strength, spirit or species, the Typhon was far above Percy. So without even discussing the Percy who was currently far inferior to the Typhon, even if both of them were equal in terms of power, Percy would definitely still be suppressed, especially when it came to the suppression of his soul… The overwhelming terror that Percy could not shake was the most ordinary and expected outcome.

So why had Percy's fear completely disappeared and why was he able to radiate such a fierce and aggressive aura? On the other hand, it was the Typhon who… If it was a god who was on the same level as him holding a devil slayer sword, then perhaps he might feel fear. But right now he was facing a Percy whose power was far inferior to his, so why was he feeling such an intense dread?

From all the records of the devil slayer swords and from all his memories of them, it had never once been mentioned that they could also suppress a devil's soul.

Oh right, Hong'er was not simply a normal devil slayer sword! The light she radiated when she transformed into sword was completely different from the light that the fabled devil slayer swords emitted…

But being able to create such a huge suppressive effect on a devil's soul that practically transcended levels… Such an item should not even exist in this world! Whether it was the records of the Primordial Era or any inheritance of memories, there was no mention of such an item… given the level that the gods and devils existed on, it was not possible for such a thing to exist.

Unless… it was a higher order devil or god who was facing a lower level devil or god… But that was purely a suppression based on the order of things!

"…" The abnormally fierce and exuberant expression displayed on Percy's face caused Artemis to go into deep thought.

"Very good!" The Typhon's face was warped by fury. He slowly straightened up and began striding towards Percy, "It is indeed not important for this king to concern myself with that sword! Because the conclusion will be the same regardless! To think that a lowly and inferior creature such as yourself could actually inflict such pain on this king… Unforgivable!"

"This king will grind all your bones into dust!"

As his voice fell, all of the dark energy surrounding the Typhon began to surge and roil. He was only about one hundred steps away from Percy as well. He had originally believed that every step he took towards Percy would be like the footfalls of death itself as it pressed on in this lowly human, causing his entire body to tremble with fear, his courage to completely melt away and ultimately ending with Percy turning tail to flee… But right now, the only thing he saw was the cold smile that played across Percy's face and even as he pressed in, no fear appeared on Percy's face. Instead his gaze grew more fevered and excited and even his profound energy aura grew incredibly frenzied.

On the contrary, it was the Typhon who felt like his heart was being weighed down by one crushing boulder after another with every step he took. Furthermore, the light radiating from Percy's sword was especially unbearable, it caused him immense discomfort and he did not even dare to look at it directly. This natural repulsion he felt towards the light that he recognized as a great threat to his own life and soul origin continued until he suddenly focused his gaze on the sword. At the same time, the full appearance of that vermillion greatsword and the light that it emitted was completely absorbed into his mind…

At that instant, his feet completely froze and his pupils widened so much that it seemed like they would rupture.

"Heaven… Heaven Smiting Tartarus Chaos God Sword!"

Artemis, "…!?"

Thump…

The moment the Typhon started to shiver in fear, it seemed as if all of his strength had slipped away as he sank to his knees, his body trembling violently like a sieve. It was as if he had witnessed the most terrifying and unbelievable scene in this world!  
This bizarre behavior and reaction was one hundred times more intense than when he had shouted out the three words "devil slayer sword"!

"F-forgive me mother chaos! Forgive me!" Typhon bowed his head, trembling intensely." I have done great wrongs! Forgive me! No no!" tartarus began screaming like he was being tortured.

 _-Palace of nyx-_

"oh look" Clotho commented coolly." Typhon has finally realized that Percy's sword looks exactly like the sword mother chaos and Tartarus combined to form."

Lachesis sneered." And look,all his bravery drained away faster than misery's tears."

Clotho laughed as well." But just because they look the same doesn't mean Percy can defeat him. After all, he hasn't even' claimed' the sword yet!"

 _-Tartarus Burial Grounds-_

"What's going on now?" Percy had already been prepared to launch an all-out assault. But he had never expected the Typhon to suddenly become scared witless. His brows twitched as he stared at the dazed Typhon… Could it be that this fellow's wits had been completely scrambled because he had been alone for too long?

"He just yelled out a name… Heaven Smiting Tartarus Chaos God Sword? Yes?" Percy suddenly exclaimed, "Oh right! Besides the two words 'devil slayer' that is inscribed on the sword that Hong'er transforms into, there are also two other words, 'heaven smiting.' At first, he called it a 'devil slayer sword,' then he called it the 'Heaven Smiting Chaos God Sword.' When you put those two names together, it really fits the sword that Hong'er transforms into. Could it be that he knows about Hong'er's origins? After all, like Hong'er, he also hails from the Primordial Era!

"…Now is not the time to worry about these things!" Artemis shouted in a rather strange voice but she did not address Percy's doubts, "Remember what I said just now, do not hold anything back, use all your trump cards and pay whatever price you have to because you definitely need to kill this Typhon!" Right now, his devil body and powers are being restricted by Hong'er. Furthermore, he threw his own weapon into the Gaia Continent, so when it comes to weaponry, you have the absolute advantage… Put everything you have on the line! It is definitely possible for you to kill him!"

"Alright!" Percy swiftly cast all other thoughts aside as his killing intent surged and flames ignited all over his body.

"Im… Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!" The Typhon howled hysterically but it was almost as if he was talking to himself at the same time, "Appearance… exactly the same… and this devilish might… No! It isn't possible… it definitely isn't possible! The color isn't the same… and even if it is… then how come it is also able to exude the aura of a devil slayer sword…"

At this moment, the Typhon's head suddenly jerked up as he roared at Percy, "That sword… just what kind of sword is it, where did it come from!?"

He had just yelled that the origins and history of that sword was not important… But at this moment, he repeated the words that he had shouted at Percy initially and this time, his voice was even more frenzied.

"You talk way too much!" Percy replied coldly. After that, his body blurred as he rushed towards the Typhon, "Why don't you just ask King Yama when you see him in hell!?"

Percy's words caused the devilish light in the Typhon's eyes to burn brightly. To think that he showed such a pathetic and cowardly face to a human being, just thinking about it caused his temper to boil over. "This king will cripple you first, then search your soul!"

He had changed his mind and decided not to kill Percy… It was clear that he simply had to figure out what was going on with the vermillion greatsword that Percy held in his hands!

All of the devil energy in his body swelled up as deep gray devilish markings lit up on his back. In an instant, the roiling dark devil energy formed into a enormous black shadow behind him. This black shadow was tens of meters tall and it had nine sinuous heads which twisted about, as if it was the legendary monster, the Nine-headed Hydra!

A brutal and frenzied aura which promised pain leaked out from that shadow, causing all of the energy in the Tartarus Burial Grounds to grow frenzied as well. After that, the black shadow dissolved into nine beams of dark energy which sizzled towards Percy.

"That is the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx's Nine Deaths of Eternal Night! It carries nine different kinds of extremely negative concepts and it will destroy your mind before even hurting your body!"

Percy remained fearless and resolute, a corner of his mouth hooked into a cold smile. All the joints of his body creaked as he swung the Heaven Smiting Sword which weighed nearly five hundred thousand kilograms. Golden Crow flames ran along the body of the heavy sword as it instantly generated a rampaging, all-consuming firestorm which smashed heavily against the nine beams of dark devil energy.

The beams of dark devil energy were completely swallowed by the onrushing firestorm and in that instant, the space in that area completely shattered. The color of the wind changed as deafening energy explosions and the extremely terrible shrill sound of something being devoured rang in the air for a long time.

For the levels of power being shown by Percy and the Typhon, the Tartarus Burial Grounds, while being immensely sturdy, was far too small a battlefield to contain their fight. Both of their powers clashed fiercely and it seemed like the entire earth was shaking. The clothes on Percy's body had been ripped to shreds but the pupils of his eyes released a deep Blue light. He lashed out with the Heaven Smiting Sword again and again and each slash was accompanied by an earth-shattering boom.

Boom! Boom! Boooom…

Percy had made more than ten continuous slashes, forcing those nine beams of devil energy more than thirty meters into the distance, not allowing a single one to approach his body. The attack which had used about seventy percent of the Typhon's power had been completely blown away. After that, the Typhon's body shot out like a rocket and two black hands which seemed to emerge from the deepest abyss, streaming with the extremely dense dark devil energy, tore at Percy's throat.

Boom!

Sword and claw met as the scarlet red flames surged against pitch-black devil energy. Percy's body shook and his upper body bent, causing a faint shock to shoot through his heart… This Typhon had actually used a hand that had been wrapped in darkness energy to clash directly with his Heaven Smiting Sword!

Just based on this point alone, Percy was absolutely convinced that if not for the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand, he would definitely not be the Typhon's opponent.

But the alarm and astonishment that shot through the Typhon was one hundred times more intense! He was shocked that the power of a noble and superior devil such as himself had been blocked by this inferior human being!

What alarmed him even more was that… the moment his power came into contact with that vermillion greatsword, it suddenly weakened drastically! It was as if something had mysteriously siphoned that power away!

Pop! Pop! Pop…

All the bones in Percy's body made small popping sounds and his originally dull green eyes became filled with frenzy and killing intent. Before the aftershock of the previous attack had completely dispersed, he suddenly somersaulted through the air as he smashed his sword toward the Typhon.

"Pathetic human being… if it's just you alone, you can stop dreaming of matching blows with this king!"

The Typhon gave a roar of extreme fury as both his claws shot out. At the same time, the pitch-black devilish light suddenly expanded and swelled by tens of meters. The darkness energy swept forward, intending to smash the Heaven Smiting Sword into pieces, reducing it to nothingness.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…

Flames exploded violently and darkness energy wreaked havoc all over the place. Within the space of a few breaths, the flames and the devilish light had clashed against each other one hundred times as the small battlefield seemed to be engulfed in an apocalyptic calamity… If this was not the Tartarus Burial Grounds, then even if it was an island that was five hundred kilometers wide, it would have been completely obliterated by now.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…

The Tartarus Burial Grounds was enduring the most terrifying calamity it had ever experienced in its existence as raging flames and sinister darkness filled every nook and cranny. The space within was crazily collapsing in on itself and the thunderous explosions sounded like they were being produced by a heavenly bell that was being repeatedly smashed by an enormous mountain… At this moment, if there were other profound practitioners on the scene, even if they were strong individuals who were at the Seventh Realm, just these earth-shaking explosions would be enough to instantly cause their energy and blood to flow in reverse, rendering them unconscious.

And if they were slightly weaker than that, they might simply be killed on the spot, completely shattered in body and soul.

One man and one devil had already exchanged hundreds of blows in this sealed world of darkness. It was as though the both of them had come to an agreement of sorts, as their strength continued to rise with no end in sight… both man and devil kept pushing each other and testing the limits of each other's power.

The catastrophe that had engulfed the Tartarus Burial Grounds grew more and more intense and it was as if the small world had been thrown into the mouth of an erupting volcano… Only the half-bloomed Underworld Python Flower remained undisturbed, even though it was right in the eye of the storm. It gently and leisurely swayed as it continued to let out those ghastly wails every now and then.

Bang!

Percy's sword exploded forward but the body of the blade was smashed aside by the Typhon. Flames which contained the strength of the heavy sword exploded against a stone wall that was more than one hundred fifty meters away. Immediately, an extremely shrill and piercing cracking sound muffled the explosions of the flames as a long crack which stretched all the way to the floor appeared on the stone wall.

To make a crack in the walls of this place was even harder than smashing apart an enormous mountain with the stroke of a sword!

Percy's blade sliced through the air as he lost his balance, but he swiftly gathered himself. Grasping the five hundred thousand kilogram Heaven Smiting Sword easily in his hand, he immediately counterattacked, fiercely smashing the Typhon's devilish claws aside.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Booooom…

The Tartarus Burial Grounds continued to shake as stone fragments began to fall from the crack in the stone wall that Percy had smashed. Before those fragments even hit the ground, they were swallowed up by an immeasurably frenzied vortex of energy.

After more than ten thousand exchanges, it was remarkable that the man and the devil were still evenly matched. From the start to now, neither party was able to gain even the slightest advantage over the other.

Percy's expression was extremely gloomy, because this was no simple exchange of skills, this was a fight to the death. Between him and the Typhon, one of them had to die… Yet his eyes were shining with an excitement which only seemed to grow fiercer still with each passing moment.

On the other hand, the Typhon was growing more and more alarmed.

He was a devil, a true devil from the ancient times and he was a ruler among the devils at that! Moreover, it was tacitly understood by all devils that humans were merely an inferior lifeform that was not much different from a scurrying ant. In the past, a casual wave of his hand would have been enough to destroy a planet that contained billions of humans.

When he had risen from tartarus, he had scarred the moon and sent the gods itself fleeing!

So even though his life and soul origin ad sustained incredible damage and his current strength was not even a fraction of what it used to be, the contempt that he had for humans still remained carved into his very bones. Even though he was in his current weakened state, the aura that Percy exuded was still many times weaker than his own… and even though Percy held a bizarre blade that caused his power to recoil and his soul to tremble uncontrollably in fear, in the eyes of the Typhon, he was still an insect.

However, from the moment he had first exchanged blows with Percy, shock began to resonate within his soul. Not only did this shock not grow weaker with each exchange, it was instead growing more and more intense with each passing moment… Initially, he had not used all of his strength, because when he was facing a lowly creature such as this, using all of his might would be a huge stain on his name. After realizing that Percy's strength was far greater than he had initially anticipated, he also began to increase the power that he used. But no matter how much his power rose, the other party was able to match it. And right now, it had reached the point where he was using ninety percent of his strength, yet he was still unable to suppress Percy.

The power that radiated from that vermillion greatsword alarmed him greatly. Given such power, every swing of that sword should expend a great amount of Percy's energy, as he merely had the body of a mortal. Shockingly, even after a thousand sword strokes, not only had his blows not become softer, they were actually growing stronger and stronger with each swing…

This was a lowly creature with an inferior body and aura. Yet he seemed to hold a power that was not inferior to the power his immortal body bestowed him!

This damnable human being, he was definitely desperately holding on just by the skin of his teeth! Given his pathetic aura and his pathetic body, how can he continue to release such a level of power!?

The Typhon's expression warped fiercely as black light suddenly exploded out of his fiendish pupils. The highest level of the Illusory Tartarus Tome of Eternal Nyx was instantly channeled and dark devil energy surged up from within his entire body without reservation.

Percy's brows knit together as he let out a great roar. All of the muscles in his arms swelled, veins twisting and joints popping explosively as he shot forward using both feet as a spring. Berserk profound energy flowed from his entire body into his arms before surging into the Heaven Smiting Sword. Without holding back, he fiercely swept the sword forward.

Boooooom!

The dark earth beneath Percy's feet had completely fractured and stone fragments were billowing in the air like leaves in his wake. He heavily smashed into the wall behind him with a loud crash… the overly strong stone wall caused the enormous power that he had endured to completely rebound back into him, rendering his entire body numb. His consciousness instantly blanked as he nearly spat a large amount of blood out of his mouth.

The Typhon was not in a much better state than he was. He had been sent flying overhead by Percy's sword smash. His huge devil body had smashed into the stone ceiling above before violently rebounding off of it. After that, he had rolled for tens of meters before he finally smashed into a stone wall.

When the Typhon finally stood up, his eyes and expression had completely changed. Even his breathing had grown incredibly rough and heavy.

He… a mighty devil lord, to think that he had actually been sent flying by a human being!

Sent flying by a human being!

Sent flying!

It was like a devilish curse that resonated in his ears and his soul again and again. When he had been wounded by Percy's sword at first, it was because he had been in a total state of shock and so he did not react fast enough to defend. But this time around, he had clearly used all of his powers in an all-out clash, and there were no cheap tricks involved either, yet he was still sent flying in the end!

Sent flying by a human being!

What kind of a humiliation was that!?

It also clearly proved that… the human who stood in front of him, the one that he had thought to be no more significant than an ant, actually had power that rivalled his own!

Percy had gotten to his feet before the Typhon and even though he had endured an attack from his opponent at full strength, the five hundred thousand kilogram Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had not budged from his grip. Though some of his bones had sustained hairline fractures and more than ten of his veins had snapped, to him, these were merely superficial injuries. He stabilized his energy and blood before slowly sauntering towards the Typhon, "Typhon, you kept calling me a pathetic and lowly human being, so here I was, thinking that you were hot stuff… But it turns out that you only amount to this much after all!"

"You… dare… to…"

Regardless of Percy's reckless mockery, the Typhon had already become so incensed and ashamed because of this humiliation that all his rationality had practically flown out the window. During the Primordial Era, even in the world of devils, he was still one of the devils that stood above the rest! Mere human beings were not even qualified to kneel in his presence!

Yet right now, he had been sent flying by a human, had been wounded by a human, was being looked upon contemptuously by a human and had even received mockery from a human.

This was like no humiliation he had ever experienced before in his lifetime!

"Light… less… Eternal… Night!"

As he chanted those words in a voice filled with enough hate to encompass the universe. Boundless darkness descended from above like a pitch-black curtain. It instantly plunged Percy into a quagmire of darkness as that terrifying devouring power immediately assaulted both his body and soul. Every cell in his body seemed to be swarmed by countless dark and sinister hands which tried to drag him towards the abyss of death.

Percy instantly recognized it. This was actually the move that Luke had used during their duel several months ago. The Dark Domain that he had released when he was on the brink of defeat, regardless of the cost.

During that moment, all the light had been swallowed up and it was as if he had been pulled into an endless dark quagmire… It was only the Heaven Smiting Sword that was still able to emit that unrelenting vermillion light within the boundless darkness. When he brandished the sword, that streak of vermillion light had easily torn through the unending night.

The Lightless Eternal Night that was used by the Typhon was many times stronger than the one that Luke had used. But the vermillion light of the Heaven Smiting Sword continued to flash in the midst of that dark abyss! In this dense and inky darkness, the light emitted by the sword was even more eye-catching.

"Break!"

"Yellow Springs Ashes!"

The Heaven Smiting Sword smashed forward heavily, instantly slashing apart this world of darkness as its sweeping blade formed a true vacuum which extended out more than ten meters in diameter. The frenzied Golden Crow flames ignited and spread like wildfire as they fiercely penetrated every nook and cranny of this dark world. In the blink of an eye, the world within the Tartarus Burial Grounds seemed to be engulfed in crimson black lava that looked tyrannical enough to annihilate everything.

Darkness and fire tore at one another and in the midst of this catastrophic collision, the Typhon and Percy resumed their battle once more. This time, the man and the devil no longer bothered testing each other's strength. Every claw and sword stroke was sent out with full force. The Typhon's expression was so warped that it barely resembled anything normal anymore. The roars coming from his mouth no longer held his previous devilish majesty, instead, they sounded malevolent and terrifying. All of the veins in Percy's body were burning and every stroke of his sword was accompanied by a hoarse cry of fury.

Lightless Eternal Night, Yellow Springs Ashes… Both of them had activated startlingly powerful domains, yet both attacks were confined within the tiny interior of the Tartarus Burial Grounds. The current Tartarus Burial Grounds could not merely be called a world that had been stricken by calamity, it had practically become a hell of destruction! It would not matter if the living or the dead entered this place, because within a few short seconds, they would all be reduced to nothingness.

Even though it had become such a realm of destruction, both opponents still continued to crazily claw at each other within.

Percy's clothes had long since been blown to shreds. His skin was a startling crimson-black color and his entire body was covered with hundreds of big and small holes, some of which were so deep that they nearly exposed bone. Many clusters of flame burned on the Typhon's body as well but the two seemed to be completely indifferent to their own injuries and their opponent's injuries. They did not care about what damage their respective domains wrought on each other and every single attack that was being made was extremely fierce and deadly… They were doing their utmost to consign their opponent to the grave!

One devil and one man had fought to the point where both parties seemed insane. Within the Styx Soul Inner World, Artemis had been quietly observing this vicious fight. Just like the Typhon, she had never thought that Percy could go toe to toe with the Typhon without exhausting all of his trump cards.

The most important reason for this was Hong'er… in other words, the existence of the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword!

Hong'er's presence allowed Percy to completely escape the spiritual suppression that the Typhon had inflicted on him purely based on the fact that the level of his power far exceeded that of Percy. At the same time, this same suppression was instead visited upon the Typhon himself!

During this fierce and vicious duel, Percy had managed to maintain his eager and composed state of my mind. Yet the Typhon, who had ten thousand times the amount of experience in cultivating his mental state, had been in a state of constant frenzied rage… and within this rage, Artemis could still detect the uncontrollable trembling of his soul.

Furthermore, when the Typhon's power approached Percy… or more accurately, approached the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, it would instantly weaken by a full thirty percent! Such a great decline in power was not accompanied by any grand show or series of events, it simply seemed as if that power had suddenly vanished into thin air!

In other words, even though the Typhon was using all of his strength, Percy only endured what amounted to seventy percent of his full power.

This point was something that Percy had not noticed but the Typhon was well aware of it. Artemis had also clearly detected this as well.

With all these factors added together, the Typhon, who was clearly far superior to Percy in every aspect, was drawn into a deadly struggle with Percy, something that he had not even dreamed possible.

And the source behind all of these factors was the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword!

A devil slayer sword was the bane of all devils.

But the constraints that the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had placed on the Typhon's far exceeded the effects of any other devil slayer sword that were recorded in the memories that Artemis had inherited.

The name "Heaven Smiting Chaos God Sword" that the Typhon had at first shouted out and then denied had caused an enormous ripple to resonate in Artemis's heart and up till now, she still could not calm her heart and mind.

Boom boom boom…

It was as if countless bolts of heavenly lightning were exploding in the air as more and more of the black stone that had been tempered by the darkness energy for ten thousand years began to crumble apart. Then, the stone fragments were fiercely sucked into the powerful currents of profound energy flowing through the Tartarus Burial Grounds. Fire light shot out in all directions as darkness saturated the air. The Tartarus Burial Grounds's quaking did not abate in the slightest.

Both man and devil had been bogged down in furious combat for an unknown period of time. The wounds on both their bodies were too numerous to count but the power that exploded out from the both of them were still sufficient to shake the heavens and move the earth. In both of his lives, Percy had gone through countless life-and-death battles but none of those battles had lasted as long nor been as vicious as this one.

Even though Percy had entered the highest tier of profound strength that existed within the Gaia Continent, there were still many people from the Ancient Societies who could defeat him.

However in terms of endurance and recovery ability, he was undoubtedly number one in the entire Gaia Continent.

When he had dueled with Luke several months ago, he had not known that Hong'er was able to restrict his powers. So he had to rely on his absurdly strong recovery ability to outlast Luke and defeat him. But today, he had met an opponent whose endurance and recovery ability was no less than his own.

The Typhon who possessed a devil body!

Their fight had lasted for several hours but every blow that they sent at each other was still deadly and incisive. However, their power, speed, and the sharpness of their attacks had clearly declined. Both of them had been similarly weakened, so neither party could gain a clear edge.

Boom!

The Heaven Smiting Sword clashed with the devil claws of the Typhon in midair as another thunderous explosion resounded. A large amount of black stone was pounded into dust by the aftershock of that attack, causing the air in the entire Tartarus Burial Grounds to grow gray and hazy.

Darkness energy and Golden Crow flames crazily circulated around the two as the respective energies attempted to tear away and devour one another. It was literally like seeing two vicious beasts which hated each other engage in combat.

Bang!

The ground that had already begun to sink beneath their feet started to fracture even more. The stone ceiling above their heads had also begun to resemble a giant dome. At this point, the devil claws that clashed with Percy's heavy sword suddenly drew back. With a howl of fury, the Typhon thrust out both his hands. Ten ebon beams of profound light shot out from each of his ten emaciated, claw-like fingers as they stabbed towards Percy's chest.

Percy's body unconsciously started to move backwards. Through sheer force of will, he stubbornly stopped his first reaction, forcing his body to stay put. He neither tried to dodge, nor counter strike, instead pouring all of the profound energy protecting his body into his arms. As the pupils of eyes contacted, he sent his sword sweeping towards the chest of the Typhon.

The boundless pressure generated by this sword stroke threatened to collapse the space in a thirty meter radius around them.

Boom!

The sword beam generated by the Heaven Smiting Sword fiercely swept across the Typhon's chest. There was a sickening snap as the largest bone in his chest was smashed into several pieces and his body was flung hundreds of meters away.. However, all ten beams of the dark devil energy that were shot out by the Typhon also stabbed into Percy's body, causing his vision to go dark as his body stumbled back furiously. However, both his hands still remained tightly locked around the vermillion greatsword and he refused to allow it to leave his hands.

A miserable howl of pain rang out as the longest vermillion sword wound to date had been inflicted on the Typhon's chest. The wound also brought along pain and trauma that the Typhon had never experienced before. The heavy sword energy that surged out from the vermillion sword wound on his chest, poured into his devil body as it wreaked wanton destruction on his body and already weakened life force.

Even though a long time had passed, Percy remained sitting slumped on the ground and still had not gotten up yet. The ten beams of dark devil energy that bored into his body were like ten devilish needles that came from the depths of the underworld themselves. They ate away at his flesh, meridians and internal organs, wracking his body with so much pain that even his soul could barely stand it.

He pressed his lips together tightly, refusing to let even a hiss of pain escape his lips.

"Stop inhaling right now. Use the cleansing power of the Phoenix flames and the healing power of Poseidon's profound energy!" Artemis exclaimed in a low voice, "You are really far too reckless! That energy originated from a true devil! If it enters your body, no ordinary profound energy will be able to cleanse it away! If not for you possessing the profound energy of Poseidon and the cleansing power of the Phoenix flames, you would have basically thrown away half your life there and then!"

Percy fiercely gritted his teeth while quickly regaining his composure. Phoenix flames began to swiftly circulate throughout his body as he also used Poseidon's profound energy to wrap up those ten beams of dark devil energy. In a short amount of time, all ten beams of devilish energy were sealed tightly before they were purified by both the Phoenix flames and Poseidon's profound energy working in tandem.

Pfft!

Percy lurched forward as a large amount of black blood sprayed from his mouth. All of the energy in his body, as well as his five senses, became clear. Unfortunately, his aura had weakened by yet another degree.

But it was clear that the Typhon was in a far worse situation.

Percy had taken those ten beams of devilish energy in order to land an extremely heavy blow on the Typhon. The Typhon's miserable cries of incredible pain sent a loud and clear message to Percy; that he had gotten the better of that exchange! Even though the Typhon had already gotten to his feet, the vermillion light clearly showed a hole the size of a human head carved into his chest. Black blood poured out from that hole and Percy could even see the broken pitch-black bones jutting out from inside.

Even though the Typhon tried his best not to cry out, the uncontrollable spasming of his body clearly showed how much pain he was enduring. However, his alarm was far greater than his pain!

Even though his vitality had been sapped, he still had a devil body! No matter how weak a devil body was, it was still something that a mortal's body could not hope to compete with! Furthermore, due to the lingering devil energy within the Tartarus Burial Grounds, his wounds and his energy were recovering far faster than they normally did.

He had been forced to use his profound energy from the very start, after such a long and vicious battle, only half his profound energy remained. Given that his opponent had the body of a mortal, his energy should have long been exhausted. But the young human in front of him was weakening at the same rate as he was!

Even the wounds on his body, carved out by the corrosive dark devil energy, were recovering at a rate that completely defied logic.

As for his own wounds… The burns left behind by the Golden Crow flames were still manageable, but the wounds left behind by that vermillion greatsword were another thing altogether! Not only did every one of them caused him immense and unbearable pain, they were recovering at a rate that was more than ten times slower than usual!

"You… who exactly are you!?" As he saw Percy, who had taken all ten beams of his devil energy, get up so quickly and calmly, the Typhon's pupils widened. He pressed both hands against the hole in his chest and every single finger was trembling as he continued, "You're not human… what exactly are you!?"

His voice now quivered with fear.

Even the Typhon was surprised to hear the fear in his own voice.

He had originally thought that he had encountered a human with a death wish.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would meet a monster among human beings!

Given that inferior human body, how could he possess this kind of vitality and recovery ability… Furthermore, all of this was occurring while he was stuck in an environment where darkness energy was sapping away at his life at every second!

The sword Percy held in his hand was also far more dreadful than any other sword the Typhon had seen during the Primordial Era!

Even when he had faced off against a true devil slayer sword all those years ago, he had not been seized by this unconscious trembling that he was feeling right now.

"My name is Percy and you will find no man more ordinary than I!" Percy said as he strode slowly towards the Typhon, "Typhon! The era of gods and devils has long since come to a close! A million years ago, you should have stopped existing in this world! Today, regardless of the Underworld Python Flower, I would still have to consign you to the grave!"

A Dark shadow stood behind Percy, smiling." Indeed, son of the sea." Chaos smiled." It is your destiny to destroy the last remnants. Rise up in power, as you stand Against the Gods!"

A.N.: yeah, we have Percy being all cool and savvy, with Chaos Fangirling him! Also any guesses what that sword is?


	27. Awaken! Blood of Poseidon!

**Third Arc: Son of the Sea Vs Typhon**

"Consign this king to the grave? With just you!?" The Typhon growled through gritted teeth. No matter how bad his situation became, he had never imagined he would ever be reduced to such a pathetic state! And at the hands of a human at that! Boundless fury and humiliation ate away at his already fading rationality and he suddenly let out a furious roar as his entire body was engulfed in a gloomy black fog. At the same time, the crimson black devil tattoos on his chest and back began radiating a deep bloody light.

"You arrogant, ignorant and pathetic human being… this king will let you know just how strong the devil clan is! If you think you alone are capable of defeating this king… you need to stop dreaming!"

The blood red devil tattoos began to twist and warp as they gradually formed into row upon row of strange runes. The hair on the Typhon's head grew even longer as all the bones in his body cracked so loudly that it sounded like a boulder had fractured. The muscles on his body swelled explosively as all four of his limbs instantly doubled in thickness. The blood red meridians present throughout his entire body twisted like earthworms.

A low, pain-filled, roar tore from the Typhon's throat as his body distorted and twisted like a thrashing snake. Jet-black scales quickly appeared on his skin, covering his entire body., A layer of dense, white bone armor grew on his arms and legs. It was as if his bones had been spat out from his flesh so they could wrap around his muscles instead.

This dreadful and bizarre transformation sent a jolt of shock through Percy's heart and he immediately stopped moving forward. At the same time, he could clearly feel the Typhon's aura spike tremendously… Furthermore, it had also become even more sinister and tyrannical than before.

"It's a transformation!" Artemis's exclaimed in a similarly shocked voice but Percy heard more caution than alarm.

"All of the ancient devils were able to transform themselves! This type of transformation is different from the shapechange that you are familiar with. It is a method that transforms the body to allow for greater control and release of power. After the transformation is complete, that person will be able to use all of his power. However, the burden on his body and the amount of energy being consumed will greatly increase as well. They would normally only transform into their full-powered state when they were drawn into life-and-death battles! There are some devils that can even undergo multiple transformations as well."

Zzzt!

A pair of teeth, which glowed with a dense cold light, extended out of his mouth. They looked like the fangs of a wolf as they flashed with a glaring cold light. Sinister bone spikes had also grown out of his elbows and knees… Finally, the imprint of a blood moon had shockingly appeared on his chest!

This was the imprint that belong solely to him, the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan!

During the Primordial Era, this imprint would cause ten thousand Demigods to bend their knee in submission! It would shake the hearts of the Olympians! But today, a mere human had forced it out!

His fury and power began to spike crazily as the whirling darkness energy coalesced into howling gales. This completely stopped Percy's breath as an incomparably heavy pressure assaulted him from all sides, nearly crushing his chest and bending his back.

"His power… has actually risen by a massive amount in just an instant!" Percy, who had originally intended to assault the Typhon while he was in the midst of his transformation, was slowly being forced backwards by the sharply increasing devil energy. He used both hands to brace himself as a deep expression of shock appeared on his face.

Artemis let out a emotionless and cold laugh instead, "The Typhon definitely never imagined that you would be able to force him to transform! The current Typhon is a far cry from the Typhon from the Primordial Era! Given his extremely depleted life force, not only will he have to pay an extremely high price for his transformation but it won't last long either! Otherwise, he would not have waited until now to transform!"

"In his current state, it won't be easy to go toe-to-toe with him. You'll need to use Moonlight Flash and Extreme Mirage Lightning to engage him! However, in these tight and narrow confines, it seems like it's nearly impossible to do so!" Artemis's brows twitched before she made a decision, "Activate All your divine transformations! Even though it will increase the amount of energy you're consuming and might not help you span the power gap of transformed Typhon, at least… the Typhon won't have such an easy time of defeating you while he is transformed!"

"Alright!" Percy nodded his head as he changed his grip on his sword, putting his left arm forward instead of his right.

Haa… haa… haa…"

At last, the Typhon finished his transformation. However, for something that would have taken a mere instant in the past, even he had not imagined it now required such a long period of time. Now transformed, the aura of the Typhon had grown immensely, the dark devil energy surrounding his body doubling in thickness and density. Yet, his expression lacked any hint of arrogance or complacency that typically came with absolute power. Rather, it seemed to radiate with sinister fury… and hatred.

Since he was not the same Typhon he was one million years ago, this transformation had further delayed the full restoration of his life origin by at least another thousand years!

He had felt this very clearly… had he chosen not to transform, he would have very possibly met his end by Percy's hands on this very day!

"In my current state, this king will need no more than ten breaths to kill you!

"Die!"

The transformation had greatly increased the Typhon's power, but the enormous burden it put on him made him feel as if his body was going to fall apart at any moment. Without any further delay, he took to the air with a furious roar and rushed towards Percy. The sudden change in speed spread waves of alarm through Percy's heart.

After the Typhon transformed, his speed had also massively increased. Percy immediately determined that the current speed of the Typhon exceeded his own when he was using Extreme Mirage Lightning! This also meant that even if this place was a wide and boundless region instead of the cramped Tartarus Burial Grounds, he could forget about using speed to escape!

Devil energy swirled in the air as sinister winds whistled about. As the Typhon shot into the air, he had caused all the broken stone fragments to whirl upwards. The terrifying and incredible wind pressure had actually gouged deep grooves into the incredibly tough ground!

His two dark devil claws had grown twice as large and were wrapped in dark light. They seemed to morph into dragon claws as they ripped at Percy… Though they were three hundred meters away, they still caused Percy's body to freeze as his feet seemed to sink into the ground.

Percy's gaze focused coldly. After taking a deep breath, he used Moonlight Flash to instantly escape.

Boom—

The claws of the Typhon smashed fiercely onto the ground, immediately shattering all the stone walls in a thirty-meter radius. Even Percy, who had managed to dodge in the nick of time, was smashed in the chest by the roaring and billowing dark energy waves. He let out a low moan as he rolled backwards.

The Typhon sent blow after blow flying through the air without much aiming yet all of them immediately home in on Percy. His body was sent flying through the air as an enormous dark shadow completely engulfed him.

Percy swiftly turned around in midair. All of the profound energy in his body circulated as the figure of the Phoenix and Golden Crow simultaneously appeared behind his back. His left arm also lit up with a strange blue light as the vermillion flashing greatsword, wreathed in the divine fires of both the Phoenix and the Golden Crow, exploded downwards.

Even though Percy was facing the transformed Typhon who had gotten significantly stronger, he still decided to go with a simple head-to-head clash!

Rrrmb!

Darkness and flames instantly clashed and interweaved, becoming an ocean of catastrophic energy that blindly engulfed everything within the Tartarus Burial Grounds.

Within this ocean of calamitous energy, the Typhon howled in anger as his long hair fluttered haphazardly in the wind. He felt his power being obstructed and immediately raised his head to let out a great laugh… However, this laughter lasted for just a split second before it cut off… because his power had actually been unable to break through the resistance and destroy Percy. Instead, all he could see was his power being forced to a ten-meter standstill, unable to advance even an inch further.

A blue green Trident swirled with power as it helped Percy hold back Typhon!

"Wha… what!?" The Typhon's pupils grew large. He could feel that there hadn't been any change to Percy's aura, but beside him, another aura had suddenly appeared! This aura was roughly only half as strong as Percy himself but together with Percy, it had managed to somehow block his power!

The Typhon let out another furious roar as he raised both of his bone-plated arms. Those shockingly huge arms began to swell up even more before he began to launch a torrent of blows at Percy. Terrifying dark devil energy surged like a tsunami as they exploded towards Percy, who had nowhere left to run or hide.

"Haah!" Percy let out a furious shout of his own as he swung the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with all his strength. Every sword stroke launched a profound energy storm that was powerful enough to annihilate everything that stood in its path. Beside him, the Blue Green Trident which had taken the form of a heavy sword also danced alongside the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. Both heavy swords wove a dance of blades as they formed an extremely tyrannical and powerful "Heavy Sword Domain" around Percy which expelled the dark devil energy out of it.

"This… this is impossible!"

The Typhon's scalp went numb as his pupils grew even larger. When Percy held off his attacks before, it had already far exceeded his expectations. Moreover, it also forced him to pay a heavy price and transform into his battle form. He had thought that once he released all of his power, he would have the power to completely flatten Percy and that would have been as easy as flipping his palm. Not once had he ever imagined that the attack he launched after his transformation would actually be completely blocked by Percy!

He released his power in a frenzy and every single time he attacked, he did so with all of his might. He held nothing back. Even after thousands of continuous blows, Percy still stood there alive, having smashed aside every single one of his attacks!

"AHHHHHHH!"

The Typhon's fluttering hair immediately stood on end as the imprint of the blood moon on his chest shone with a ghastly and terrifying crimson black light. Every single devil tattoo on his body also began to shine with a frightening, bloody light.

All of the dark devil energy came to a stop in that very instant and an absolute silence instantly settled over the world. It was as if time itself had suddenly stopped. Following that, the Typhon let out a howl which seemed to come from the depths of purgatory as all the darkness energy in the Tartarus Burial Grounds began to dance furiously as they merged together to form a gigantic demon that seemed to come from the depths of the underworld. The giant mass of darkness energy surged forward, swallowing up the tiny and insignificant Percy into the boundless and endless darkness.

"Eternal Night's Oblivion!"

The boundless darkness pressed down from all directions as it devoured light, devoured space and even devoured his heavy sword storm. In the next instant, it might just devour him and his Blue Green Trident completely as well.

No shock or fear appeared on Percy's face. His gaze grew dark and cold and the flames on his body, which were burning with all their might, intensified by yet another degree. Raising both the greatsword in his hand and the heavy sword that the Blue Green Trident had become at the same time, he released two vast and boundless auras which would even cause the heavens and earth to lose color.

"Dragon and Phoenix: Eternal Dance!"

BOOOM!

The terrifying explosion consumed all the other sounds in this tiny world.

Terrifying energy explosions spread all over the place as both the air and the ground shook. Even space itself recoiled at this dreadful energy as the shrill wail of space being torn asunder echoed through the Tartarus Burial Grounds.

Following that, three kilometers of space instantly collapsed. In front of this kind of power, space itself had become as weak and fragile as a thin sheet of paper.

Black holes of various sizes instantly flashed into existence before fading out as quick as they appeared.

Percy and the Typhon naturally had to endure the massive impact and aftershocks left in the wake of the rampaging energy explosions.

The two of them were forced three hundred meters apart. If not for the extremely hard and durable black stone walls blocking their flight, they might have been pushed tens of kilometers away by the impact.

Percy leaned on a stone wall as he slowly got to his feet. By the time he stood up, the black stone wall collapsed with a loud bang.

Streams of blood poured down the blade of the Heaven Smiting Sword. His arms had largely borne the impact of that terrifying energy blast. The webs between his thumb and his index finger on both hands were split, many wounds had appeared on both his arms and he had sustained more than ten fractures by the impact alone. But he did not feel the slightest bit of pain… He just felt a numbness that was overly intense, so intense that he lost nearly all feeling in both his arms. It was his willpower and determination alone that allowed him to still firmly grasp that five-hundred-thousand-kilogram sword.

The Blue Green Trident had disappeared as well. It had been blasted to pieces by that energy blast—but the Blue Green Trident was a power that came from his bloodline. Even if it was shattered another ten thousand times, he could still summon it once again.

The Typhon's injuries looked far lighter than Percy's. Other than the chest bone that Percy had previously broken, only the bone spike on his right arm had been snapped, as blood freely flowed down that arm.

But that was just how things appeared. In reality, his situation was far worse than Percy. Because if Percy activated his Blue Green Trident, he only increased the consumption of his profound energy.

But when the Typhon was transformed, not only did he consume more energy, his body also had to endure an enormous burden! And he had just been desperately using all of his power in spite of this, so one could well imagine what the consequences would be.

If Percy got a bit closer, he would be able to see that the scales and bone plating on his body were astonishingly covered with many tiny cracks.

The Typhon's body went limp as he sank to the ground numbly, unable to climb up for quite some time. The dark pupils of his eyes contracted fearfully as though he was trapped in a nightmare.

"Typhon… have you… already… reached your limit!?"  
Percy dragged the Heaven Smiting Sword behind him as he walked slowly towards the Typhon. His voice had become hoarse, his feet felt like lead, and his breathing had become incredibly heavy and rough. Whether it was the Blue Green Trident or the "Dragon and Phoenix: Eternal Dance" technique, all of them had consumed an extremely large amount of his energy. Coupled with the wounds he had sustained on his arms and his internal organs, he was in an incredibly bad state.

But he could tell that the Typhon was in even worse shape than he was! Even though he could still maintain his transformation, his aura had dropped to the point where it was even weaker than Percy's.

Even if the wounds on his body were ten times worse, Percy would not waste time worrying over things… because he absolutely could not give the Typhon a chance to catch his breath.

"You… you aren't… human!" The Typhon forced himself to his feet. He tried with all his might to gather devil energy but it was as if his devil body had transformed into a leaky wooden bucket. No matter how he tried to gather his energy, he was unable to suppress Percy's aura.

So now, he was completely incapable of believing that Percy was a human being… Given a human being's weak physique, how could he have a vitality and endurance that even exceeded his own!

"Sorry to disappoint you! I am a human being raised on the very soil of the Gaia Continent! Today is the day that you will die… and it is the result of looking down on humans!"

The feeling in his arms began to come back as intense pain replaced numbness. Percy started gasping heavily as he tightened his grip around the Heaven Smiting Sword.

"Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…"

It was at this moment that an extremely dreadful and sinister laugh rang out from the depths of the cave behind the Typhon. It sounded like laughter and wailing mixed together, and just hearing it would cause one's blood to go cold as all the fear in one's body congealed to one spot.

Percy's feet subconsciously ground to a halt. That was the sound emitted by the Underworld Python Flower. From what he remembered, he had only heard the ghastly wailing of the Underworld Python Flower when his group had come within a hundred and fifty meters of it. Whether it was due to them leaving or his vicious battle with the Typhon, once he left that radius, he was no longer able to hear that sound.

Right now, he was standing roughly one and a half kilometers away from the Underworld Python Flower, yet he could clearly hear that ghostly wail, as if it was right by his ear! Furthermore, it sounded even more sinister and soul-shaking than before. Just hearing it caused Percy's heart to tremble.

At this moment, a wild and triumphant smile suddenly appeared on the Typhon's face.

"The heavens are aiding this king… ha… hahahahaha!"

The Typhon let out a wild and crazy laugh as he crazily circulated all the remaining energy in his body. He allowed all the wounds on his body to split open and as a fierce current of darkness energy streamed around his body, he rushed towards the depths of the Tartarus Burial Grounds.

Percy was dazed for an instant. But following that, his expression changed. Could it be that…

"You need to stop him immediately!" Artemis suddenly shouted. "It must be because the Netherworld Udumbara fully bloomed! It holds a giant amount of nether yin energy and if he consumes it, not only will his soul origin be repaired fully, it will also replenish his strength and rapidly heal all his wounds!"

Bang!

All of the profound energy in Percy's body flared as the wounds all over his arms ripped open, spraying fresh blood everywhere. He immediately put the Heaven Smiting Sword away, his body blurring into streak of lightning as he chased after the Typhon.

"Hahahaha… hahahahaha! The heavens are aiding this king, the heavens are aiding this king!"

The Typhon laughed as he madly sprinted forward. His laughter was even more wanton and arrogant than it had ever been before. The Underworld Python Flower only bloomed once every twenty four years and it was this moment that he anticipated the most every twenty four years. Furthermore, this time he was many times more excited by it than ever before!

Because this time, not only would the Underworld Python Flower repair his tattered soul origin, it would also greatly boost his soul power, vitality and profound energy for a short while! It would even increase the recovery of his wounds by several times! Before, all of these effects were useless to him but right now, they could completely change his destiny!

The past few days, he perched on the ceiling above the Underworld Python Flower, spending every second keeping watch over it, patiently waiting for the moment when it fully bloomed. Now that it had finally bloomed, it was like the heavens themselves had given him a gift as it had bloomed when he needed it the most.

He only needed a short span of twenty breaths to consume the fully bloomed Underworld Python Flower, which would allow his dark profound energy to mostly recover! During the vicious battle with Percy, he had come out only slightly worse than Percy. Thus, if he could recover to that extent, he would definitely be able to turn the tables on Percy and suppress him completely!

"You must catch up to him! If he devours that Underworld Python Flower, your death will be all but assured!" Artemis's voice was filled with immeasurable solemnity and resentment… Given her level of power, if they were in any other location, she would need a mere instant to extinguish the Typhon!

But the battle just had to take place here. In this place, she could not even leave Percy's body, much less use her powers!

Percy used all of his profound energy as he pushed the Extreme Mirage Lightning technique to its utmost limit, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly broke. When it came to the amount of profound energy they had consumed, the Typhon had roughly used the same amount as him but when it came to their injuries, the Typhon had clearly been injured worse than him. This coupled with the fact that Percy's speed had always been superior to the Typhon's speed in the first place meant that Percy was quickly catching up to the Typhon, even though both of them were traveling at their fastest speed. In the blink of an eye, he had forcefully closed the gap between them to about one hundred and fifty meters.

Now that all of his profound energy was devoted to increasing his speed, not only did the internal and external injuries he had sustained stop stabilizing, they quickly began to grow worse… But in the current situation, he could not afford to pay attention to that.

He should… be able to catch up!

Within a few breaths, he had rushed into the depths of the Tartarus Burial Grounds and pulled within one hundred meters of the Typhon. The wailing laughter of the Underworld Python Flower, echoing in his ear, became increasingly clear as he drew closer and closer.

Suddenly, Artemis noticed something as she shouted in alarm, "Wait! Wait! Stop chasing him!"

At this moment, a fantastical ghostly light had suddenly emerged within Percy's eyes.

The previously curled-up Underworld Python Flower was finally fully bloomed, its nine fully unfurled petals arranged prettily as it released an extremely deep and gloomy purple light. In the darkness, that gloomy purple light completely engulfed everything. Percy was not able to see the base of the flower or the stamen and he could not see the gently swaying stalk either. It was as if those nine flower petals were floating in a sea of darkness as they released a mysterious and dangerous bewitching purple light.

Reflected in Percy's eyes was… It was as if he had suddenly seen nine demonic eyes!

The Typhon gave a wild and triumphant laugh as he had already rushed in front of the Underworld Python Flower. He could sense Percy quickly closing in behind him but he did not turn around, the blood-smeared corner of his mouth hooking into a cold and mocking grin.

Ding!

The world in front of Percy changed from a dark world streaked with purple light to a completely white one that was still streaked with purple. Even the sounds around him had suddenly died down… the sound of wind that roared in his ears, due to the speed he was traveling, had vanished into thin air.

The only sound that was left was the ghostly wailing of the Underworld Python Flower.

The whole world seemed to have transformed into a field of white in an instant.

Purple light swiftly spread within this white world as it gradually stained the entire world. The ghostly wailing began growing closer and closer, clearer and clearer. The sound was even growing more and more beautiful and pleasing to the ear… It slowly changed from the sinister and bone-grating sound he had first heard to something which sounded as sweet and melodious as notes from heaven…

The purple world and the sweet and beautiful melody were able to drown a person in a fantastical dreamscape. Within this dreamscape, familiar scenes and faces began to appear. Piper, Calypso, Aphrodite, Artemis,… Each of them appeared one after the other and every one of them had the most gentle and beautiful of smiles on their faces. One pair of beautiful eyes after another gently gazed at him as the purple world slowly began to drift away…

Further and further… more and more hazy… until he saw her… the golden haired girl… short curled hair like Cinderella, an angry look in her stormy grey eyes." Snap out of it Seaweed Brain! Or you'll never see me again!"

"Percy! Retreat immediately!"  
A shrill shout resounded like thunder in the purple world.

Bang!

The purple-colored dream world instantly shattered as all the illusions disappeared. After that, an enormous pain assaulted Percy. It felt as if hundreds or thousands of steel needles were piercing his heart and soul, causing him to hold his head with both hands as hoarse wails of pain escaped his throat.

He felt as if countless dark hands were tearing at his soul, as if they were trying to pluck all the memories, will and beliefs… from his living body!

Percy had experienced mental assaults and battles of the soul far too many times but none of them had been as terrifying and cruel as this one. This feeling of his soul tearing and ripping felt colder and clearer than a knife carving into his body… He had never known nor had he ever imagined that mental assaults could be this terrifying!

As his soul struggled in pain, he nearly lost control of his power and body. His entire person knelt on the ground as his body shivered crazily, his forehead matted in cold sweat.

Moreover, he was still a full sixty meters away from the Underworld Python Flower!

"Hurry up and retreat!"

Artemis's voice cracked like thunder in his head once more, helping Percy recover some modicum of clarity as he was engaged in a fierce struggle for his soul. He gave a fierce howl as he desperately gathered and focused all of his energy, tumbling backwards in an extremely distorted and painstaking fashion.

Bang!

Percy's head fiercely hit the ground and he rolled and tumbled backwards several times before coming to a stop. During this bumpy ride, he had rolled backwards more than sixty meters. It still felt like his soul was being torn to shreds but it had weakened to the point where he could easily deal with it.

Percy propped himself up using his arms as he gasped for breath. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead and rarely-seen fear and alarm could be seen in his eyes.

So that was the… Underworld Python Flower's soul stealing ability!?

To think that it was this dreadful… Why was it this dreadful!?

He was still so far away just now, but it was already that terrifying! If he went even nearer in order to harvest it… The results would have been unimaginable!

How could such a terrifying thing exist in this world!?

"Now do you believe me?" Artemis said with an extremely solemn expression on her face, "Once the Underworld Python Flower fully blooms, its soul stealing ability will be far more terrifying than you can imagine! It is definitely not something that a person from your plane can come into contact with!"

Percy did not voice a reply to Artemis, instead his head jerked upwards… Ahead of him, the Typhon already stood in front of the Underworld Python Flower. That gray-white face was spread wide by an arrogant, mocking grin. He greedily stared at those nine ghostly purple petals as he got drunk on the hellish aura that radiated from them. But he did not forget to cast a wanton, mocking grin in the fallen Percy's direction, "Foolish and pathetic human being! To think that you even dared to dream of snatching the Underworld Python Flower from this king… hahahahaha…"

The wild laughter suddenly abated and the Typhon's face twisted into a mask of fury while his voice grew thick with bone-grating rage and resentment, "It was you… who forced this king to transform, causing me to greatly harm my life origin as a result! Even if you lose your pathetic life ten thousand times, it would not be enough to assuage this king's rage! After this king consumes this Underworld Python Flower… I will definitely allow you to experience all of the torture known to my devil race! I'll leave you begging for death! I'll make you forever regret being born into this world!"

He turned his head back, his eyes completely focused on the nearby Underworld Python Flower. His previous violent fury immediately turned into ecstasy and agitation. He stretched out both his devil claws, covering them with black light as he slowly reached towards the Underworld Python Flower… His movements were so slow and gentle that it looked like he was going to handle the most precious treasure he possessed in his life.

"Ssss—" Percy gritted his teeth so hard that they almost broke. Just thinking about the dreadfulness of the Underworld Python Flower left him drenched in cold sweat. So this short distance that laid between him and the flower had now become a natural chasm that he could not cross!

No! No matter what, he had to stop the Typhon…

The reason I risked it all to stay behind in this place was to obtain that Underworld Python Flower! If the Typhon consumes it, not only will it be extremely likely that it will be the only of one of its kind to exist in this world, the lives of Hong'er, Artemis and I will be lost forever in this dark place!

So I have to stop it no matter what!

No matter what!

Both of the Typhon's claws were touching the Underworld Python Flower as he prepared to slowly pluck it… Even though his movements were slow, his hands still trembled, his expression even contained a hint of fanaticism and devotion! As an ancient devil, he had never believed in any higher power. Nor was there any higher power worthy of his belief. But this Underworld Python Flower had become a sacred existence to him. Without it, he would have disintegrated into dust long ago! Moreover, it was only by relying on it that his soul origin could be fully recovered and he could see the light of day once more!

So every time he plucked it, he was exceedingly careful as he was afraid that he would hurt it. He had never fully absorbed all of the energy in this place, he would always ensure that enough of it remained so it could continue to nurture the Underworld Python Flower.

Black light wrapped around the nine petals of the Underworld Python Flower. In the next instant, he would perfectly pluck all nine of these petals… But at this moment, an extremely dangerous aura assaulted him from behind.

Percy bounced to his feet as he summoned the Heaven Smiting Sword and his Blue Green Trident once more. He nearly raised all the profound energy in his body to its limit in one instant as his sword and the Blue Green Trident blazed with gold-colored Golden Crow flames. After that, he launched an explosive attack in front of him.

"Divine Sea Dragon Tsunami!"

Poof!

Flowers of blood sprayed from his arms once more as the huge aftershock of his attack sent him tumbling fiercely backwards. The two images of a Roaring Sea Dragon carried furiously vibrating spatial ripples as they exploded towards the Typhon!

The Typhon had never thought that Percy, who had clearly exhausted most of his profound energy, would still be able to launch such a ferocious attack. Furthermore, the two images of the Sea Dragon were moving at an exceedingly fast speed. Because the Typhon had devoted all of his attention to the Underworld Python Flower, he had only detected those two attacks when they were barely ten meters away from him.

Bang!

Both burning images of the Sea Dragon viciously rammed into the back of the Typhon. He gave a strangled cry as the black-colored scales on his back immediately exploded. Black blood flew through the air as severely deformed bones. that had yet to break, were exposed. His entire devil body shot outwards like a cannon before fiercely smashing against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away. He slid to the ground in a slump, not getting up for a very long time.

"It… succeeded!" Percy said as he propped himself up using his sword. His vision suddenly went black and he nearly toppled over. The Divine Sea Dragon Tsunami that he had just performed had exceeded the limits of his strength through sheer force of will. Furthermore, he also had to use energy to activate his Blue Green Trident. The enormous amount of energy he had used caused his body to feel drawn and weak for a while and he could barely hold the Heaven Smiting Sword steady.

But before he even had time to draw a few breaths, his pupils suddenly contracted fiercely.

His recent attack had been cleverly designed to avoid any damage to the Underworld Python Flower. The Typhon did not wish for any harm to come to it and neither did Percy. The Typhon was blown away but the stalk of the Underworld Python Flower was practically untouched. However, of the nine glowing purple lights which swayed above it…

Shockingly, only four petals were left!

Furthermore, at the end of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, five gloomy purple lights were glowing where the Typhon laid!

"Crap!" Artemis exclaimed, "When he was blasted away, he managed to grab five flower petals!"

Before Artemis's voice had fallen, Percy shot towards the Typhon like an loosened arrow… He took a look at the Underworld Python Flower that he avoided before crazily racing towards where the Typhon laid.

"Bastard!" The Typhon struggled to get up, his back arched in pain. He felt as if a hole had been blasted clear through his chest. But the moment he was sent flying, he had also managed to grab the five petals of the Underworld Python Flower that were already in his hands. If not for Percy blasting him away, all nine of the flower petals would have fallen into his hands.

When he looked at the onrushing Percy, the Typhon grew so furious that he felt as if he would explode, "You damned bastard! Your struggles will only increase the pain that you are about to experience!"

As he roared in fury, the Typhon grabbed those five gloomy and ghostly petals and tossed them towards his open mouth.

Percy's expression suddenly went white as he yelled in a hoarse voice, "Shut your mouth!"

Gulp!

It was a simple swallowing motion, something that Percy would not be in time to stop even if he was ten times faster. He could only watch as those five petals fell into that wide devil mouth. He could only helplessly witness the Typhon swallowing them in one gulp.

Percy, "!"

Shit!

As he saw the Typhon swallow the petals of the Underworld Python Flower, Percy felt an intense chill wash over his entire body.

In the end, the worst case scenario had still presented itself in front of his very eyes.

Not only had he missed the chance to get the desired Underworld Python Flower, the Typhon's wounds and powers would be recovering soon as well! Furthermore, this place was a region that was sealed shut, so even the Primordial Profound Ark would not be able to teleport out of here. It also happened that Artemis was not able to materialize in this place!

So right now, this could be said to be the most cruel and desperate situation Percy had ever been in before.

The Typhon who had swallowed the petals of the Underworld Python Flower threw his arms wide open in ecstasy as he shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the Underworld Python Flower's power spreading through his body. An extremely soothing and comfortable feeling spread through his entire body, even down to depths of his soul, causing all the aches and pains that afflicted him to practically disappear.  
The dark energy in his body also seemed to be recovering quickly… Percy and the Typhon could both sense it clearly. At this moment, all the wounds on his body started to glow with a faint purple light. After that, the wounds began recovering at such an alarming speed that Percy was able to witness the flesh mending and knitting right before his very eyes.

"Hahahaha!" The Typhon laughed wildly. The moment he consumed the Underworld Python Flower was the moment of the greatest ecstasy for him. But this time, the feeling of ecstasy was far greater than it had ever been before. Once he thought of how Percy's desperate struggles would only lead to despair in the end, his heart was seized by an intense joy, "Pathetic human! Let's see how long you can struggle against this king this time around!"

"You will soon know the fate of those who have provoked and enraged this king! This king will let you experience the most dreadful purgatory in this world!"

"…" Percy's whole body went cold as he sensed the Typhon's aura begin to rise dramatically. His guts sank as he saw those wounds close before his very eyes but his mind still remained incredibly clear and focused despite the emotions washing over him…

The more desperate a situation got, the more clear-headed he would become!

Artemis had said that given the Typhon's current state, he would be able to recover most of his profound energy and be healed of most of his wounds within a mere hundred breaths! However, he had only consumed five flower petals rather than the entire flower, so it should take longer than that.

Even though being able to recover most of his energy and vitality just like that was truly astounding, in the end he still had one hundred breaths… So he would not be thrown into the pits of despair just yet!

Furthermore, even though five petals of the Underworld Python Flower had been consumed… four petals still remained!

The power of the remaining four petals of the Underworld Python Flower… may just be enough to grant Artemis a new life! Even if they could not, it would definitely still be of great help.

Percy's brows sank as his thoughts began to race… Right now, the Typhon was still seriously injured and he had used up most of his power as well. If he was able to kill him before he could recover with the Underworld Python Flower's help, then…

No! There was no if! This was the only option left to him, the only hope he had left… Otherwise, he would definitely be dead meat once the Typhon recovered!

However, the Typhon's aggregate power and current state was not far off from his own, given the fact that he also had a devil body… He had not even managed to critically injure him during their vicious battle that had lasted for hours! So trying to deliver a killing blow within the span of a few short breaths would be harder than reaching the heavens!

But the situation he was currently facing did not give Percy time to hesitate or consider. Because the Typhon's strength continued to grow with each passing breath and his wounds continued to heal at a rapid pace! This basically meant that each passing breath would cause the already miniscule spark of hope he had to constantly shrink! Perhaps after the next ten or twenty breaths, that already faint hope might disappear completely.

On the other hand, even if Percy had to think with his toes, he would be able to realize that the Typhon's following move would not be to engage him in combat. Rather, he would pour all his effort into shaking Percy off and rushing towards the Underworld Python Flower! At that point, not only would the remaining four petals of the Underworld Python Flower fall into his devil hands… He was not even able to approach the Underworld Python Flower, so he could forget about struggling or hoping for victory!

Percy's eyes widened as a resolute and vicious light radiated from within. Both his hands tightened fiercely around the hilt of the Heaven Smiting Sword. It was almost as if he wanted to embed it in his flesh… Now that he only had one option left to him, Percy tossed aside all thoughts of prices or aftermaths!

"Typhon!"

Percy roared in such a loud voice that it sounded like his throat would be torn apart. After a short pause, his speed explosively increased as he rushed towards the Typhon.

"Percy, you…"

Artemis instantly realized what Percy was planning and she swallowed her words of warning before they even left her mouth… Because she knew that this was indeed the only option left to him.

He had not choice but to stake his very life on this gamble!

Even though it was extremely likely that he would explode on the spot, at least he could still grasp at that tiny sliver of hope!

"Poseidon's Heavenly power: Erupt!"

Percy Exploded with True godly power and his entire body shook as the golden ichor that flowed in his veins released it's true strength!

Boom!

An incredibly heavy rumbling sound resounded within Percy's profound veins. All of his profound entrances were fully opened as Poseidon's Profound Veins instantly swelled to twice their usual size… and they were coming close to rupturing!

At the same time, a wild and frenzied energy wave exploded from his body as they shoved aside all the surrounding darkness energy! The dreadfulness of this energy wave caused the wildly laughing Typhon to fly away as if he had been hit by a giant mallet. He flew through the air before smashing against one of the stone walls located in the very depths of the cave.

The Typhon's laughter immediately grew strangled as he jerked his head upwards to look at Percy. The eyes that were filled with complacency and joy were now filled with an enormous dread…

The Percy who had been rushing at him had disappeared and what had taken his place was a man who was completely covered in blood, a blood person who was radiating a terrifying aura! Every single strand of his hair stood on end as flames burned around his body! And the profound energy that he was releasing was astonishingly dyed an eye-catching and alarming Turquoise color! Both of his eyes seemed to have been dyed with blood as even the whites of his eyes had turned a bloody red!

Blood was spraying from his arms as countless alarming cracks started running through his skin, causing blood to spout from his body like a fountain. His entire body looked as if it had been stabbed thousands of times before it was dragged out of its own blood and one could scarcely see any part of his body that was left unharmed!

His appearance was so frightening that it would cause a normal person to pale in shock and fear but it definitely would not be able to faze the Typhon. What frightened the Typhon was the wild and berserk aura that was radiating from his body!

If Percy's aura could previously be described as a Lake… then the blood man in front of him was releasing an aura that was akin to an Ocean, tumbling and churning with frenzied force as it swept the world itself! It was so terrifying that all the nerves in the Typhon's body convulsed as the soul that was being nourished by the Underworld Python Flower was instantly assaulted by an extreme sense of danger.

Furthermore, the blood man was holding a vermillion greatsword in his hand, that further proved that… this blood man was actually Percy!

"You…" The Typhon gasped as he pressed his back against the wall. He was not able to even croak out a chuckle anymore.

From the moment Percy had unleashed the Heavenly power of Poseidon's blood, his senses had been completely engulfed by unending pain. But at the same time, he could also feel an incomparably dreadful power exploding out of his body… Furthermore, this power far exceeded the limits of what his body could endure. He could clearly feel every part of his body rupturing the moment profound energy exploded from within his body… Even the world in front of him had turned blood red.

Besides that blood red color, he could not see anything else…

Only the spark of an unextinguishable will was still firmly locked onto the Typhon's aura.

Raising arms that had nearly lost all feeling, he exhausted all of his will to barrel towards the area where the Typhon's aura was located.

The Typhon's pupils narrowed to pinpricks… One million years ago, this kind of power would've been so insignificant that he would not even deign to notice it. But for the current Typhon, it was a calamitous power that caused him to shake uncontrollably in fear.

He glanced at the purple light shining in the periphery of his vision. He wanted to rush to where the Underworld Python Flower was but every time he tried to move his devil body forward, he was forcefully pushed back by the terrifying aura that was rushing towards him. It was as if his back had been nailed to the wall behind him. Right now, he could barely even raise his leg, much less try to rush forward. It was as if every part of his body was being pressed down by an enormous mountain.

The vermillion sword beam grew nearer and nearer and the fear in the Typhon's eyes grew commensurately. He gave a great roar as all the power in his body surged forth desperately. He formed a jet-black vortex of energy that was ten thousand times darker than the deepest abyss and sent it flying towards Percy with a yell.

The moment that jet-black vortex exploded outwards, the Heaven Smiting Sword which carried the power of the Poseidon's Godly Blood whistled downwards. Instantly, the jet-black vortex that the Typhon had formed with all his remaining energy came to a sudden stop. After that, it began to be suppressed, devoured and swallowed up by that vermillion sword beam… until it completely disappeared.

The Typhon's vision was covered by boundless vermillion light, a copious amount of blood spraying into air as he bore the brunt of that catastrophic explosion. An earth-shaking rumble shook the entire Tartarus Burial Grounds as a howl laced with despair and pain rang throughout every corner…

Booom—

"UUUUWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Jet-black stone walls crumbled away rapidly as countless stone fragments fell to the ground. The entire Tartarus Burial Grounds was shaking and it seemed as if the heavens and the earth themselves were shaking along with it. Destructive winds blew throughout the Tartarus Burial Grounds as they collided and slammed into everything around them, destroying whatever they could destroy. Furthermore, the deepest part of the Tartarus Burial Grounds had been completely filled by fiercely burning dull golden flames as a catastrophic storm raged about wantonly for ages…

This was the first time Percy had ever used the Godly Power of Poseidon, so this was also the first sword slash that he had ever performed while the Godly power was within his veins. Artemis was still unaware of the result of this sword slash. But what she could definitively confirm was that the current Percy was completely incapable of enduring the power unleashed by the Godly Blood of Poseidon! Percy forcefully used the Godly power stored in Poseidon's Lifeblood and his profound energy instantly went berserk, Artemis could clearly see all of his internal organs rupturing as his veins snapped and blood flowed freely from his body. The only things that remained unbroken were his bones that were reinforced by the Dragon God Marrow.

It was only for that one instant… But every single second after that would cause the situation to worsen by many times!

Perhaps it would only need two breaths for Percy's body to explode and he definitely would not leave a whole body behind.

Given the dire straits that they were in, Artemis could not afford to hesitate anymore. The moment Percy used all of his willpower to launch that blow with his sword, Artemis's soul body left the Styx Soul Inner World and entered Percy's body. Four scarlet profound energy beams shot out at extreme speed as they pierced all of Percy's internal organs and entered his profound veins. The four beams of light unerringly pressed on the four open Poseidon Gates.

Artemis's power was so tyrannical that the instant those scarlet lights disappeared, the four open Poseidon Gates had closed as well. The berserking profound energy immediately began to fade away. Artemis breathed a small sigh of relief before she hurriedly entered the Styx Soul Inner World.

Her soul form was deathly afraid of the devil energy within the Tartarus Burial Grounds. Since Percy had been within the very depths of the Tartarus Burial Grounds itself, it was natural that a small portion of that devil energy had seeped into his body. Even though Artemis had only dwelt inside Percy's body for a brief moment, she felt an exceedingly unbearable feeling spread through her body the moment she re-entered the Styx Soul Inner World.

Artemis swiftly went into meditation and a long time passed before that unbearable feeling finally disappeared.

She opened her eyes once more as she took a look at the world outside.

The fires continued to burn but they had grown much smaller than before. The wild windstorm and the constant shaking of the Tartarus Burial Grounds had also come to a stop. Percy lay limply on the ground, the muscles of his blood-drenched body spasming and twitching. Every now and then, hoarse moans could be heard from his mouth… proving not only that he was still alive but also that he still retained some semblance of consciousness.

"Percy, don't even try to stand up. Immediately focus on activating the Great Way of the Buddha instead!" Artemis quickly commanded him.

Artemis's voice caused the shuddering in Percy's body to lessen. He no longer tried to struggle. Instead, he closed his eyes and devoted all his remaining strength to activating the Great Way of the Buddha. He could see through blurry eyes that his body was completely covered in blood, yet he did not feel the slightest bit of pain… it was as if his entire body did not belong to him anymore.

At the very end of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, more than ten paces to the right of Percy, several small clusters of flame still continued to burn. Astonishingly, the thing that had been set aflame was the Typhon's devil body.

The Typhon's left arm and both his legs had been severed from his body, lying strewn across the floor in scattered pieces. What remained was only his right arm which could barely be considered intact. Furthermore, his entire body had been completely shattered. It was as if he was mud that had been trampled over by an entire battalion of soldiers. And even this "mud" was still slowly being burned up and consumed by the Golden Crow flames.

"…This king… actually…"

The fingers on his right arm were trembling and a voice that sounded as rough as sandpaper came from the immobilized head of the Typhon.

That voice caused Percy's body to twitch. After that, he began to struggle furiously to get up. It was then that Artemis's low voice rang out, "Don't worry about him, he's already been smashed to bits and pieces by you. The reason why he can still speak is because he is using the very last bit of his devil energy. He will very soon be even deader than dead."

"…" Percy's eyelids cracked open as his expression grew more relaxed. His lips curved slightly into a faint smile before he spoke with great difficulty, "Artemis… thank you, if not for you…"

"Hmph! If not for me, you would have died an even uglier death than him!" Artemis said huffily. But this time, she did not scold Percy for forcefully using the godly power of poseidon. Because it was really the only option left to him, the only hope that he could grasp at… and in the end, fate once again stood at Percy's side.

His wounds were very heavy and another practitioner would have died a hundred times over. Still, these injuries were insufficient to condemn him to death and could be recovered from in a fairly short period of time..

"Typhon, do you have any words to leave behind!?" Artemis asked in a cold voice.

"Cough…" The Typhon droned on in a voice filled with pain and despair, "Even Poseidon's… seal… which lasted for a million years… was not able to kill this king… Yet this king… actually… died… at the hands of… a pathetic human…"

"Hmph! Even though the million year seal of Poseidon was not enough to kill you, in the end, you still die because of his power! It looks like no matter how hard you struggled, even though your struggles lasted for a million years, you were ultimately still unable to escape your fate of dying by Poseidon's hand!"

Artemis's cold voice was somber. The Typhon's impending death caused her to breathe a large sigh of relief but her heart still held a gloominess that would not be easily dispelled… If they had not entered this place for the sake of finding the Underworld Python Flower, if Percy's peculiar characteristic of courting disaster had not acted up again and convinced him to stay behind, they would not have known that this place was actually hiding a devil from ancient times.

She was unable to imagine the horrific outcome that would have occurred if the Typhon had continued to hide in this place until the day he completely recovered the strength he had during his peak.

Percy's all-or-nothing gamble to kill the Typhon was for the sake of preserving his own life and obtaining the Underworld Python Flower. But in the end, he had still killed a devil! Perhaps no one in this universe would ever know about it but he had eradicated a giant calamity that would have engulfed countless of worlds in the future.

"Poseidon …" The Typhon mumbled before he began to laugh hoarsely, "Ha… haha… ha… Do you… really think that the… Poseidon… was truly… a god…"

"What? If Poseidon wasn't a god, then could he have been a human or a devil instead!?" Artemis said with a cold and mocking laugh, "Even though you are at death's door, you're still a devil who has lived for over a million years. But the only thing you want to say before you die is this pile of hilarious rubbish?"

"Heh… hehehe…" The Typhon continued to chuckle but his laughter sounded rather bizarre. At this moment, his remaining arm trembled in the air as it slowly lifted up off the ground. The remaining devil claws began to stretch out wide as they started to emit a weak and faint black light.

"…!" Artemis's heart suddenly tightened with anxiety… Could it be that he still had some strength left!?

But she immediately relaxed once more. Even though Percy's wounds were extremely heavy right now and he did not possess the ability to resist, he still had the protection of the Dragon God's bloodline and the Great Way of the Buddha. Even if the Typhon could release one final beam of devil energy, it would still not be enough to kill Percy.

At most, it would merely inflict another wound on Percy's broken body.

A jet-black orb that was around the size of a dragon's eye appeared in the middle of the Typhon's hand which was wrapped in black light. His devil claws began to tremble as he spoke in a hoarse voice filled with resentment, "Pathetic human being… who has also inherited the power of Poseidon… this king… will sacrifice his devil orb… in order to consign you to eternal… damnation!

All of the remaining power in his broken body was gathered up in that trembling arm as he threw something forward… The jet-black devil orb flew through the darkness before coming into contact with Percy and directly burying itself inside of his body.

This sudden and bizarre occurence sent a jolt of alarm through Artemis's heart and she spoke in a low voice, "What was that!? What did you throw at him?!"

"Ha… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA…" The Typhon began to laugh wildly and his hoarse laughter was laced with pain, sorrow… and a warped and twisted joy.

"UWAAAAAAAHHHHH!

At this moment, a pain-filled moan suddenly came from Percy's mouth as his blood-covered body was suddenly covered in a weak and hazy black light… Furthermore, the aura that this light was releasing was shockingly a dark devil energy!

"!" Artemis could not care less about the risk as her soul body swiftly left the Styx Soul Inner World and entered Percy's body once more. Her senses remained locked onto the jet-black orb that had entered Percy's body. To her shock, she discovered that it had actually buried itself into Percy's profound veins. It released a layer of black light as it sheathed his profound veins in a faint black glow.

Artemis stretched out a hand, intending to use her power to eradicate it… But the moment her finger stretched out, her heart and soul were shaken fiercely and her face went white with shock.

The devil aura radiating from this dark orb was not strong; it could even be said to be incredibly weak. It would not even be able to swiftly kill the current Percy who was in an incredibly weak state. But the level of this devil aura was terrifyingly high!

This was far beyond the scope of her knowledge and experience!

Suddenly, Artemis remembered that the Typhon had mumbled the two words "devil orb" right before he had thrown out this black orb…

Could it be that this was actually the Typhon's devil origin orb!?

Was this the devil origin orb that the records stated sustained an ancient devil's life origin, soul origin and origin of darkness!?

An item on the level of the devils!

Artemis's tiny hand faintly trembled… No, she could not do it! If this was truly a devil origin orb as recorded in the annals of history, even if its power was extremely weak, it was still not something that she could destroy! Moreover, it appeared to have actually forcefully merged with Percy's Poseidon's Profound Veins… Even if she was able to remove it by force, it was extremely likely that she was cause severe damage to Percy's profound veins in the process!

What was going on!? These were Poseidon's Profound Veins that we are talking about, how could a devil origin orb merge with them so easily? Could it be because the level of the devil origin orb was so high while the level of Percy's profound energy was too low, causing his profound veins to be unable to resist it?

Artemis's expression kept changing as she struggled with her thoughts. Finally, she stretched out her hand once more as a scarlet colored profound energy surged forth. She reduced its power again and again… She repeated this process more than ten times before finally pushing it into Percy's profound veins. After that, she carefully wrapped her profound energy around that jet-black orb.

Immediately, the jet-black light was completely engulfed and covered by that bloody light and the originally weak devil energy completely vanished as well… It had been thoroughly sealed away by Artemis's powers.

Artemis let her arm drop as she swiftly returned to the Styx Soul Inner World… Sealing away this thing that was most likely a devil origin orb was the only option she could think of at the moment. But in order to avoid harming Percy's profound veins, she did not dare to use too much power. So that seal would not last for very long. From today onwards, she would have to renew that seal from time to time.

"Typhon…" Percy could feel the intense changes that his body and profound veins were undergoing as he hoarsely gasped through gritted teeth, "What did… you do to me!?"

"This king… has given to you… a great boon… that you would never be able to obtain… even if you wished for it… ha… haha… kuh…" A spurt of black blood sprayed from the Typhon's mouth, carrying away the greater part of his life with it.

"You…" Percy growled through tightly gritted teeth but he was still unable to stand up.

"Don't worry, I have already sealed it away." Artemis said coldly, Even though she had told Percy "not to worry", her heart was exceptionally heavy. Because now that a devil origin orb had merged with Poseidon's Profound Veins, perhaps… it may one day cause a bizarre change that no one would be able to predict or anticipate.

Things that were on the level of the devils were things that not even Artemis was able to control or anticipate.

"Heh…" The Typhon's body no longer moved and his voice had grown so faint that it was as soft as the buzzing of an insect, "You… pathetic… and stupid… human beings… Do all of you really think that our devil race… has been destroyed completely…?"

"That which… was… banished… will surely… one… day…"

The final traces of black light within the Typhon's eyes completely disappeared.

This was the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan, a devil who had escaped the calamity that had afflicted the gods and the devils during ancient times, a devil who had escaped the million year seal of Poseidon. But in the end, he had died at the hands of a human being and he would forever lie in the eternal darkness of the Tartarus Burial Grounds.

A.N.: and so ends the terrific battle between Percy and Typhon! Damn that was exciting. This battle was based on Against the Gods, Yun Che Vs Moon Slaughter Devil sovereign. And it is probably the last time I'll use against the gods as an inspiration. Well it was fun while it lasted.


	28. Because, You are My Artemis!

**Third Arc: Because, You're my Artemis!**

"Is he… dead?" Percy asked with much difficulty.

"He's dead!" His devil soul has dispersed and before long, the Golden Crow flames will completely burn his body to ashes as well." Artemis said as she sighed silently in her heart, "But don't let anything distract you right now, you need to devote all your energy to healing your wounds! The injuries you sustained are really too serious this time around and even if it is you, if you let them linger on a while more, you might lose your life at any moment."

Percy did not speak any further. Instead he focused on adjusting his current state and mindset until he could attain proper focus. After that, he swiftly cleared away any thoughts that would distract him before he focused on circulating the Great Way of the Buddha… He knew that Artemis's words were not the least bit exaggerated.

This time, his internal and external injuries were incredibly serious and within the entire Gaia Continent, the only person who could sustain such injuries and still live was Percy alone. This coupled with the fact that he had nearly run out of profound energy meant that it would require a rather long period of time before he could make a full recovery.

Because of his heavy injuries, Percy's ability to concentrate was also greatly affected. A full seven minutes passed before that dim silver pagoda gradually appeared over his head. After that, the energy of heaven and earth that surged into his body began to get denser and denser.

At the end of the Tartarus Burial Grounds, the broken corpse of the Typhon had finally been incinerated by the Golden Crow flames. The devil body, that was bereft of the power of the devil god, could not escape the fate of being burned to cinders… However, the clouds of black ash were dimly illuminated by streaks of bizarre black light.

Behind the body lay the wall at the very end of the Tartarus Burial Grounds. Most of the impact from the sword strike that Percy had launched at the Typhon, after he opened the "Rumbling Heaven" gate, had been absorbed by this pitch-black wall. However, the attack that had enough power to destroy the Typhon had not caused this wall to collapse. It had only left behind many long and narrow cracks along its surface.

Threads of abnormal black energy were quietly seeping from those cracks. It was just that there was no way anyone would be able to see it with their naked eyes in this absolute darkness.

"Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…"

Now that the dust had finally settled, one could clearly hear the sinister wailing laughter that continued to echo within the Tartarus Burial Grounds. The Underworld Python Flower still gently swayed despite the absence of wind but only four petals remained and whether it was the ghostly wail or the gloomy purple light, both of them had grown far weaker than before.

 _-the palace of Nyx-_

The fates were all watching silently. Percy's life had become a reality program of sorts, and they were avid watchers. After all, these days they didn't have much else to do.

Suddenly, Clotho, the oldest shook, as a terrible Premonition came over her. her eyes Glowed Green and her voice shook and Grew raspy, as the words of the future escaped her lips.

" _darkness consume, light dispel, the son of Poseidon, for love he fell. He coveted the flower of darkest Pain, and so his soul was shred apart and slain."_

her eyes cleared and she saw the other two staring at her with horror. Lachesis's voice shook with fear." Elder sis… you just predicted… just predicted Percy's death, while he tries to take the Underworld Python Flower!" the three fates shook with fear. Was the hero about to perish for love?

 _-tartarus burial grounds-_

Within the dark and silent world, Percy, who had sat quietly for an unknown period of time, suddenly opened his eyes as he asked in a strained and urgent voice, "How long was I in a trance for!?"

"More than forty hours." Artemis coolly replied.

"What!?" Percy shouted in shock as he jumped to his feet. That sudden action immediately tore open all the wounds in his body, causing his face to twist in pain as he uttered a low moan.

Percy could completely recover from normal injuries in two days time, even if they were considered heavy injuries for a normal person but this time, things were different. Not only had he sustained grievous external and internal injuries, he had even damaged his foundation. So even though he had been quietly recovering from his injuries for more than forty hours, only half of his injuries had healed and he had also only recovered about fifty percent of his profound strength.

"Why? Are you afraid that you won't make it in time for the Emergency Defense Meeting?" Artemis said as she gave cold snort, "Hmph! You haven't even completely recovered yet and you still have to think about how you're going to break out of this place! So attending the Emergency Defense Meeting should be the last thing on your mind."

"No! It's not that!" Percy said as he swiftly turned around.

Those four points of gloomy purple light continued to slowly sway three hundred meters from where Percy was. The moment he looked over at them, he could hear that sinister, soul-piercing, ghostly wail ring out.

Besides the fact that it was missing petals, the Underworld Python Flower was exactly how Percy saw it initially. Even the four petals that remained still continued to shimmer with that purple light, it did not look like it had started to rot or decay in the least.

Even from three hundred meters away, the moment Percy laid his eyes on it, he could clearly feel its touch on his soul.

"This is great." Percy said as he let out a long sigh of relief, "You told me the Underworld Python Flower would only bloom for three days and once those three days were up, it would wilt instantly."

"Even though it's only been two days since it bloomed, it still lost five of its flower petals. So its strength would have greatly weakened. Given my knowledge of these rare plants and spirit medicines, I believe it will definitely wilt earlier than the recorded three days because of it! So we are truly fortunate that all four of the remaining petals are still in perfect condition!"

Percy could not help feeling antsy right now. In order to concentrate on recovering from his injuries, he had sealed all of his senses. He knew that the moment he slipped into a trance he would lose all sense of time, so he ensured that a part of his will remained to prevent him from being in a trance for too long a period of time. It was just that his wounds were really too serious, so his will had become extremely weak and the bit of will that he had held in anticipation of this event very swiftly dissipated as well… The moment he came to, he instantly thought of how long the Underworld Python Flower would stay in full bloom and he grew so anxious that cold sweat nearly drenched his entire body.

It was truly fortunate that all four of the remaining petals of the Underworld Python Flower had remained intact.

But at the same time, he was perfectly clear about one thing—If it was a complete and unharmed Underworld Python Flower, it would still be a full day away from wilting.

A Underworld Python Flower that had only four petals remaining would definitely remain in full bloom for a shorter period of time, it definitely would not last for three full days! If two days had already passed since it fully bloomed… then it was extremely likely that it would wilt any second now!

"You want forcefully retrieve that Underworld Python?" Artemis said as her delicate brows slanted downwards. After that, she immediately barked out a rebuke, "Are you insane!? Have you so quickly forgotten about how terrifying the Underworld Python Flower is!? What's more, right now you're injured all over and you only have half your usual profound strength. So even thinking of getting within one hundred meters of the Underworld Python Flower will already be harder than scaling the heavens, much less actually plucking it! Forcing your way close to it will also likely result in it stealing your soul and you will become the living dead!"

Percy breathed a long sigh before he said in an extremely resolute voice, "I am well aware of how terrifying the Underworld Python Flower is! But do not forget the reason why I stayed behind in the first place! This even resulted in meeting one Typhon who very nearly buried me in this place!"

"What Typhon? What ancient devil? What universal calamity… I don't really give a crap about any of those things! The only thing I stayed behind to do was to obtain this Underworld Python Flower! Furthermore, I have exhausted so much strength and braved so much danger that I very nearly threw my life away, all so that I could protect this Underworld Python Flower that only has four petals left! If we do not manage to retrieve it, how do you expect me to be satisfied!?"

Percy had already started to gnash his teeth as he finished his rant. Ever since he had entered the Tartarus Burial Grounds, his encounters had far exceeded his expectations. Given his personality, having already reached this point, he would definitely not allow himself to leave empty-handed, regardless of the risks or how difficult the task was.

Artemis replied in a very grave voice, "Hmph, I know that the thing you love to do the most is to gamble with your life. But you should still retain some self-awareness at the very least! Two days ago, you personally experienced the might of the Underworld Python Flower—and it was when you were still very far away from it! Right now, your wounds haven't even healed, yet it seems like you've completely forgotten what it means to feel pain!"

"Artemis, tell me this one thing." Percy said in a very calm voice, "Is an incomplete Underworld Python with only four remaining petals enough to create a new body for you?"

"...No! Of course not!" After a short pause, Artemis vehemently denied him, "An incomplete Underworld Python Flower and a complete one are worlds apart! If I want my body and soul to be perfectly united when this new body of mine is created, I definitely need a complete and perfect Underworld Python Flower! Even if it was missing just one flower petal, it would not be of any use, much less a Underworld Python Flower that is missing five! So even if you decide to gamble your life and you really succeed in obtaining it, it will all be for nothing! Let me tell you, my powers are already unsealed. In fact I never sealed them! But even then I can't help you! in here, If I leave your inner world, I'll die in seconds!"

"Besides, you won't even be able to live to tell the tale if you do try to attempt it!"

Artemis's words did not move Percy in the slightest. On the contrary, they caused Percy to focus even more intensely on the Underworld Python Flower, "You're lying to me!"

"...Lying to you!?" Artemis's voice became cold, "So now, you don't believe even my words?"

"No." Percy lightly shook his head, "Artemis, you are the person that I trust the most in this world. As long as it is something that you've said, no matter how unreasonable or outrageous those words may be, I will not doubt them in the least. Unless… it was the words that you just said."

Artemis, "You…"

"Artemis…" Percy's voice became exceptionally soft and gentle, "The year that we met, I was Eight and you were twelve. You helped me rebuild a set of profound veins, took me as your student… After that, we have been together every day and night, every hour and every moment. We can even clearly feel each other's existence with every breath that we take. And now, it has already been more than Five years since we met."

"You… what are you trying to say?" Percy's words caused Artemis's voice to turn funny.

"What I'm trying to say is that we have spent Five years completely tangled together. The time that I have spent with you is longer than the time that you have spent with your parents, longer than the time that you have spent with your precious big brother, longer than the time you have spent with any person in this world. So, I know you better than anyone else does—just like how you know me better than anyone else as well."

Artemis, "..."

"So right now, I could tell instantly whether you were lying or not. What's more, you don't even like to lie in the first place, so you're really not used to it. Normally, if you want to hide something from me, you'll simply seal your lips and refuse to speak a word more and you will also deliberately make it known to me that you don't want to continue. Other than the time you 'sealed your own profound strength', you have never even tried to deceive or lie to me!"

"That is also why your claim that you had 'sealed your own profound strength' deceived me for such a long time. It was the only time that you had ever lied to me before this! Just now was the second time you tried to lie to me! But I am no longer the person I was five years ago, so I won't fall for your trick this time. No matter what…"

"No matter what, you definitely want to forcefully obtain those four petals, right!?" Artemis's voice had undergone a faint change, it was as if some complex emotion had been layered into it. "Fine… I was indeed lying to you just now! But it wasn't a complete lie! Even though a Underworld Python Flower with only four petals remaining would be able to merge my body and soul together, it would not be able to perfectly merge the two! So in the end, it would only stay in effect for twenty to thirty years!"

"...What will happen after twenty to thirty years have passed?" Percy asked in a stunned voice.

"It is highly likely that my body and soul would reject each other and I would have no choice but to resume my current form! Hmph, I won't be so stupid as to endure the same kind of pain as Luke."

"So that's how it is!" Percy said as he nodded heavily, "This also means that it will grant you at least twenty years of independence and absolute freedom. After that, the worst case scenario is that you would return to your current state."

"Then we definitely need to obtain this four petal Underworld Python Flower!"

"You!" Artemis snapped as her temper boiled over. She gritted her teeth within the Styx Soul Inner World as she said angrily, "You're really someone who won't weep until you are one foot in the coffin! Since that is the case, then go ahead and try! Go harvest that four petal Underworld Python Flower! Let me see where you're getting that confidence from!"

Percy casually inspected his injuries before focusing his mind and striding towards the Underworld Python Flower.

Those four petals released an extremely bizarre and fantastical purple light. Once Percy was within one hundred and fifty meters of it, he could clearly feel his soul being pulled in by formless hands. Percy ground to a stop, sucking in a deep breath of air before he spoke in a calm voice, "Artemis, don't you worry. I'm not silly as to die because I overestimated my own strength. Besides, my life is still linked with yours. The reason my soul was nearly stolen by the Underworld Python Flower the first time around was because I had not experienced its true terror yet, so I didn't prepare myself well enough."

"However, right now, I roughly know the method it uses to steal one's soul. This coupled with the fact that it only has four petals left makes the prospect of facing it much less terrifying than before. If I pour all my effort and strength into this attempt, it isn't guaranteed that I will fail. I also have the Styx Soul Inner World with me, so as long as I can get near it, harvesting it won't be a problem at all."

"If the final result ends in complete and utter failure and I see no hope of succeeding, then I will give up."

"Hmph!" Artemis sniffed angrily as she replied, "Anyways, I can't stop you no matter what I say, so I can't be bothered with you anymore! When you are being tormented to the point where you start begging for death later, don't blame me for not giving you ample warning!"

"I get it."

Both of Percy's hands slowly tightened into fists as his brows knit together tightly… In this lifetime, he was convinced that he would never be able to forget just how terrifying the soul stealing ability of the Underworld Python Flower was. Now that he thought about it again, his entire soul started to shudder uncontrollably as a intense dread was birthed in his heart.

If the thing placed in front of him was something else, even if it was a legendary treasure, a peerless profound artifact or even a mountain of Divine Crystals, he would turn around without a hint of hesitation and leave without even taking another look… because he was definitely not willing to ever experience the pain of his soul being taken from him again.

But what was in front of him was the Underworld Python Flower… The only Underworld Python Flower in this world.

"I will definitely succeed!"

"Hah!"

Percy murmured before expelling an explosive shout. His entire body started burning with flames as he rose into the air, rushing with full force towards the Underworld Python Flower.

The first time he had approached the Underworld Python Flower and was affected by its soul stealing ability, all of the power in his body instantly dissipated… So this time, he wanted to see if he could use extreme speed to reach the Underworld Python Flower in an instant.

Ding…

The hellish purple radiance before him expanded and the world suddenly fell completely silent. After that, innumerable icy needles crazily pierced his soul while countless dark hands emerged from the depths of the abyss to tear apart every corner of his soul…

Bang!

Percy was thrown to the ground as he fell from the sky in a heap. All the flames on his body had been completely extinguished. His soul was being twisted and rent and the enormous pain that accompanied it caused his internal organs, limbs and the rest of his body to spasm uncontrollably. Every single hair and cell of his body was twisting and shivering in pain.

He gritted his teeth with all his might, forcefully keeping his cries of pain inside. Under that immense pain, his vision had become blurry but he could still see that bizarrely beautiful purple light clearly. It was roughly fifty meters distant from him.

It was also this purple light which allowed him to doggedly keep his nearly fractured psyche in one piece. He forced himself to his feet and tried to stagger towards the purple light. But right after he had taken a single step in that direction…

It was just one single step closer to the flower… yet in an instant, the thousand needles that had been stabbing at his soul turned into ten thousand blades…

When he had spent half his life delivering the killing blow to the Typhon, leaving his body in tatters, he had not even given voice to a single whimper of pain. But right now, Percy was letting out a blood-curdling scream. Just drawing one step closer was like walking through hell and finding another hell inside hell itself. He could feel both his body and soul being rent into tiny bits and pieces. This pain far exceeded any pain that Percy had ever known before, it even exceeded Percy's very understanding of pain itself!

Furthermore, this intense pain also gave birth to a frantically blooming terror!

Fear and dread instantly swallowed up all of Percy's remaining will and bravery. His contorted body reacted by itself as it tumbled backwards.

The sensation of his soul being sliced apart and the mind-warping pain dramatically lessened with every inch he retreated. Once his mind had cleared, he naturally regained control over his power and body. Percy continued to stagger backwards, stumbling on the ground as he went. He finally stopped when he reached a distance where he could endure the pain. Both of his knees sank to the ground as he used his arms to prop himself up. He gasped heavily for breath and sweat poured down his forehead in torrents. In the blink of an eye, the ground beneath his head had become completely drenched.

"Haah… Haah… Haah…"

His body continued to spasm uncontrollably for more than ten breaths as he took in great gulps of air. At this point, Percy felt as if he had endured the cruellest torture in the entire world… No! This pain was far more dreadful than any torture he could ever imagine.

He turned his head, raising his pasty-white face to look towards the position that he had reached previously. That spot was only about forty five meters away from the Underworld Python Flower. He could sense that that distance was the limit of what he could endure. If he tried to move forward, even if it was a single tiny step… he would be unable to endure the pain from that point on.

He was also unable to imagine what kind of terrible hell awaited him if he continued to take yet another step forward. He could also scarcely imagine what kind of horrific world awaited him when he was within a single step of the Underworld Python Flower.

Forty five meters… To him, that normally would be a pitifully short distance.

But in this place, it seemed even farther and more despair-inducing than a gap that spanned millions of kilometers.

One step was a step into an abyss... One step was clearing a natural chasm!

"Are you... alright?" Artemis asked in a voice laced with worry. But the moment she noticed the worry in her voice, she immediately turned frosty, "Hmph! This is the result of you overestimating your own strength! I will say this once more! The Underworld Python Flower isn't something a person from your plane can get close to! As for that soul-stealing pain, you have now experienced it a second time! To be honest, the fact that you haven't collapsed is commendable in and of itself! Because this kind of pain, even if it is I… even if it is a god from the legends, it would still be very hard to bear! Much less someone like you!"

By the time Artemis had finished speaking, Percy had gotten to his feet once more. After that he turned around and faced the Underworld Python Flower yet again. But this time, the unwavering determination in his eyes had long since disappeared and a thick fear had replaced it instead.

In the past few years, Percy had not feared anything—whether it was unbearable might, the approach of death, or a natural force that he could not resist…

This was the first time he had ever experienced fear due to "pain."

Crack!

He squeezed his left hand so hard that he had cracked the bones on two of his fingers… but his pale face did not even flinch. Because it was not even an ant bite when compared to the pain he had experienced when his soul was being stolen.

His feet started moving as he began to walk towards the Underworld Python Flower yet again.

"What are you doing?" His actions shocked Artemis. She knew very clearly what kind of pain Percy had just endured and she had also felt the dread that it had brought to him. So she had thought that Percy would never even try to approach the Underworld Python Flower ever again… and perhaps, he might not even dare to glance at it anymore but he was actually… trying to approach it yet again!

"I still… haven't… failed yet!" Percy said huskily. But the words that he had spat still quivered due to his remaining fear.

"You… Have you really not given up!? Will you truly only weep once you've seen your own grave!?" Artemis shouted angrily.

"This Underworld Python Flower… it's right in front of me! It's only a short sixty meters away right now! If I lost all heart to continue due to this small obstacle, then where… will I find the face to see you next time!?"

"Me!?" Artemis yelled in surprise, "...What small obstacle!? How in this world is that a small obstacle to you!? The pain your body is feeling will seep into your soul and the pain of the soul is not something that mere physical pain can compare to." Artemis had felt true soul searing pain once in her life before. It was when her King had infused the soul of a god into her. that was how she became a full god at the age of twelve! She had directly reached that realm, and didn't need to cultivate like Percy. But in exchange. She had to suffer the pain of having her soul being torn to shreds and fused again. So she had a very clear understanding about this kind of pain! Even someone as powerful as her would tremble in fear every time she remembered that experience. And to this day, she still would not have to courage to go through that experience a second time!

But for the sake of an incomplete Underworld Python Flower, Percy was willing to face that pain for a third time!

Percy did not wait for Artemis's response. With a loud roar, he rushed towards the Underworld Python Flower again while Artemis was still stunned.

Forty five meters…

This distance proved to be the bottleneck yet again. Once more, Percy felt all of the strength in his body dissipating as he fell to the ground in pain. He forcefully opened his eyes so wide that they seemed like they would explode and he bit down so hard that his teeth nearly broke as he bounded a huge step forward.

"UWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A soul-rending cry of pain resounded through every corner of the Tartarus Burial Grounds. It was so shrill and sharp that even the pebbles on the ground started to tremble. This instant of soul searing pain was something that Percy could not even describe with words and the terrifying notion of committing suicide to escape this pain surfaced in his head.

The only thing that filled his body and remaining will was the instinct to "run away"... to flee at all costs! As his shrill cries continued to rend the air, Percy's body was rolling and tumbling backwards… By the time he had recovered some semblance of clarity, he had already tumbled sixty meters away.

Percy's face had gone even paler than before and his entire body was twitching and trembling like an insect that was going through its death spasms. Streams of cold sweat rolled down his body. He tightly gritted his teeth… This time, it took an entire thirty breaths before his body finally stopped trembling.

"That's enough, don't try that again. How many time do I have to tell you, it's impossible for you to succeed! You're only suffering for nothing!" This time, Artemis did not scold him and one could hear a faint trembling in her voice. At first, she was completely convinced that no matter how strong a person's will was, the moment that person experienced the pain of one's soul being stolen, it would leave an eternal dark memory and that person would not even have the courage to think about the experience. But Percy… had thrown himself into the fray time and time again.

His desperate actions were so extreme that it was akin to forcefully jumping into a deep abyss, which even the gods would fear, repeatedly. It was not even to fulfill his own selfish desires… it was all for her!

Percy's hands pushed himself off the ground as he began to slowly stand up. His pupils were contracted but when he stood up, he was still looking at the four petals of the Underworld Python Flower that were pulsing with hellish purple light.

"I want to get closer to it…" He muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse from the screaming, "But why do I always involuntarily… use my remaining strength to run away… Moreover, I'm actually afraid right now…"

"Could it be… that my so-called determination was this… weak!?"

Percy's voice sounded fuzzy and indistinct. It was as if the Underworld Python Flower's soul stealing ability was making him delirious. Artemis immediately replied, "This has nothing to do with the strength of your will! In this world, there isn't anyone who can endure the pain of their soul being rent from their bodies. There is also no one who isn't afraid of this pain either! Even you, with a styx soul cannot bear the pain!"

"No, it has something to do with it!" Percy had finally managed to stand up completely. He looked at the Underworld Python Flower, his arms trembling. Not only did his eyes contain a fear that could not be dispelled, there was also a growing violence being kindled there. After that he started moving once more and strode towards the Underworld Python Flower, "For the sake of reconstituting your body… That was the request that you made of me the very first day we met. Up to now, it has also been the only request that you have ever made!"

"Artemis, meeting you allowed a cripple like me to gain a new life and I was also able to regain my dignity as well… Because of you, I can protect my City and my Friends from all harm and mistreatment… Because of you, I'm slowly learning of my past and I might soon even unlock my memories… All of the power, status, dignity and fame that I possess today is due to you. If not for that chance meeting with you, I might have died a dog's death by now… Even if I was still alive, I would possibly only be a wandering ghost that hovered on the edge of despair…"

"But in the end, I could not even help you realize… this sole wish of yours."

Artemis, "You…"

"Now, in front of my very eyes, I see what might be your last sliver of hope. So, no matter what… No matter what…!"

"You… need to stop trying, even if it is you…" artemis's voice was trembling fiercely now.

"UWAAHHH!"

Artemis's words had just left her mouth when they were completely engulfed by Percy's roar. He rushed towards the Underworld Python Flower for the fourth time as flames and killing intent covered his body… His strongest aura was his killing aura! So he was using his most extreme killing aura to suppress the fear that he felt towards the pain caused by his soul being rent apart.

In the blink of an eye, Percy had once again entered that forty five meter radius. This spot seemed to be the border of a devil's forbidden zone—No one would be allowed to take even one step inside!

Percy was once again assaulted by the indescribable pain of his soul being rent apart. His entire body was contorting and spasming but this time, he forced himself to stay upright. He gritted his teeth tightly as he took his first step into the devil's forbidden zone…

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Percy's shout was laced with both pain and determination. He fiercely guarded his soul and his will as he continued forward… one step… two steps… three steps…

Thud!

By some kind of miracle, he kept charging forward while roaring in rage and wailing in pain. By the end, he had covered a full three meters and now he was within forty two meters of the Underworld Python Flower. He finally sank heavily to his knees and his face was twisted with such extreme pain that his features were all scrunched together. His ten fingers fiercely scrabbled against the ground as they curled and contorted into a shape that resembled withered animal claws…

Pain and terror filled his soul as he began to wish for death rather than survival. The all-consuming desire to run away, at all costs, engulfed his remaining will. His body began to jerk spasmodically as he desperately crawled and rolled away from the source of pain…

The pain started to lessen as his shredded soul finally became tranquil. Percy's mental clarity returned to him as he lay on the ground and looked in the direction of the Underworld Python Flower… That purple light was once again more than sixty meters away.

"He… hehe… Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA…" Percy's fists fiercely smashed into the ground as he started laughing in a voice filled with pain and despondency, "To think that I actually ran away once again… To think that I am actually… this useless…"

"Percy! How much longer do you want this foolishness to continue!?" Artemis yelled at him in a furious voice, "If you're thinking that the reason that you listed just now is a good reason for your desperate actions, then you can jolly well stop! I don't need you to repay me for my actions! Everything that I have done is entirely for my own sake! I don't need you to gamble your life just to get a mere Underworld Python Flower! Let's not even talk about the fact that it's impossible for you to succeed… Even if you do manage to obtain it, I won't feel the least bit grateful. Rather, I'd only feel that your stupidity knows no bounds!"

"Repay… your kindness?"

Percy used both arms to hoist himself off the ground. His body wobbled and his voice was weak and lacking energy, "How could it just be… to repay your kindness… Artemis, to me… How could you simply… be a benefactor to me? Do you really think, I'm doing this to just repay a favor?"

Artemis, "…"

He turned towards the Underworld Python Flower and spoke in a low voice, "In my life, I, Percy, have braved many storms and seas. I have experienced countless life and death struggles and innumerable calamities. Even an ancient devil that came from the Ancient Era one million years ago died under my blade!"

"So how can I… be so miserably defeated by a mere Underworld Python Flower!"

Artemis shouted in shock, "Are you telling me that you're about to try again!? Have you experienced so much pain that you've lost all of your grip on reality!?"

"No! On the contrary, I feel more clear-headed than ever right now!" Percy said with a low shout, "I am not even scared of a devil! I am not even scared of death! So how can a mere flower scare me so badly that I scamper off with my tail in between my legs time and time again!"

ROOOOOAAAR!

A majestic dragon roar shook the entire place as a pair of azure eyes suddenly blinked open in this pitch-black world. A boundless power engulfed this tiny space as it weighed down on everything.

Dragon Soul Domain!

Artemis, "…!"

The moment he unleashed the Dragon Soul Domain, all of the fear that remained in Percy's heart and eyes completely vanished. He looked at the Underworld Python Flower, a calm and resolute smile playing across his face, "This time, I will no longer allow myself to be afraid or run away… Because I no longer have a way out!"

After he unleashed the Dragon Soul Domain, all of his soul energy would be exhausted in an extremely short period of time. So if he retreated again, it would take a very long time before he could recover all of his soul energy… By that time, the Underworld Python Flower would have already withered away.

So he really did not have a way out after this anymore!

"You can't!" Artemis shouted in her loudest voice, "Even if you use the Dragon Soul, you still won't be able to get anywhere near the Underworld Python Flower! Moreover, the Dragon Soul Domain will quickly deplete your spirit energy. After that, your soul energy will be extremely weak and it will result in your soul being swiftly devoured by the Underworld Python Flower! You won't even have a chance to resist or retreat!"

"I can do it…" Percy gasped through gritted teeth, "Because this is for you… that is why I will definitely succeed!"

"…" Artemis's heart was heavily smashed by some unfamiliar object.

ROOOOOAAAR!

As the dragon cry resounded in the air, Percy gathered all the profound energy in his body as he rushed towards the Underworld Python Flower yet again… But this would be his final attempt!

Because he would no longer have a chance to try again!

Percy's soul power grew explosively under the influence of the Dragon Soul Domain. As he drew nearer, the Underworld Python Flower began to sway quicker and the ghastly wail it released started to sound rather abnormal.

Percy gobbled up the distance as he fiercely pressed towards the forty five meter mark. His entire body tensed up but the soul-rending power that assaulted him was casually batted aside by the Dragon God's soul power. The pain and his loss of willpower was not even half as much as it was before.

His power and his will were still being swiftly worn away by the Underworld Python Flower's soul-stealing power. Percy began to slow down as his steps became wobbly but he gritted his teeth fiercely as he desperately surged forward… While the Dragon Soul Domain was suppressing that dark and hellish power, he managed to bull his way to within thirty meters of the flower!

Percy was suddenly assaulted by pain which far surpassed the threshold of what he could endure. It was so intense that every hair on his body was shaking and his knees hit the ground violently with a thud. However, his eyes still retained a startling and dreadful clarity…

To be able to retain some semblance of clarity in this sort of situation could only be described as "dreadful".

"Even if… my soul… is completely ripped apart… I will no longer retreat, not even half a step!"

"UWAHHH!"

His trembling, powerless arms swayed as he began to crawl towards that hellish purple light. The pain of his soul being torn apart caused him to begin to feel as if his arms and even his entire body did not exist. It was only by squeezing out the last bits of his willpower and determination that he was able to push his body forward… As he advanced, the terrifying feeling of his soul being torn apart and flayed from his body continuously increased.

But he… definitely could not retreat!

Within the Styx Soul Inner World, Hong'er was in deep slumber. The vicious battle with Typhon seemed to have left her exhausted. So during the past two days when Percy had been recovering from his injuries, she had been sound asleep. Artemis stood by Hong'er's bedside, a stupefied look spreading across her face as she witnessed Percy's desperate struggle in stunned amazement. He was slowly crawling within that hellish purple light and he had inched from the thirty meter mark to the twenty seven meter mark. Enormous pain caused his face to twist and warp in such a sinister way that it resembled an evil spirit.

Furthermore, the Dragon God image behind his back was slowly but surely fading away as well…

Suddenly, the Dragon God image flashed and then started fading away at a startlingly fast pace. It seemed like it was about to collapse at any time.

Artemis's delicate brows jumped as she cried out involuntarily, "Percy, don't carry on any longer, hurry up and get back! Your Dragon Soul Domain has almost reached its limit… You can still escape before it completely dissipates! If not, this is where you will meet your end!"

"…" Percy did not reply and he did not retreat. His arms trembled as he clawed forward, leaving behind bloody fingerprints in his wake. He had gritted his teeth so hard that blood was flowing from his gums and streamed from the corners of his mouth. But he barely noticed all of this as he slowly crawled through this purgatory that a normal person would never be able to imagine. He inched forward bit by bit, crawling even deeper into hell.

"…Percy! Listen up!" Artemis's spirit body was also shaking, and she was shaking nearly as fiercely as Percy was, "If I am unable to gain a new body, then I can only exist by continuing to stay attached to your lifeline! If you live, I live! If you die, I die! Now I have already escaped the clutches of that devilish poison, so I can use my powers with no hesitation! As long as I don't die, I will have to ensure that you continue to live as well! Given my power, even if all the people on the Gaia Continent ganged up together, they still wouldn't be able to kill you! You can also rely on my power to do anything that you are unable to do!"

"If I can never reconstitute my body, then I will have no choice but to rely on you to continue existing! No choice but to continue protecting you forever!"

"But if I do get a new body, then you will be throwing away an extremely strong protective charm! Right… once I get a new body, I will definitely kill you right away! Because you not only know too much of my secrets and you are also the type of person that I detest the most!"

"You are literally paying an enormous price to do the most stupid thing conceivable in this world! There is still time for you to stop and change your mind… Get away from here immediately!"

Artemis yelled in her loudest voice, clenching her tiny hands so hard that the joints of her fingers had long since turned white.

Clap!

Percy's hand grabbed onto a black rock that protruded slightly from the ground as he pulled himself forward an inch. His mouth was trembling as he spoke in a hoarse and weak voice, "You… will… not… even… if… you… had… to… die… you… wouldn't… hurt… me"

The Dragon God image had grown incredibly faint and it looked like it would disappear at any moment. At this instant, Percy's pupils flashed with firelight as a phoenix cry rang out in the room and the image of a Phoenix coalesced behind his back…

After releasing the Dragon Soul, he released the Phoenix Soul without holding anything back. The weak Dragon Soul and the recently ignited Phoenix Soul combined forces to slightly weaken the soul stealing power of the Underworld Python Flower. Percy gave a low roar as he rushed forward. During that burst of speed, he covered another three meters.

Now he was only twenty one meters away from the Underworld Python Flower!

"Wha… what proof do you have that I won't!" Artemis's strained voice showed that she was losing control over her emotions. She deeply inhaled as she forced herself to remain calm and composed, "Okay… fine… Could it be that you will only be content after you have dragged me down to the grave with you once you have been tortured to death by the pain of having your soul stolen!? If you don't hurry up and get back to a safe spot, you will be dooming me as well! I endured so many years of that devilish poison and it wasn't easy for me to get to this point! So if your stupidity today ends up causing my death… I will never ever forgive you, not even in our next lives!"

While the flames burned, the cry of the Phoenix Soul began to grow weaker and weaker. Percy was now only eighteen meters away from the Underworld Python Flower… Even Artemis was unable to believe that Percy could withstand this horrifying soul stealing ability and the pain of having his soul rent apart and come this close to the Underworld Python Flower. His miserable cries of pain had grown so hoarse that they barely even sounded human anymore. His actions were so weak that he resembled an old man who was at death's door. But his arms and his body continued to slowly crawl forward inch by inch…

If the Typhon still lived, perhaps even he would not be able to believe the scene he was witnessing.

"Artemis…" Percy murmured in a voice so low that even he could not hear himself clearly, "Believe me… I can definitely… make it…"

"You are even… older than me… Yet from such a young age… you could only… rely on one person… to live… I know just how… painful… and sad… that kind of life is…"

"Even though you are… haughty… stubborn… foul-tempered… and you love to scold me… you have never allowed… me to pity you… but… I know that… you desire freedom… more than anything else…"

"If… we miss this chance… I don't know… how many more years we will have to… I… will… definitely… not…"

"AAHHHH!"

Yet another resonant cry pierced the air, the image of the third Divine Spirit appeared behind Percy. The Golden Crow Soul was also ignited by Percy, he was releasing all of his soul energy without any reservation.

This explosion of soul energy allowed the now clear-headed Percy to stride forward yet again.

By the time he fell to the ground again, he was only fifteen meters away from the Underworld Python Flower.

But these short fifteen meters were the widest and most terrifying divide in the entire Gaia Continent.

At this point, anyone who had not personally experienced the same thing would never be able to imagine what Percy was currently enduring.

Dragon God Soul, Phoenix Soul, Golden Crow Soul… All three Divine Spirit images were radiating light. It was just that the images of the Phoenix and the Dragon God had already grown extremely thin and faint but Percy was still desperately holding on to the last threads of soul energy. If he did not have the protection of these three Great Divine Spirit Souls, his soul would have long ago been shattered into countless fragments.

Fifteen meters away. This was a distance that Artemis could scarcely believe. But she knew how hopeless an affair it would be to try to cross these last fifteen meters. Even if Percy was at his peak, he would not be able to cross this last stretch… Besides, the Divine Spirit soul power he was relying on had grown extremely weak.

But Percy was still using his arms to pull his entire body along as he crawled towards the Underworld Python Flower at a snail's pace… Artemis was closely observing Percy but she was unable to find out what kind of power the current Percy was using to continue dragging himself forward.

"Just what… will make you give up!?" Artemis's voice was shaking so hard that it was scarcely recognizable. She turned her head away and closed her eyes… Given her nature, she no longer dared to look at Percy's current appearance, "For the last… I'll say this for the last time! Immediately… get away from here! This is an order! I am your master… and you well know that one must always obey their master. Are you telling me that you're even going to rebel against your master's orders!?"

Percy's arm was spasming but his body moved forward yet again. His entire body was wriggling and jerking spasmodically, as if he was a dying bug wriggling the last of its life away… Behind him, the images of the Dragon God and the Phoenix had completely disappeared and only the weak light of the Golden Crow image was still flashing.

"A master's order cannot be disobeyed…" Percy's eyes still remained open as his blood-stained mouth whispered those word, "But in my heart… you are not merely… my master…"

"You are also… my… Artemis!"

"..." Artemis's body trembled. Her heart had grown completely muddled, as if something had exploded in the very depths of her soul.

"UUWAAAAAAH!"

The Golden Crow image had also completely disappeared. The moment all three Divine Spirit images completely disappeared, Percy's body was suddenly lit up by flames and under the firelight, one could also see a Blue Green profound light…

The Blood of Poseidon deep within his veins burned with power and exploded with all it's might!

"Sea… God's… Might!"

Like an insect on the brink of death, Percy fiercely rushed forward as A deadly Blue Green Aura Surged all around him. In an instant, he covered nearly fifteen meters of ground. With his remaining will, he hazily ascertained the direction in which the purple light lay. He desperately thrust out his left hand, which flashed with a Blue-green light as he came into contact with the purple light, which resembled devil eyes…

Bang!

Percy heavily fell to the ground and stopped moving completely. All of the wounds that his body had just recovered from had all ruptured open, whether it was his internal or external wounds. Furthermore, those injuries were even worse than they had been; they were so serious that Percy had instantly lost consciousness as he lay there unmoving.

The world within the Tartarus Burial Grounds had finally descended into its dark quiet solitude once more… Furthermore, it was an absolute darkness, not a single thread of light continued to glow in this place.

Artemis dumbly stood in place. She neither moved nor spoke for a very long time… The only things one could see were two streams of wetness trailing down her snow white face. They did not stop, the tears only streaming down faster and faster in the silence

 _-Flashback-_

"Uuu… This isn't real… Big Brother… I don't want you to die… Uuuuu… I don't want this… don't want this!"

"Artemis… don't cry… Even if Big Brother isn't around, you must still… continue to be strong… You still need… to protect Zoe… After all, she… Cough, cough cough."

"I… I understand. I will protect Zoe, I will protect her the same way Big Brother protected me. I must be strong… I must also… must also kill that person… kill all of the people of that astral plane to take revenge for my brother…"

"No… please don't… don't visit your vengeance on her…"

"Why… It's obvious that she was the one who harmed Big Brother… Why is Big Brother still trying to protect her!?"

"Artemis… you're still young. Once you've grown up, you will learn to truly love someone. It is then that you will understand… Big Brother may have died because of her… but I have no regrets… I just have too many worries that I am leaving behind…"

"Artemis… promise Big Brother this one last thing… In the future… once you've grown up… if there comes a day where you meet a man who is strong, treats you as good as Big Brother has and is willing to give up anything for you… even his life. Then get him to… bring you… far away from this place… forever… The further the better… so no one will be able to find you…"

"No… I don't want… In this world, there will never be someone who will treat me as well as Big Brother… I only want Big Brother… Uu… uwaaaaaaaaaah…"

"Artemis… you will definitely be able to meet that person… Because my sister… is the kindest… and most beautiful girl… in the world…"

 _-Flashback end-_

"..." Artemis stretched out her small hand and touched the two warm streams of tears that ran down her snowy face. Perhaps it was because she had not cried since the death of her brother and it had been far too long since then. As a result, too many tears had accumulated, and no matter how she tried to control them, those flowing tears simply refused to stop.

Big Brother, do you know? I've really met someone who fits that description.

But, how can I…

"Eh? Big Sis Artemis, you're crying!"

While Artemis was in a daze, she had not realized that Hong'er had woken up. She stood by Artemis's side, looking curiously at Artemis's tear-stained face while racking her brains. After she had confirmed what she was thinking several times over, she suddenly started jumping in excitement as she shouted, "Whoaa! I had always thought that only I knew how to cry, but it looks like Big Sis Artemis also knows how to cry as well… This is great!"

Hong'er always got excited over the weirdest things. This time, Artemis didn't encourage her like she normally did to make her happy. Instead, she stretched out a hand and lightly grasped Hong'er's white and delicate hand.

"Hong'er, if there comes a day where I won't be here anymore and I won't return for a very long time… you need to obediently listen to your master's words, okay?"

"Of course that's okay!" Hong'er said as she nodded her head with no hesitation. She smiled merrily as she replied, "I have always been very obedient to Master… Ah?" Hong'er had finally noticed the main point and she asked Artemis curiously, "Big Sis Artemis, you won't be here? Are you going somewhere else to play?"

"I don't know, perhaps I have been thinking too much all of the sudden." Artemis said as she gave a faint smile, "Anyways, you need to obediently obey your master at all times, okay. Because besides me, you master is the person who treats Hong'er the best in this world, right?"

"Mn!" Hong'er obediently nodded her head. But after that, she slanted her head and whispered to herself, "It's so strange. Big Sis Artemis seems really weird today… Aiyah, I don't care anymore! Big Sis Artemis, now that I've finished sleeping, my tummy is rumbling again! I want to eat lots and lots of delicious stuff!"

"…"

There was no sound and no light. Within the boundless darkness, Percy lay unmoving, whether he still lived or if he had died was a complete mystery.

 _-Palace of nyx-_

The fates were silent in shock." This child… how does he defy the very heavens?" suddenly a laugh boomed out. Then chaos appeared." This is why I chose this child as my instrument. The divine laws prevent me from personally interfering in the affairs of the gods, just like gods cannot meddle among mortals. But I can use a Mortal as my weapon, and he is a weapon with potential beyond even the gods!"

She laughed again and lifted her hand, where Percy's lifeline floated." I can feel his destiny. He still has a strong future, entangled with Kronos. Like I said, he is beyond your control little fates."

The fates were filled with disbelief." A mere mortal, and beyond us? He truly is destined to stand against the will of the gods!". Chaos shook her head." That is the power of his love, willing to defy the gods for his friends! That is why I chose him!"

A.N.: gotta love these Pertemis moments! Got the idea for Pertemis from JasChe pairing in Against the gods. A cold heartless girl and a comic Young boy willing to sacrifice anything for her. Jasmine and Yun Che are No. 1 couple! Which is why I set Pertemis To follow them as a relationship goal, Lol. Ok next Chapter, we'll see artemis Finally battling! I hope so at least. Cuz I'm so tired. Well review and I'll think about updating. Stay awesome Bro's( copied pewds).


	29. Time to bid Farewell

**Fourth Arc: World's Collide**

 **The Showdown**

In the world of the Styx Soul Inner World, Artemis stood with her back facing him, a cold look on her face. On the small bed beside her, Hong'er was snoring lightly after having eaten her fill.

That gloomy purple light was especially eye-catching in this jade Blue-green world.

The four petals of the Underworld Python Flower were perfectly unharmed, and they were currently being surrounded by a thin layer of green light as they floated quietly in place. Even then, that purple light still shone clearly through it, but it did not affect Percy's soul in any way.

"It looks like its soul stealing ability has been sealed by the Styx Soul Inner World." Percy said in relief as he drew closer.

"Hmph! What does that have to do with the Styx Soul Inner World!? The moment the Underworld Python Flower was harvested, I was the one who sealed its hellish power so that it would not leak out any more." Artemis turned around, her face tilted to the side as she refused to look at him.

"Hm?" Percy stared at Artemis's tiny face and asked her with a shocked and doubtful look on his face, "Artemis, your eyes seem a bit weird. Why do I get the feeling that… you were crying before this?"

"What… nonsense!" Artemis's reaction was akin to cat whose tail had been stepped on, "Crying? Me? What a ridiculous thing to say!"

"..." Artemis's weird reaction caused Percy's eyes to be filled with suspicion. He redirected his gaze to the Underworld Python Flower once more and said in a sincere voice, "A pellet from a Legend rank Beast, for that we can use Typhon's inner pellet, since technically his body was that of a god, so its pellet would be god level, more than thirty Kilograms of Divine Soul crystal and now we finally have the Underworld Python Flower as well... Artemis, all the things that you needed have been gathered. So now you can begin to reform your body, correct? Or do you still need to fulfill any other conditions? Such as a certain environment, or some kind of external energy..."

"There is no need for anything else! Now that all of these items have been gathered, I can start right away!" Artemis said as she shook her head. After that, she gave Percy a very deep look as she said in irate tone, "The fact that you were able to obtain this four petal Underworld Python Flower far exceeded my expectations but you must never ever do such a thing… Forget it! In any case, you never listen to anything that I say!"

"I can begin reconstituting my body right away!" Artemis repeated as her eyes grew focused, "Right now, I am unable to go outside and while the Styx Soul Inner World is able to house spirit bodies, it is unable to harbor any living creatures. If I try it here, it will come with the risk that something strange occurs during the process. So, the best possible choice and the only choice left to me right now would be to wait till we leave this place."

Percy smiled and his left hand filled with fire and the right filled with ice." My ice flame should be able to break open the barrier." Artemis sighed, then nodded." I hope so."

Percy laughed and left the Styx soul inner world and soon he stood outside, melding the ice and fire together. In sometime he had a soft, gentle blue fire floating in his hand. He tossed it onto the barrier, holding is breath. Then the world's most powerful barrier melted like ice and a small hole appeared. Percy darted through, turning into a silver streak as he activated the Moonlight flash.

The hole closed immediately, with a crisp crackling sound, but Percy had already crossed through. There was a blur and Percy was bowled over as Calypso rammed into his chest at full speed, Bawling her eyes out.

"Percy! You Idiot! I swear, if you do this again, I will kill myself right there!" she shrieked and pounded his chest with both her tiny fists. Percy simply embraced her, pulling her head to his chest and resting his chin on top of it.

Calypso's heart skipped a beat, and her struggles grew weaker before finally puttering out. The two simply stood there for a moment locked into each others presence. To Percy, this was a feeling of peace after yet another Death defying encounter. To calypso, this was another glimmer of hope that her own feelings might be present in Percy.

Even artemis was uncharacteristically quiet, not shouting or scolding him. After all, with today's actions, he had proven that she truly was the most precious person in his life. She couldn't even feel jealous of calypso or piper anymore, because Percy was not only willing to die for her, even in those terrible moments of torture, because their lives were connected, he had forced himself to live. It would have been easy for his soul to collapse, but for her sake, he had pulled through pain even worse than the Styx essence itself!

Calypso's heart was trembling fiercely, and she felt like it was going to explode under the pressure. Percy's arms were wrapped around her, anchoring her. she balled up her courage. She had to tell him. Even if this ruined their friendship and made piper hate her, she couldn't bear this secret anymore.

Just as she began speaking, a loud voice echoed." Brother in law!" Nico rushed over at full speed.

Calypso immediately shut up and swallowed the words that were in her mouth. Percy smiled and squeezed her one last time before letting go, turning to Nico." Hey nic-" he was cut short by Nico bowling into his chest just like calypso.

The two of them tumbled over and came to rest quite a distance away. Nico laughed and let go." Sorry I got too excited." Percy winced and ruffled his hair." How old are you anyway?" he asked curiously.

Nico gave him a sinister smile." I'm over thousands of years old." Percy gulped with surprise." O-over a thousand years?". Nico laughed" don't worry, most of my time was spent sealed unconscious in a coffin, so i don't exactly fit the Old Grandpa category. My time unsealed is around 10 to 13 years I guess."

Percy sighed in relief then looked at Nico seriously." Nico, what happened about the Emergency Conference?". Nico's expression grew grave." Come. I'll let Grandholme tell you."

Percy soon learnt the news from Grandholme.

The grand societies had refused to help protect Hope City. They had to worry about themselves as well.

They had spoken with the Envoy of tartarus, and he had decided to show some respect to the societies that guarded the Gaia continent and hence he had agreed to have a showdown with any one warrior of hope city. A showdown of five moves.

In case of a tie or loss for him, he would leave hope city alone. But if he won, he would kill his opponent, then force the rest of the people of hope city to leave. He would leave them alive, but of course, that was equal to death. Most ordinary citizens and soldiers under the eight rank would soon die in the wilderness and only the strongest few stood a hope of living.

And so the last city of humanity would perish.

Or so it seemed, till artemis spoke up." Hmph,let this princess fight. Then that fool will know how vast the heavens are and how deep the earth is!" Percy's head jerked up in surprise." Artemis are you sure?" artemis snorted." Even if I am in my soul form, my power is sufficient to duel with a meager Tartarus envoy!"

Percy didn't have any reply against such a strong reply. He helplessly shrugged and relayed her message. Grandholme's eyes lit up. After all, he was going to be sacrificing his life in vain. How could he not be glad to hear some good news?" Percy, are you certain? You're master will fight the monster king, and she believes she can win?" his eyes had gone round with surprise.

Percy scratched his head nervously, then replied." Well, my master has also surpassed the realm of legends." Grandholme gaped at him as the words sunk in. then he drowned Percy in a deluge of questions.

Percy avoided most of them, giving vague answers to others. After all, he couldn't reveal too many details regarding artemis.

Grandholme was ecstatic. He didn't mind dying for his city, but a meaningless death was something he couldn't accept. He had his own family he wanted to stay alive to protect after all. If he at least stood a chance in battle, then he wouldn't mind, but he knew he probably wouldn't last a single move against the Tartarus envoy!

And so the group headed back to Hope city. Percy and Artemis headed back to the secret chamber under calypso's home. Artemis wanted to meditate for a bit, and Percy was still curious about the sword placed there.(A.N.: Percy found the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword in the 'Heavenly Sword Trial Ground'. Riptide is still sheathed in the floor, waiting for someone worthy to pull it out.)

While artemis meditated and adjusted her mental state to the optimal state, he curiously examined the sword. He still remembered what Luke had told him. The only way he stood a chance was if he mastered the sword and regained his memories. Now it felt like a dark demon in his heart. After all he knew he was not Luke's match. Even Nico, a Peak Level Nine Warrior who had a Godly bloodline like him was only equal in power to Luke. So Percy was wondering if he really should try drawing the sword out.

Artemis suddenly appeared beside him." Don't think about it." She warned. Percy looked at her in surprise." Think about what?" she sighed." Don't think about your battle with Luke. Don't forget he has been training for over 2,000 years. But in another two years you will surpass him! So don't worry about it too much. You're just a 13 year old". Percy sighed." When we met, you were twelve, but you were already a Full god Warrior. Compared to you, I'm trash." Artemis shook her head." I directly reached this level of power. My king fused the soul of a full god with mine. And that granted me this power."

Percy was surprised." Your king? How powerful is he? To be able to fuse souls…" a terrifying killing intent spilled out of Artemis, covering Percy and making him feel like he was being suffocated." A-artemis… A-artemis!" he grabbed her shoulders and she blinked with surprise." Artemis are you alright?".

She grit her teeth and turned away." Of course I'm fine. Idiot disciple, I almost crushed you with my killing intent and you still have the nerve to worry about me rather than yourself." Percy grabbed her arm, then made her face him, forcing her to meet his eyes." Artemis, what's wrong?" she grimaced. Then she slumped and swayed slightly." My king… he… he… killed my mother…" Percy stiffened. Then artemis looked up with utter hatred in her eyes." And he… he… is my… father."

Percy was stunned speechless. Artemis turned away from him coldly." Now are you happy? You know the story." Percy went to speak, then faltered. How could he possibly say anything. After all, this had happened to a twelve year old girl, and had probably shaped her entire life.

Artemis grit her teeth and said." Don't think about it. This matter is far beyond your power and imagination. You can never meddle in such a matter." Percy gulped than said." But artemis-". Artemis cut him off with a curt wave of her hand." The day you understand the weight behind the words, World King, then you will understand why my king is a being no one can oppose." Her eyes turned red with bloodlust," no one, not even my brother."

Percy wanted to ask more, but he could feel her pain. He just stepped up and ruffled her hair from behind. She gasped and spun angrily." What do you think your doing?!" Percy chuckled then shook his head." Loosen up will you. all I did was rub your head!" artemis glared at him. But as soon as she turned a smile touched her lips and her shoulders relaxed.

Percy chuckled then gave the sword one last look, then turned away. He followed artemis and soon the two were deep in meditation as they waited for the final showdown.

The next day, the entire city was abuzz with the news. The tartarus envoy was coming over to decide the fate of the city. Their lives hung in the balance.

Most people were terrified, and only a few were optimistic about their chances. After all, the fear of the grand tartarus envoy was almost imprinted into their minds and they were helpless with the fear that was burned into every inch of their bones.

The early morning slowly dragged its way into a hot sweltering afternoon. There were no clouds in the sky, just the sun, mercilessly glaring down on everyone. That was when the tartarus envoy arrived.

He seemed like an ordinary man. He was of average height, and had sallow yellow skin, as if sick. He had short cropped hair that were a vibrant red and wore simple clothes made of the same rough cloth that the commoners of hope city wore.

He arrived smiling, but no one was fooled. He hated humanity. No one knew the cause for his hatred, but this hatred was evident. He had destroyed humanity, slaughtered its experts, massacred an entire race, killing all, even the innocent children and the helpless old.

And even now, Millennia later, he was still hell bent on revenge and seeked the death of even the last standing city. Artemis was sitting cross-legged in the basement when she felt him arise. Her soul form slowly wafted upwards, through the roof and flew up to meet him. The envoy's eyes widened with surprise as he saw her.

" are you insulting me?" he asked with a gentle smile. Artemis didn't bother replying, just staring at him coldly. The tartarus envoy's smile widened." All their warriors, and they sent me a little girl in her teens. Is that overconfidence or simply foolishness?" he shook his head slightly." It doesn't matter I suppose, since the result will be the same anyways. Since you have come, forget about leaving here alive."

He sighed and simply waved his hand in her direction. A fatal blade of wind erupted and shot towards her like the scythe of death itself. Artemis snorted with contempt and her lips puckered and she blew at the blade of wind. The two clashed in a terrifying collision of power and the world shook.

Percy was watching the battle with keen eyes. After all, it wasn't everyday such top level experts battled!

The tartarus envoy glanced up with surprise." Looks like you do have some skill after all. Are you already a legend realm warrior? Or maybe a ninth level warrior?" artemis just kept staring at him as if he were a fool. He smiled and said." So be it. You wish to remain silent? Because you have already said your last words perhaps?" his eyes turned black and twin rays of darkness shot out." Tartarus Demon Intent! Torture her soul!"

Artemis's eyes turned silver and her entire body glowed like molten silver and the twin rays dispersed almost as soon as they touched the silvery light. Finally artemis parted her lips to speak." Three moves left." He stiffened and his smile slipped for an instant then he laughed out loud."very well. You have forced me to draw my weapon! You should be proud since this is the first time since almost five thousand years that my blade will see the day of light!"

He flipped his palm up and a blood red sword appeared in his hand, shining almost as if it were dripping blood. The aura of this blade seemed almost like a snake, a poisonous snake getting ready to bite. Artemis snorted and his eyes grew cold." Lets see how much longer you can keep up that act!" he roared and his sword swung.

Immediately the skies darkened. The people of hope city were mostly hiding in their homes, and they felt a deadly aura enshroud their very souls as his attack descended. An image of his sword appeared, cutting through the skies and heading towards Artemis.

Artemis didn't even flinch as a she waved an arm towards the approaching weapon. A silver sword descended from the heavens, parting the clouds that covered the skies with noble dignity.' Moon sword descends!" the two swords collided and the sky tore apart under the force. The two blades went against each other with all their might. A small crack suddenly appeared on the red blade.

Then another. Soon it was webbed with cracks. The silver sword began cracking as w ell. Suddenly with a shattering sound, the demon sword shattered. The silver sword headed towards the monster king, but most of it's power was already consumed. It disintegrated before reaching him, but his smile was completely gone now. That was a strike with his full force, and yet it had lost! He grit his teeth and then roared out loud." Tartarus Bloodline, Burn in the Depths of hell!"

A loud wailing filled the world as the sky was filled with phantom illusions of hideous monsters from the depths of tartarus itself. The Monster king shook and his face twisted and his true monster nature was finally revealed. His human skin tore apart as spikes erupted all over his body, almost haphazardly. His fingers became tipped with claws and his eyes grew wide, taking up almost half his entire face. He grew taller and thinner, until he was hunched over with a long bony chest through which his ribs were clearly seen. His skin was a sickly yellow color, with faint swirls green shot through it. His arms were long, extending till his feet and his entire height was probably nine feet. He looked up and it was clear that half his face was his eyes and the other half was his mouth.

When he smiled, his enormous teeth gaped and there were thousands in his mouth, all sharp and thin, needle like. His long arms unfurled and his body straightened. He was so thin artemis could have wrapped her arm around him."kekeke. hhehehe" he giggled and shuddered." How long… how long… how long…. Has it been? Has it been? Has it been?" he asked as he twitched almost spasmodically.

"kekeke… hehehehe …huhuhu" he tilted his head with jerks as he regarded artemis." Die… die… die..Little girl! Little girl! Little girl!" he laughed again.

Percy felt nauseated just looking at him. It felt like all the wrongness in the world had condensed into a form and that was the tartarus envoy. Just looking at him made Percy feel as if the world was twisting and shifting and all the laws were bending around him. Sometimes it felt like he was standing miles away from next instant he would be so close, Percy could count every pore and wrinkle on his skin.

Artemis's lip curled as she regarded him." A world wyrm. So that's your true form. No wonder you became a demigod. A divine beast like you naturally becomes a demigod upon reaching adulthood. And that's why you hate humans. You twist the fabric of reality by existing, but humans have the power to untwist the fabric. No wonder you want them to break up their cities but don't mind leaving them alive. After all only large groups of humans together can untwist your twisting."

The tartarus envoy listened to her words with disbelief. She had basically unraveled all his secrets in a single glance."y-you …? Who the hell are you!?" artemis smirked then examined her fingernails." I'll tell you, but on the condition that you answer a question of mine." He regarded her warily." What question?" she tilted her head curiously." How did a divine beast like you end up on this plane of existence?"

The world wyrm smiled showing her all his teeth." Doesn't my title make it obvious? I was sent here from tartarus. As an egg. To destroy the last standing point of humanity. I already knew of hope city but someone higher up pulled a few strings and bought them a few years of time. So I ignored you. but the time got over a few months back, and then one of you sent me a message as well. How could I possibly refuse you anymore?"

Artemis regarded him coldly." A higher up pulled the strings? Who?"

The tartarus envoy's smile grew wider." answer my question first!" artemis grimaced with annoyance then replied." I'm an expert from the realm of the gods." The wyrm nodded his head in understanding." Ahh so it's like that is it?"

Then artemis shook her head" so who pulled the strings and protected hope city?" he smiled at her then shook his head as well." As much as I would like to answer that question of yours, I still have yet to kill you!" he blurred as he darted forward arms whipping forward like whips, claws reaching out to rend her skin and puncture her flesh. Artemis sighed and her form turned molten silver. ' Moon god's celestial transformation!'

Her own fist shot out. The glowing silver fist and the deadly yellow claw collided fiercely. There was spray of blood as the claw collapsed under the force of the impact and his skin and bones shattered and tore apart.

The monster king hissed in pain and swiftly backed away,hand still bleeding copiously. He glared at artemis." So an expert from the realm of gods is this powerful eh?" artemis snorted coldly." I currently have only my soul form, but even this has enough power to extinguish you. if I was in my body, you would have died from just me blowing air on you.

The world wyrm grew pale with shock and horror. Then he quickly collected himself and grinned his hideous grin yet again." Well then that just means I have to defeat you right now!" he chuckled and began forming hand seals.

"let me show you my final finishing move. I once had the fortune of watching my master devour a sinner who had the misfortune of angering him. After seeing that moment, I spent a thousand years meditating about the profound mysteries contained in his attack. And so I created this move!" he lifted his hand and a faint phantom began flickering and appearing behind him.

The feeling of agony and despair appeared yet again, but this time it was almost a thousand times stronger. Any ordinary person would be rendered immobile and entirely paralyzed just by the aura of the attack. Percy felt as if a mountain was weighing down on him, trying to crush him.

Behind the tartarus envoy, the image finally appeared. It was the image of a humungous misshapen humanoid figure. It was vague and indistinct, but one thing was clear. Its face was a terrible vortex, a never ending whirlpool that sucked in all of existence.' Gate of Tartarus!'

Percy felt the desolate aura envelope him and he felt like collapsing with helplessness. Even from so far away, without the attack aimed at him, the attack threatened to suck his soul out of his body. It could be imagined how much pressure had to face, standing right before the attack, bearing the full focus of the attack. She was only a soul, without a body anchoring her as well. Her face grew white with shock, as she struggled to stabilize herself. Then her eyes hardened." Very well then. Let me show you true despair."

She reached her hand out and a bow seemed to form from moonlight, appearing in her grasp. She pulled back the bowstring and a silver arrow appeared, made of a pure moonbeam.

The image of the moon appeared behind her, revolving as it resisted the suction of the world wyrm's attack. She steadied her breathing as she aimed the arrow. Her figure struck Percy and his breathing slowed down as he saw her holding the bow.

The suction on his soul was already shaking it up, and it had also previously suffered being torn to shreds under the assault of the Underworld Python Flower. Now watching her familiar form holding a bow as she prepared to strike down her foe, his seal shook for a moment and familiar words rang out from the depths of his soul." I am the Goddess of the hunt. And the hunting of all wild beasts lies in my domain. And you, foul creature are a wild beast." Percy whispered softly. His memories were quite muddled at the moment and he was unsure what he had just said was from another life.

Artemis aimed the arrow at the Tartarus envoy then said." Moon Goddess's Retribution!" her arrow shot out with all its force, a silver meteor that carried in it the power of the moon. It smashed straight into the wyrm's heart, and shot through it's chest before crashing into the image of the vortex behind him. The vortex itself shattered on impact and suddenly, the day was as silent as a grave.

The wyrm looked down in astonishment at it's chest, seeing the blood gushing out of the five inch long slit. Then it swayed and collapsed. The tartarus envoy had died.

Artemis snorted coldly." If you act too smart with this princess, you wont have a life left to act smart with." Percy closed his eyes. That moment, watching the suction of the attack had inspired him. He quickly traced the connection between that vortex and his own hurricane type attacks.

Poseidon's attacks had a variety, but in order to use them, he had to understand their profound principles.

He had been able to use thousand layered waves because he understood the principles of the waves. But that was simply their weakest form. As his understanding grew deeper, so would the power behind his attacks. Poseidon's blood also granted him the power to shake the earth, and the power of the violent sea storms. But previously, Percy could barely summon a strong wind. But now, having experienced that suction, he was suddenly inspired, and began understanding the principles behind the hurricane.

The few people standing outside their homes in hope city began cheering wildly as the broken form of the Tartarus envoy fell from the skies. More and more people began rushing out, cheering and screaming with joy. Percy finished his meditations and stood and smiled. Just then artemis frowned as if sensing something. Her eyes widened as she looked up. she muttered a curse and her form disappeared. The walls that surrounded and protected hope city began to crack and crumble and many people screamed as they fell to their deaths or were crushed under tons of rock.

As the residual shockwaves dispersed, the figure of a woman appeared in the sky high above Hope city, carrying a seemingly illusory scent.

In an instant, the condensed aura once again underwent a change, a restless and uncomfortable feeling was speedily spreading out from within the city. Tens of thousands of eyes were staring straight at the female figure in the sky, turning languid as though their souls were being hooked. This was especially so among a few youths whose saliva was flowing out from the corners of their mouths, yet they did not know how to swallow it back.

There were even some who had blood flowing out from their noses, yet they were completely unaware of it.

The woman in the sky had a tall figure, and was even taller than the average male. She was dressed in a jade-green silk gown which was seemingly translucent, and her coquettish jade body was rather discernible. The silk sleeves slipping over her arms and thighs were however completely transparent. Her pair of silky arms were smooth and crystal clear while her shoulders glistened bright.

Half wrapped in chiffon, the bosoms in front of her chest were enormous. Seemingly a large half of them were exposed, blatantly sandwiching a deep valley and the white luster they had led to people coveting and salivating for them.

Under the jade-green silk gown, her two beautiful slim, long legs were completely exposed, their creaminess was to the extent where people could lose control, wanting to hug and lick them.

Within the Gaia Continent, even the brothel women did not dare to dress themselves this revealingly to seduce people, let alone a woman who cultivated Battle qi that could use the Legendary Floating Technique. Appearing above Hope city, her endlessly seductive body was being watched by countless experts, yet she had not a single change to her expression. With a flirtatious face and dark painted brows, her tiny, water hibiscus-like, red lips revealed a faint smile.

When comparing her facial appearance, she was far from the perfection and flawlessness of Calypso. However, her entire body was emitting a demonic charm capable of taking away the souls of men. Her pair of eyes especially, looked as though they were carrying the water of autumn. When her gaze met the people below, it was as though she was secretly sending autumn ripples to the people, causing their hearts to go into ecstasy. With a mere glance, it was enough to fiercely arouse the men's most primitive desires.

This was a completely foreign face; not a single person had seen it once before. Furthermore, the initially tense atmosphere, following after the appearance of this woman, completely underwent a change. Percy regained his senses after being stunned for a short while and at this moment, he suddenly realized that among most of the young profound practitioners present, they had dull-looking eyes and their saliva were flowing straight off their lips. There were even some who had blood wildly pouring out from their noses… This caused his heart to suddenly skip a beat.

This was clearly… soul suppression!?

However, he did not sense any profound aura or ripples of soul energy emitting out from the woman in the sky… This meant that, this was completely caused by this mysterious woman's most natural, most normal state!

In regards to someone capable of causing such shocking soul suppression on this many profound experts in her natural state, in his entire life, Percy had only seen it happening with Artemis around!

When Artemis made her appearance, she did not require any profound energy or soul energy, but by merely meeting people's gazes, she could make figures like Peak Legend Realm Warriors to feel as though they had fallen into a frozen river, crumbling their will. This woman however did not need to intentionally lock her eyes onto someone but with just a mere glimpse of her, profound practitioners as strong as a Level 8 or Level Nine would lose their hearts and souls.

Furthermore, the feeling this woman gave him, was actually...

Actually similar, albeit a little faint, to Artemis!?

"To actually dare disrupt this banquet, where did you come from, demoness!?"

Grandholme growled and like a clock striking midnight, it shook awake the people who had lost their senses from their daze.

"Junior brother percy, who is she? She's wearing… very little." Calypso leaned next to Percy, and softly said. As a woman, even she was a little embarrassed looking towards the sky.

Aleck thundre stepped forward and asked in a calm voice. "May I know who your excellency is, and what kind of grudge you have with our Hope city? Why did you disrupt our city, and harm our City disciples!?"

"This woman is dressed indecently, and dirties the clarity of one's eyes. Furthermore, her body carries a bewitching art. Her motive being here is definitely not a kind one," Spiritual master huanji of the Huanji Grand aristocratic family calmly said.

Bewitching art? Percy's brows locked even tighter than before. Being together with Artemis for Five years, he was completely certain that it was definitely not an intentional emission of a so-called bewitching art but a soul suppression under one's natural state! Furthermore, because her soul level was simply too high, even these peak-level experts of the Gaia Continent were unable to notice it and they instinctively believed that was merely a vulgar bewitching art.

Could it be that the soul level of this strange woman, was actually comparable to Artemis's!?

Im… Impossible! In this world, someone that could be on par with Artemis basically should not exist!

"Brother-in-law, what happened to you?" Nico who arrived next to Percy suddenly realized Percy's entire body was tensed up, as though he had realized something extremely frightening.

"This woman used a bewitching art to confuse the crowd the moment she arrived. Since this visitor does not have good intentions, what's the point of wasting our breath with her!?" Huanji, Great Elder of Huanji family, coldly said. "But this woman's bewitching art is indeed astonishing, her cultivation must certainly be impressive as well. Sir Grandholme, let me personally take her down!"

"Mn." The grand guardian grandholme slightly nodded.

Huanji instantly rose in the air. Accompanied by a violent surge of wind, he headed straight for the woman in the sky dressed in a green gown. "Demoness, it's best if you quickly give up any form of resistance!"

"Wait a minute, don't attack, question her motives first!"

Percy quickly roared out but he was already too late in stopping him.

Because of the opponent's extremely powerful "bewitching art", Huanji did not belittle his opponent too much, neither did he leave any reserves because his opponent was a woman. Under the divine might of a level Nine warrior, a violent tornado dispersed the scattered clouds in the sky. However, at the center of the tornado, the charming woman did not move in the slightest, neither did her sleeves flutter with the wind. She gently reached out her right hand, pointed her finger at the charging Huanji, and with a light tap… a very thick jewelweed polish was smeared on her fingernails, sparkling brightly in red.

The violent wind disappeared. A streak of green light slightly flashed on Huanji's body, and following after… his body, like a sand sculpture being blown apart, suddenly disintegrated, turning into tiny, green sand particles which scattered in the sky...

And then, they silently dissipated from this world.

This scene was fantastically beautiful, yet all of the profound practitioners present instantly paled from horror.

"Y-you demoness! You dare… You dare use your demonic arts… to kill this venerable one's son!" With his trembling body, Huanji's father, the Clan head pointed at the charming woman.

"Brother, this demonness is beyond words and understanding!" his two younger brothers stood and moved to his side. The three of them were peak rank Nine Warriors and they were the reason the Huanji family was the top Aristocratic family in hope city. They were the Three venerable ones!

Facing the Three grand warriors who were enveloped with anger, the charming woman's tender body shrank back, as though she was feeling aggrieved. "Uncle, this servant doesn't follow your words."

When her voice left her lips, everyone instantly felt a numbing sensation in their bodies, and even their bones had softened in an instant… Percy was no exception as well. Her voice was delicate like a young girl's, yet at the same time, it carried the suave and indolence of a mature woman. In between, it even carried a seductive feeling that could seep into one's bones. With just a few words, the hearts of those who heard them shook and they felt as though their souls were about to escape their bodies, heading to where that voice came from.

Percy had heard too many bewitching voices, however, never had he encountered one that was bewitching to this extent, where the voice could numb one's soul just by reciting a few short syllables.

"This servant is here to find a person, and I have not accidentally killed anyone. However, you people wanted to fight and kill the moment this servant made her appearance, yet now you're trying to blame this servant instead. For so many big men bully this little girl, it's so shameless."

After these words were spoken, the people below were barely able to stand stably due to the numbness in their bodies.

"Elder brother, do not waste your breath with this demoness… Just kill her!" the youngest Venerable's eyes were flushed red and as he growled, a jade-blue broadsword appeared in his hands in a flash, and with a light swing, it brought about disorderly ripples in space. The two brothers followed closely followed behind as well. Overwhelmed with grief and anger, the three great Venerable Ones attacked at the same time and this first attack of theirs, was a killing move without any openings to escape from!

"Step back!"

Grandholme and Percy paled from shock, and they roared out at the same time. Someone that could kill Huanji in an instant was basically a terrifying existence that surpassed the understanding of anyone in the Gaia Continent! Though they were the Hope city's Venerable Ones who stood at the highest peak of the Gaia Continent, there was still a grave possibility. A possibility she may have even exceeded the legend realm!

Splurt!

No one clearly saw what happened. They merely heard a light ringing and the violent tornado of profound energy, along with the spatial chaos that filled the sky, that was brought upon by the three Venerable Ones, had completely disappeared. All three of the Venerable Ones' chests were struck with a glowing green substance.

The three Venerable Ones' eyes widened to the extreme and their expressions were completely frozen. In the next moment, their faces, their entire bodies, and even the robes they were wearing and the swords in their hands, had turned jade-green. Then, like three lifeless stone sculptures, they smashed downwards from the sky above.

"Ven… Venerable Ones…"

Everyone, especially the people from the Huanji Grand Aristocratic Family had all turned dumbstruck. Looking at the three bodies that were falling from the sky, a few elders of the Huanji Aristocratic Family unconsciously wanted to catch them. Immediately after, Percy's explosive roar rang in their ears, "Don't touch them!"

The Family's elders froze, and unconsciously stopped their feet.

Boom!

The three jade-green bodies smashed onto the ground at the same time and at the instant they landed, the bodies which should have possessed a Level Nine Warrior's profound protective aura and should have been a hundred times sturdier than jade, shattered into pieces like limestones. The blood flowing out was jade-green in color and wherever the blood flowed, the profound jade floor would quickly sink.

The faces of the few family elder's elders paled from this terrifying sight as they retreated in a panic.

"It's poison… an extremely terrifying poison!" Percy muttered softly, his right hand tightly grasped onto Calypso's arm, and Calypso's face had long lost its color from this horrifying scene.

"Hehehehe…" The charming woman let out a tender and frail laugh. "You can't blame this servant for this now, it was them who first wanted to bully this servant."

This time however, there was no longer anyone being dazed by lust because their hearts had already been covered with immense fear, and only endless dread and cold remained.

Disintegrating Huanji in an instant, and then… eliminating three Huanji Grand Aristocratic Family's Venerable Ones in an instant!

This scene, which was even more terrifying and absurd than a dream itself!

At this moment, the terrifying charming woman in the sky suddenly disappeared.

A green light flashed in front of Percy's eyes and a flirtatious face appeared before his eyes. Her face was close to the point where it could be reached by a stretched hand, carrying a strangely nice-smelling illusory scent.

That terrifying woman in a green gown actually appeared before their eyes. Calypso and Nico yelled out in surprise at the same time, while Grandholme and the rest who were in the vicinity had even paled from shock, as they frantically retreated like they were being electrocuted. Percy was shocked to the core but before he could retreat, a hand with especially slender and long fingers had already lightly pinched on the button in front of her chest, the jewelweed polish smeared above her fingernails emitted out a mysterious floral scent.

However, other than that, his profound energy was not sealed and the charming woman's hand did not release any form of energy. But, he did not dare to move. He was very certain that, with the strength she possessed that could instantly kill the three Venerable Ones, if she wanted to kill him, an instant was all she needed.

"Percy!"

"Brother-in-law!"

Seeing Percy being restricted by her, Calypso and Nico were stricken with horror, and was about to charge over. Percy hurriedly growled. "Don't come over, hurry and step back. She… She doesn't wish to harm me."

"You're correct." The charming woman smiled as she stared into Percy's eyes. Her charming eyes were like silk and her voice was as gentle as cotton. "Little brother, this servant simply wishes to ask you a question. As long as you reply obediently, this servant will immediately let you go."

Her voice was creamily tender, her eyebrows were arched and her watery, almond-shaped eyes glistened brightly, bewitching in an indescribable manner. She did not look like she was taking Percy hostage in the slightest, rather, it looked as though she had the desire to leap into his embrace and release her feelings of passion.

Her breasts bounced and shivered as she swayed slightly in front of him, then stepped closer, moving her face forward till it almost seemed like she was kissing him.

"What… do you want to ask?" Percy did his best to calm his heart down.

"Tell this servant." The charming woman's face slowly closed in. "Where is Princess Artemis right now?"

"..." Percy's pupils suddenly shrank but right after, he determinedly said. "Princess Artemis? What are you talking about? I don't understand very well."

The corner of the charming woman's lips lightly arched upwards, her pair of charming eyes slightly narrowed as well. The light in her eyes turned coquettish and dangerous. "Little brother, it's bad to lie, you know. Your body carries her scent, you know." Her hand wasfiddling with the button on her dress and with a soft click, it opened, and her breasts bounced free, barely contained by the rest of her clothes. Percy felt saliva filling his mouth and he swallowed nervously as she moved closer to him, the top of her breasts slowly rubbing his chest. She ran her hand down his chest and moved it to his crotch and started squeezing his rapidly hardening manhood. She was coming even closer now." Where… is… princess… artemis…" she asked softly and Percy felt his mouth go dry.

"Release him!"

A heart-piercing chilling voice suddenly sounded from the back, causing the surrounding temperatures to instantly plummet.

Percy's pupils shook, and he subconsciously called out. "Artemis!"

The charming woman slowly turned around and looked towards the young girl in red dress who was walking out from the spatial rift at the back. Within her beautiful eyes that flowing with green radiance, a strange dazzling light flashed past. Then, she faintly smiled. "Your highness, this servant finally managed to find you."

"I don't want to say it a third time, release him." Artemis's face, eyes, and voice, did not carry even the slightest of emotion.

"Hehehehe." The charming woman let out a tender laugh. "No wonder this little brother has your highness' scent… Your highness, don't be nervous. Such a handsome little brother, even if your highness orders this servant to kill him, this servant cannot bear to do it."

The charming woman lightly tapped her finger, and Percy instantly staggered back, leaning into Calypso's embrace.

"Artemis!" Percy worriedly shouted. However, he basically did not know what he should and could do in the situation before his eyes.

"It's been seven years, seeing that your highness is still safe and sound, this servant feels boundless joy from the depths of her heart." Even when facing Artemis, the charming eyes of the charming woman were still like silk, and her smile looked as though it carried a hundred blooming flowers.

"It's been seven years, yet you're still so loathsome," compared to her flirtatiousness, Artemis's voice was as cold as a frozen spring. Slowly, she muttered the other party's name. "Drew!"

People who had heard of the Twelve Celestial Gods of Celestial God Realm, would be aware of the two most frightening existences that could strike them with terror just by conversing about them.

Among the two, was the Heavenly Poison Celestial God.

And presently, standing in front of Artemis was this woman who was seemingly born to bewitch men, the Heavenly Poison Celestial God who carried the title "Moonflower of Hell"!

Drew!

Presently, everyone who was looking at her, would merely see that she possessed charm that could bewitch the entire world but only Artemis was fully aware that the phrase "If glamor is like peaches and plums, then poison is like snakes and scorpions", could be fully exemplified by this woman!

"Hehehehe…" Facing Artemis's cold taunts, not only did Drew not become angry, she instead smiled tenderly and narrowed her charming eyes at Percy for a moment. Twisting her waist like a water snake, she then appeared in front of Artemis with speed comparable to teleportation. "Your highness, not only has your appearance remained unchanged, even your temper hasn't changed in the slightest. A few years ago, we had thought that you had encountered misfortune. My king was depressed for a long while, you know?"

"Depressed?" Coldness and ridicule could be seen from Artemis's face and following after, the light in her eyes dimmed. "How did you find me?"

"Hm?" Drew lightly stroked her lips with her slender finger. "Wasn't it your highness who notified this servant?"

"..." Artemis's chest heaved slightly, and in the depths of her mind, she helplessly sighed. "As expected…"

Even her reforming her body had been detected! No doubt, even this battle would have been detected by drew. They were both Celestial gods and could hence detect each others presence.

The God Realm was extremely far from this place and it was seemingly impossible to detect at this range. However, if there was a Celestial God who was coincidentally slightly closer… there was indeed the possibility of being detected.

Incredibly, today this worst case scenario had turned into reality.

"Brother-in-law, just what is going on?" Nico softly asked. "Who is this… very strangely dressed woman? She seems to know your teacher. Could this be someone powerful like your teacher?"

"..." Percy did not reply, and was actually unable to reply. His mind was a chaotic mess… An unprecedented chaotic mess.

From how Drew was addressing Artemis and the expression she was having while facing Artemis, Percy had already ascertained that this Drew was definitely someone who resided in the same world as Artemis. There was an extremely high possibility that she was here to search for Artemis.

Recalling the abnormal behavior Artemis had this morning… Most likely, she must have already sensed that Drew was nearby back then. In other words, she did not want to be found.

This Drew was addressing Artemis as "your highness" but her tone and posture did not demonstrate even the least bit of respect, as though her status wasn't any lower than Artemis's!

As Percy had thought, Artemis did indeed sensed that Drew was speedily approaching this morning. Thus she separated from Percy and completely sealed her presence, attempting to escape from Drew's spiritual perception. However, she never expected that Drew would actually seek Percy out… Artemis kept herself alive by attaching her soul onto Percy for exactly Five years, so Percy did indeed carry the aura of her soul and it was very heavy as well.

Her body similarly carried Percy's aura, no matter if it was his life or his soul.

Thus, she had no choice but to reveal herself. Otherwise, with how vile Drew was, Percy would definitely die.

"Then why were you near this planet?" Artemis coldly questioned.

"Naturally, it's an order from my king." Drew's finger slid off her lips and carried on down her smooth neck before stopping at her collarbone, where she gently twirled a strand of her shining hair. "A few years ago, there were rumors that your highness was still alive. This servant did not believe it but my king wanted this servant to retrieve your highness no matter what. This servant has no choice but to comply with my king's orders. In these few years, this servant was going around sightseeing. Never did I expect that I was actually able to find your highness for real."

"A few years ago?" How did you people find out I was still alive?" Artemis's eyebrows, which were already sunken before, sank even deeper at this moment and her voice suddenly carried an ice-cold killing intent." That goddamn sword!" she had feared that while travelling to and from the heavenly sword trial ground, she would be noticed by the existences who lived in the chaotic space between the worlds. And that was indeed the case.

"Your highness sure is smart." Drew said with a giggle. "It's no wonder your highness still did not die after being struck with the Absolute God Slaying Poison. So you forcefully abandoned the body that was infected with the demonic poison and attached your soul onto someone else… If this servant isn't mistaken, that someone, should be that handsome little brother over there."

Artemis: "..."

"Not only does that little brother look handsome, his life force is surprisingly exuberant, it's no wonder he could be chosen by your highness. Hehehehe. So tell me then…. Have you given him your primordial yin? Made him your lucky dual cultivation partner?!"

Artemis stared at her coldly." I simply used his assistance to recover from the poison." Drew giggled." Is that so? But such a handsome little brother, with such a strong life force. I would never waste sucha chance. From what I felt, he has quite a nice build too. I wouldn't mind such a great dual cultivation partner~ let me taste him then!"

Drew laughed like a twisted flower. What she absolutely did not expect was that the demonic poison Artemis was struck with back then had not only spread throughout her entire body but had also seeped into her soul as well. If it was merely one's body that was infected, one could still protect his or her soul by abandoning the body. However, if the poison had seeped into the soul as well, with how terrifying the Absolute God Slaying Poison was, even in the plane of power they were in, without a doubt they would definitely die. There was definitely no luck nor fortune to speak of.

Unless they possessed the Styx soul Inner World of the legends.

Artemis should have faced certain death back then but at the very last moment, she had encountered Percy who possessed the Styx soul Inner World. Her fate was thus changed because of Percy and Percy's fate was similarly turned upside down because of her.

"But from the looks of it, your highness still hasn't reconstructed your body and your god powers have only been restored by ten percent. It's better this way as well, otherwise this servant would have been troubled." Drew tilted her lips upwards, both her voice and expression were still as tender and frail. "If this servant had known about this, then I wouldn't have informed my king that I had discovered your highness beforehand."

"...!" The light in Artemis's eyes suddenly turned cold. "You informed... that person!?"

"Of course." Drew's fingers were still playing with her own hair. "Your highness clearly had discovered this servant but not only did you not look for this servant, you instead concealed your presence and played a game of hide-and-seek with this servant. Evidently, you do not want to return with this servant, right? In terms of brute strength, this servant can't beat your highness either. It's really troubling, that's why this servant had no choice but to first send a voice transmission to inform my king. How would I have known your highness's god powers had fallen to this extent… Aiyo, if this servant wishes to take away your highness no matter what, in the state your highness is currently in, you won't be able to resist in the least."

"Hmph!" Artemis's face was expressionless. "Though I don't wish to return, there will still come a day where I will return to that place. Since I have been found by you, it seems I can't even hope not to return now."

Artemis was very clear that if Drew's "king" knew of her whereabouts, then her wanting to stay here was no longer possible. Otherwise, that person might make a trip here personally… If that really were to occur, then the consequences would basically be disastrous.

"But, I need ten days," Artemis's eyes slightly narrowed as she coldly said. "Ten days later, after I have done everything I want to do, I will return with you!"

"Artemis…" Percy's heart skipped a beat from Artemis's words and he shouted out involuntarily.

Facing Artemis's sharp and cold eyes, Drew simply shook her head with a smile. "Of course you can't. My king gave this servant a very heavy order that if I were to see your highness, then I will have to immediately bring your highness back, without a single moment of delay. This servant doesn't dare to disobey my king's order, you know. Furthermore, your highness even hid from this servant earlier. If your highness secretly runs off in these ten days, then this servant will be severely punished by my king."

"Since I already said that I will return with you ten days later, then I won't break my promise." Artemis's voice grew even colder, "Furthermore, though I only have ten percent of my god powers presently, if I'm unwilling, it still won't be that easy for you to bring me back by force."

"Your highness, don't be so obstinate." Drew did not hesitate nor worry in the least from Artemis's words but instead smiled even more charmingly than before. "Your highness was playing hide-and-seek with this servant earlier but because of that handsome little brother, you still came to find this servant of your own will. It seems that little brother is very important to your highness, hmm."

Artemis's expression slightly changed. "He's a disciple I took in while I was bored and had nothing to do!"

"Disciple? Oh~~~~ This servant sure is shocked. With your highness's personality, you're actually interested in taking on a disciple as well." Drew's charming eyes narrowed into slits, and the smiling intent carried in the corner of her lips grew even more eloquent. "If your highness insists on not returning immediately, this servant will indeed be troubled. But, if my king finds out that your highness is unwilling to return home because of a certain someone in this low level planet, this servant wonders what will happen?"

"You! You dare threaten me!?"

"Also, I have a piece of good news that I must definitely inform your highness immediately," Drew said with a gleeful smile. "The new inheritor of the Celestial Sun God has already appeared."

"Celestial Sun God…" Artemis suddenly raised her head. "Who is it!?"

Celestial Sun God was the Celestial God power her brother inherited back then, so she had some special feelings towards the power of the Celestial Sun God.

A Celestial God powers definitely could not be inherited by just anyone. There were extremely high requirements for the inheritors. Aptitude, physique, compatibility, none of these three did not carry extreme requirements. After a generation of Celestial God had fallen, finding the next suitable inheritor would usually require several hundred or even several thousand years.

Presently, it had only been less than ten years since her brother had fallen, yet a new inheritor had already appeared in such a short span of time.

"That person is…" Drew's face revealed a mysterious smile. "Princess Zoe."

"..." Artemis's body suddenly shook as though she was struck by lightning. "What did you say!?"

"Your highness, you heard it correctly. It's Princess Zoe." Seemingly very satisfied with Artemis's reaction, Drew's smile grew even more pleased. "Also, the compatibility between Princess Zoe and the Celestial Sun God power has achieved a perfect degree never before seen in history. As expected of…"

"Shut up!"

Artemis clenched her two fists, her two fragile arms were even trembling slightly without end. Even her aura had turned chaotic… From afar, with his eyes set on Artemis the entire time, Percy's heart and soul was in absolute chaos. Because he could sense that Artemis was enraged, anxious… and a little afraid...

He was unable to understand their conversation, and furthermore, he didn't have the least bit of strength to intervene in the matters on their level. He could only stare and listen. His heart and soul were filled with worry for Artemis, and also...

The fear of possibly losing Artemis.

Artemis's breathing grew hurried. After a long while, she finally managed to calm down and the trembling of her body gradually stopped. She lightly raised her head, took in a heavy breath, and coldly said. "Fine, I will return with you right now."

"Now that's obedient of you, your highness." Drew's smile was like a flower. "Seeing your highness returning safely, my king will definitely be overjoyed."

"But, you must promise me one thing."

"Oh?" Drew slightly tilted her head.

Artemis's eyes slightly drooped as she looked towards Percy and their lines of sight intersected… But merely a moment later, Artemis shifted her eyes away. "After I return, you're not allowed to bring up to that person that I have taken in a disciple and you're not allowed to say anything related to this place!"

Since it had come down to this, she had no other choice.

Drew's threat was very evident. If she did not obey her now, then she would inform "that person" of this place.

Even if the entire Gaia Continent was destroyed, she definitely would not bat an eye.

But Percy...

"Oh~~" Drew lightly smiled in a tamed manner, as though she was not the least bit surprised by Artemis's request. "How could this servant dare to disobey your highness' order? This servant was merely ordered to bring your highness back, so I wouldn't even bother informing my king about this handsome little brother. Hehehehe."

Drew was smiling tenderly but in the depths of her eyes which were filled with charming light, a strange glow slightly flashed.

"Good." Artemis slowly nodded. "You best keep to your words, otherwise…"

"Aiya, your highness, don't reveal such a frightening look, this servant isn't that courageous." Drew made a frightened, tender expression. "Also, your highness is clearly aware that this servant hates people that tell lies the most."

"Hmph!" Artemis turned around. "Before we go… Since he and I are after all master and disciple, I have a few words for him. Take it as a form of goodbye."

"You can't…"

"Drew!" When Drew had just voiced out her rejection, Artemis's eyes suddenly turned back towards her, killing intent that seemed as though it had come from the nine hells firmly stopped her from speaking further. "You'd best not take things too far! I have already agreed to return immediately with you. It's only a few simple final parting words with my disciple. If you dare spout the least bit of nonsense again, once I recover my strength, I have ten thousand ways to ruin your face to the point where it will never ever recover! You will be turned into an existence that looks neither a human nor a ghost!"

"Do you want to try me!?"

The smile on Drew's face stiffened for a moment and when she smiled again, it had already turned a little forced. Evidently, she was frightened for real. "Alright, alright. This servant didn't say she wouldn't agree."

"Hmph!"

Artemis retracted her killing intent and no longer gave Drew another glance. Slowly descending from the sky, she landed next to Percy.

"Artemis…" Seeing the girl whom he could not be more familiar with close at hand, Percy lightly called out. His voice was so fleeting even he was unable to hear it clearly.

"All the unrelated people scram!" Artemis lightly crooned, and she suddenly waved her small hand.

A tornado swirled up into the air. Among the cries of shock that filled the sky, the surrounding people, tables, chairs and even trees was swept up by the tornado, and then flung far away.

In an instant, a terrifyingly flat empty space appeared in a three kilometer area around them, not a single human shadow or bit of debris could be seen. The two of them were the only ones left at the center of this world.

Artemis waved her small hand yet again and the surrounding area was covered by an extremely thick and heavy isolation barrier.

Drew did not approach, nor did she try to use her mind to penetrate the barrier and listen to what they were saying. Her gaze dipped low and her eyes faintly narrowed as she leisurely fiddled with her hair. Drew's hair had looked as dark as night but under the light of the sun, one could see a strange dark green color shimmer in her locks.

"Percy." Artemis sounded very calm and unruffled, and she even seemed a little indifferent, "I had originally planned to stay here for another three years before returning to that world, but… the will of heaven does not bow to the desires of man, so I have no choice but to leave today."

She did not say she was returning "home", instead she had said she was returning to "that world". That unintentional slip of her tongue seemed to express that she had already subconsciously recognized this place as the place where she belonged and that place had already become another world to her.

Percy fixed her with a steady stare and compared to Artemis's composure, his eyes and voice expressed immeasurable anguish, "Must you… leave now?"

Artemis was not someone who hailed from this world. She had come from an entirely different world, an entirely different plane. Once she had escaped the clutches of the devilish poison and reconstituted her body, he had resolved that he might lose her. It was just that this day had come way too suddenly.

Not too long ago, she had said that she would stay by his side for at least another three years...

"If I choose to wilfully stay behind, that person might just decide to pay a personal visit to this place. It is also extremely likely that he would take out his anger on this world," Artemis said in a dull voice. "Whether it is the Gaia Continent or this entire realm, if he wants to destroy either of them, it will be as easy as flicking a finger for him."

"That person?" Percy muttered in a daze. Artemis's words, actions and her decision had also made it clear that "that person" she was referring to was also the "my king" Drew had referred to. It was also clear that he was definitely someone even stronger than her. Artemis's strength when she was not even at ten percent of her full power was already so great that he could not even fathom it. So if "that person" that Artemis kept referring to really wanted to destroy the entire Gaia Continent, he might really only need to flick his finger to do the deed.

Artemis's gaze slanted to the side and in a flash, a dull coldness formed in her eyes, "He is my father, and he is also the person I hate the most. One of the reasons why I do not desire to return is because I am not willing to see that most hated and disgusting face of his!"

Percy, "..."

"Haah…" Percy sighed helplessly. After that he spoke in a rather dazed and distracted manner, "Maybe going back is good as well. After all, that place is also your home. You've already left home for five years, so it is about time for you to return. Even though I'm extremely unwilling to see you go… I can't use my selfishness to forcibly anchor you to a world that you don't belong to. I don't know what caused such a huge estrangement between you and your father but in the end, he is still your father. From what that Drew said, after he found out you were not dead, he has been sending people to find you all this time. So that shows that he has at least been concerned about you."

Percy's words did not cause the coldness in Artemis's eyes to fade even a little bit. She only coldly replied, "You won't understand."

Without trying to dispute or explain anything, Artemis suddenly raised her right hand. Her index finger began flashing with a faint red light and after that she pressed it against the center of Percy's brow until she saw that red light sink into Percy's brow.

"Within this memory fragment are all the words that I am unable to say to you right now." Artemis's delicate face was still cold and detached but her eyes faintly shimmered for an instant, "Twenty four hours from now, the seal on this memory fragment will automatically undo itself. At that time, you will know what I want to tell you."

"Also." Artemis did not even give Percy a chance to say anything as she immediately continued, "This morning, I had resolved myself for this moment to come the moment I had sensed Drew's presence. So, I handed something to Hong'er and she carried it back with her into the Styx Soul Inner World. After I have left, you can take it from her… Even though it will not be able to increase your cultivation by too much, it will at least be able to increase your lifespan by several thousand years."

"What you have left me is…"

"You don't need to question me any further, you will know once you see it." Artemis said as she tilted her head up slightly to look into the distance.

"There are also two more things you need to remember," Artemis said as she glanced at Drew. She discovered that Drew was stroking her own shoulders with her delicate hands, it was as if she was leisurely appreciating her own beauty and she was not even paying any attention to them, "The first thing is that you need to treat Hong'er well. Even though she may throw tantrums, act wilfully and stage little acts of rebellion from time to time, her heart is pure and she is especially devoted to you. After I leave, you will be the only person left in her world, so you definitely mustn't bully her."

"Yes, I will treat her well… Furthermore," Percy said with a smile that took great effort. "I also wouldn't dare to bully her."

" the second thing is… you will not mustn't try to exceed your bounds. You can probably reach the Peak of legend realm, so just cultivate diligently."

Percy nodded softly." I understand…"

"Mnn." Artemis gave a soft hum of acknowledgement before turning around, "Percy… this is goodbye."

Bang!

The isolation barrier shattered and Artemis slowly floated into the sky, flying towards where Drew was.

"Artemis!" Percy moved forward just a step before he rigidly stopped himself. He yelled in a voice that was filled with boundless emotion and determination, "You can go back with no worries, because one day… one day I will come and find you! In order to see you again, I won't slack off even for a single day! We will definitely meet again."

Artemis stopped in midair, not moving for a long time. After that, she turned around to face Percy. but her expression was not agitated or emotional. Instead, it was filled with an icy coldness that froze Percy's very soul.

"Percy, in the end, we were still master and disciple." Artemis's eyes were filled with a detached coldness that caused Percy's breath to catch in his throat, "If you still respect me as your master, you need to promise me one last thing!"

"..." Artemis's eyes caused Percy to feel deeply puzzled and uneasy. He could only give a light nod of his head, "No matter what it is, as long as you say the word, I will make that promise."

"Good!" Artemis said with an imperceptible nod of her head, her voice cold and heartless, "I want you to immediately vow that you will never ever step into the Realm of the Gods!"

"Oho?" Drew's gaze shifted to the side, her fingers still lightly stroking the long hair that fell upon her shoulders, a mildly interested look on her face.

"Ah…" Percy was completely stunned. After that, he asked in a dazed voice, "Why?"

"Because that isn't a place that you should go to!" Artemis said coldly, "Given your innate talent, comprehension ability and all of the things in your possession, you will be completely unrivaled in this world. You will be able to lord over it all your entire life and you will also have peace and safety for your entire life. There will no one who will be able to threaten you or the people you want to protect—this was also the reason why you chased after profound strength at first. It was also the original reason for you choosing the heavy sword. But if you do come to the Realm of the Gods, you will only be a lowly weakling! Any random person will easily be able to consign you to a dog's death!"

"I want to go there to see you again. It is not to cultivate an even higher level of world cultivation nor is it to brave any dangers!" Percy yelled in a loud voice.

"Look for me? Why would you want to look for me?" Artemis's eyes slanted to the side but her voice still remained cold and heartless, "After I leave, you still have Hong'er to accompany you at all times! You still have relatives, friends and many women by your side! Without me, what difference will it make?"

"It will definitely be different! Artemis, you are…"

"Don't waste your breath!" Artemis interjected as she turned around once more, "It looks like you have no desire to promise me this one thing. We have been master and disciple for this long, but you aren't even willing to listen to the last thing I have to say to you. This has truly caused me extreme disappointment. Hmph. Fine then, I'll leave it to you. Given your innate potential, perhaps you will indeed have the strength to go to the Realm of the Gods in a few hundred or even thousand years. But even though you will be able to enter the Realm of the Gods, you will definitely not be able to find me."

"Covering all the possibilities, even if the most unexpected thing does happen and you are truly able to find me… I will also definitely not meet you!"

"When all's said and done, you are merely an unexpected companion that I met and I am also the same thing to you. The destiny that you and I share has already been stretched to its very limit! Do not continue imagining that your feelings are being reciprocated!"

As her heartless words fell, Artemis's figure blurred and she instantly shifted to Drew's side as she coldly said, "Drew, let's go!"

Rip!

The space had been torn apart, Artemis's figure completely disappearing in that instant.

"Aiyah." Drew's hand finally fell from her hair as she looked at the dazed Percy, who seemed as if he had lost his soul.

The moment her fingers left her hair, a strand of it gently fell from the tip of her finger as it lightly floated towards the ground below.

A faint wind blew and sand and dust stirred in the air but that falling strand of hair did not budge even an inch as it faintly flashed with a strange gloomy green shimmer.

"See you around, little brother," Drew said as she cast a heavy and amorous gaze at Percy. But after that, she said something that was immeasurably strange and weird, "In order to thank you for taking care of her highness for all these years, this servant has specially prepared a small gift for you, okay? You better enjoy it. I wish I could give you an even better gift…" her eyes flashed suggestively and her eyes shifted to Percy's waist." …but unfortunately this elder sister must leave for now. I have to keep an eye on your master!"

"Hehehehehe…"

With a bewitching and seductive laugh, Drew's voice vanished into thin air like a light and airy fog.

A.N.: it's alright brochachos. Cry. Let those tears out. You'll feel lighter once you're done. Tell me when you're done. Because I have news. News to give you hope. Good news. Artemis s till hasn't left. Yes I'm serious, she hasn't. keep reading and you'll know why I say that. Also I have a question. Should I describe the smut between Luke and drew( yes it's going to happen) or should I just time skip it? Review and pm me brochachos. Also sorry for late updates. Exam time so I can't really spare much time writing this.

Also, should there be a Percy x drew smut? Lol im just asking.


	30. Brink of Death

**Fourth Arc: Brink of Death**

Space distorted and Artemis's silhouette appeared above the Pontus Southern Ocean.

The blue ocean was vast as the sky and Artemis was still as she floated in the air. Her ice cold heartless eyes were quickly melting… they melted until only a layer of mist, that hindered her vision of the whole world, remained.

Suddenly, it was… an eternal farewell…

All of this was too sudden for Percy but it was the same for her as well.

To Percy, there was only the heart wrenching pain of separation but to her, there was also indescribable helplessness and pain.

"This… is good as well…"

In a world without Percy, she muttered softly...

"The current him… can still grow swiftly without me…"

"In a few short years… he will be able to save humanity… and fulfill his own wish… there's no one else in this world that can threaten him… or disobey him…"

"He will miss me, and might even feel sad… but he has loving parents… so many friends… so many women… In a short while, he will… slowly forget about me…"

Artemis slowly closed her eyes, her hands still placed on top of her chest, unable to pull them away… because it was far too suffocating. In her life, this was the third time she felt this way.

The first was the passing of her mother.

The second was falling of her brother.

The third...

A warm feeling filled the corners of her eyes and mouth at the same time. She instinctively stretched her hand and touched it...

It was tears at her eyes and blood at the corner of her mouth.

Because they would never be able to meet ever again.

Those Five years had been like a dream.

She slowly pulled her hands together and she muttered while out of sorts, "So, this is my… life's Biggest trial…"

The sound of the skies shrieking echoed from behind and it was soon followed by the delicate and gentle voice of Drew. "Your highness, do you wish to look at the scenery here a bit longer before we leave?"

"Not interested." Artemis's eyes turned cold instantly. Without even turning back, she glanced at her and said, "Remember what you promised me. Otherwise… I'll do what I said!"

"Your highness only knows how to scare this servant." Drew replied half afraid and half begrudgingly, "After this servant brings your highness home, she definitely will not talk about that handsome little brother to my king. If she lies, this servant would let your highness punish her however she wants."

"Hmph! Let's go!"

Artemis's body flashed and she once again disappeared into the air before Drew.

She always had her back facing Drew so she did not see the crafty glow that was shining in Drew's eyes as she spoke.

—

Artemis had already left but Percy still remained standing there. His expression and emotions were a complete mess and his brain seemed to have completely lost all ability to think. In the surroundings, the people who had been swept away by Artemis all stared at one another. Some of them still had not snapped out of their shock yet because this was a sensation that they had never felt before on their path of profound cultivation.

"Brother-in-law's master… is from another world?" Nico uttered in shock, "Realm of… the Gods?"

"The fact that she came from another world was something that we were certain of because in the history books of Gaia Continent, there has never been such a level of strength." Spiritual Master Ancient Blue sighed, "We just did not expect her to actually be from the legendary God Realm… No wonder she had such frightening strength."

"God Realm?" Nico turned and looked at his master, "Is that the 'Realm of the Gods' she and Brother-in-law mentioned? Does Master know that place?"

Spiritual Master Ancient Blue shook his head, "The universe is boundless and endless. Our world is but one of the many. In the legends, if one was able to breakthrough the Legend Realm and enter the Divine Realm, he would be on the brink of godhood. At that time, one's spiritual senses would transcend the continent and one would be able to sense the existence of another world. In the ancient legends, the highest of worlds in the universe was named the God Realm. Old grandmaster Pontus, the founder of the Ancient Pontus empire who disappeared thousands of years ago was said to have ascended to the God Realm after breaking through and attaining godhood."

"The so-called 'ascension' of Old Grandmaster Pontus might have been a fake legend. However, the name 'Realm of the Gods' has been recorded in several ancient books and today, hearing this name from Percy's master who came from another world… It looks like the 'Realm of the Gods' recorded in books does truly exist."

"Ahhh…" Nico's mouth was agape as he muttered, "Brother-in-law said that his master was as young as little sister Calypso, yet she's so strong. The strange woman that appeared just now looked like she was stronger than Brother-in-law's master. That God Realm… just what kind of a scary place is that?"

"That is a level that we could never comprehend. After all, being able to personally witness a being from the legendary God Realm, our lives haven't been in vain. However…".

"Hearing their last exchange, after she leaves, she will probably not return any more." Spiritual Master Ancient Blue sighed.

Nico instantly recovered from his sudden shock.

"I don't believe…" Percy muttered to himself, "You obviously didn't want to leave. I don't believe that you do not wish to see me again… I don't believe…"

"Junior Brother Percy…"

Calypso hurried over to Percy's side. She could feel Percy's sadness and disappointment as she gently consoled, "Although I do not know what happened… that day in the snow song city, she worked so hard to protect you, so I believe that you and your master will definitely reunite one day."

Percy gently lifted his head and smiled, "Calypso, you're right. I know how kindly she treated me all those years perfectly well. Her last words must be because she was afraid I would get into danger finding her… After all, I have already been scolded by her several times in the past because of such matters."

"Mn!" Calypso nodded strongly.

"Brother-in-law!" Nico hurried over. Percy took a deep breath and composed himself, then smiled at them. I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

Calypso sighed and touched his face. Piper flew over with Grandholme as well. She smiled comfortingly at Percy then continued on with her grandfather. They were going to go investigate the corpse of the monster king." Take care of yourself Percy…" she whispered softly and her cheeks were tinged with pink as she leaned over to brush his cheek with her lips.

Calypso swallowed the heavy lump that suddenly appeared in her throat, then smiled at Percy." We should go back home." Percy began to smile and nod. Then he felt a sense of immense danger.

Just as she finished speaking, she felt Percy's body freeze and she immediately asked, "Junior Brother Percy, what's wrong?"

The calm of Percy's face disappeared and he wore a serious expression. Even his eyes had a brutal gaze.

This feeling...

Why would there be a sudden sense of fatal danger...

This frightening feeling was more frightening than what he experienced when he initially encountered the Typhon in the Tartarus Burial Grounds...

What was it?

Just where exactly did it come from?

He had a frightening sensitivity towards danger. In that previous moment, a sense of danger of unknown origin caused all the hairs on his body to stand. All the nerves in his body tightened as well… That frightening feeling seemed like a giant python's mouth was just inches above his own head.

However, the surrounding ground had already been levelled by Artemis. Other than the people from Hope city, there was no other outsider present nor did any outsider approach. Furthermore, not a single person revealed killing intent. However, this extremely scary dangerous feeling lingered around creepily as though it was borne out of thin air.

Percy's palm grabbed firmly onto the helpless Calypso and pushed her behind him. He gritted his teeth and scanned the surroundings… Suddenly, on the empty ground, he spotted a strand of very fine and very minor reflection that one usually would not have been able to tell with the naked eye.

After forcefully plucking the Underworld Python flower in the Tartarus burial grounds, Percy's soul force surged after he woke up from his unconsciousness. This extremely minor reflection entered his spirit sense and into his vision.

That was a strand of long hair… Right before Drew left, she dropped it from between her fingers.

The black and long strand of hair seemed to possess a dark green glow to it as well.

Percy looked at it dumbly before his expression drastically changed. His eyes widened till they nearly burst out as his gathered all the strength in his hands and roughly pushed Calypso away.

"Calypso leave, quick!"

Splurt!

Even before Calypso, who had been pushed away, managed to regain her composure, a violent piercing noise erupted from behind...

That strand of hair left behind by Drew turned into a thick deep green glow and shot towards Percy at a speed that he could not react to and could not even comprehend. It shot through his chest and came out from behind scattering the sky with… green blood.

Bang!

Percy was sent flying and landed hundreds of meters away. The green glow then disappeared, but on the left side of Percy's chest, a huge bloodied hole appeared… His heart had been completely destroyed.

The green poison began to spread on the side of the wound… However, it was quickly cleansed by the Styx Soul Inner World and completely disappeared.

Percy fell to the ground, his face pale white, his eyes unfocused and his lips trembling with difficulty...

"Hong…"

Percy's eyes completely lost any signs of life and he fell silent.

Percy had received numerous injuries in his life and many times they were severe. However, his body and willpower exceeded that of a normal man. No matter how severe the injury, he would never let himself become unconscious. Even during the fight with the Typhon where he completely consumed all his profound energy, he managed to forcefully hang on and did not lose conscious immediately.

However, this time, he could not even shout out "Hong'er's" name and had already lost his conscious. The hole before his chest and the pool of blood belonging to his body was a frightening sight.

Drew promised Artemis not to mention Percy to anyone after she returned. This promise, would definitely be kept… because she promised to not mention Percy. However, she never said that she wouldn't kill him.

When she promised Artemis… or perhaps when she detected Artemis's aura on Percy, Percy had already become a dead person in her eyes.

Although what she left behind was only a thin strand of hair, it possessed extremely frightening poison and divine power. No matter whether it was the poison or the divine power, it could easily poison or obliterate anyone single person from the Gaia Continent!

There was no chance of survival at all.

Percy possessed the Styx Soul Inner World which cleansed Drew's poison.

He possessed the Dragon God's Body, and was protected by Rage God's strength and reformed by Poseidon's blood. That was why his body did not disintegrate on the spot. However, that was still the power of a god. Not only had a huge hole been pierced through, the energy that entered his body had torn his body completely apart from the inside, shattering all of his meridians and veins!

"Junior… Junior Brother Percy!"

Calypso was stunned. Then, she hurried over like a madwoman. Looking at his body that had suffered from what was basically a fatal injury and his quickly weakening aura that had almost completely disappeared, Calypso nearly broke down right there. She knelt in front of him and screamed in tears, "Junior Brother Percy… Junior Brother Percy! Junior Brother Percy!"

"Who? Who was it!?"

Grandholme, Piper and Aleck Thundre were all shocked. The profound energy in their bodies surged and they leapt into the sky but even after they scanned the area with their profound energy, they could not find any suspicious auras present… The power that attacked Percy just now seemed as though it was suddenly borne out of thin air.

However, even in their dreams they would not imagine that what attacked Percy was a strand of hair that had fallen there!

"Who was it that sneakily used such a backhanded attack! Come out now!" Grandholme roared and the skies of Hope City were instantly engulfed with his immense power.

Then, Aleck Thundre and Piper swiftly descended to check on Percy's injuries. At the very first glance of Percy, they were shocked and let out a heavy sigh.

His five organs had all ruptured, his meridians and veins broke. Even his heart and life vein… had been completely destroyed.

Such a state… was practically death with no hope of recovery.

"Junior Brother Percy… Junior Brother Percy! Hurry and wake up… Hurry up and answer me!" Calypso's state of mind suffered immense pain and fear and went into chaos. She felt as though her entire person had fallen down a cliff, as though she was helplessly falling down into a pitch black endless abyss...

"What exactly happened? Who had acted so viciously?" Seeing Calypso's pain, Aleck Thundre felt his heart tighten. Grandholme was present and Calypso was just behind Percy. Even though Percy's own cultivation level was extremely high, he had still been fatally assaulted without detecting and guarding against the attack

However, looking at Grandholme's current expression, it was obvious he knew nothing!

With Grandholme's strength as a middle stage legend realm warrior, there was no one within the Gaia Continent that could kill someone in his presence without him noticing… furthermore, the person that was killed was Percy.

"Father, Grandholme… Hurry up and save Junior Brother Percy. You all must have ways to save him!"

Calypso lifted her watery eyes. Her dull eyes that showed her despair were accompanied by deep begging… There was no way she would not feel despair. Her hands held onto Percy tightly. She was more aware than Aleck Thundre and the others about the severity of Percy's injuries. Even his extremely weak aura was disappearing at a rapid rate.

Although her spiritual sense had already told her the hopeless truth, her soul could not seem to accept it.

"Calypso, calm down first." Aleck Thundre said with difficulty, "Percy, he's already… already…"

"Already dead," Piper completed the phrase that Aleck Thundre could not answer seriously. Her eyes were dull as she knelt down beside him as if her soul was lost.

Calypso's body froze as she shook her head frantically, "No! Don't say such nonsense… Junior Brother Percy didn't die… His aura is clearly still present… He won't die… No!"

"Sigh." Grandholme who did not find anything descended from the skies and let out a deep sigh, "His five organs have all ruptured, his life vein and meridians are all broken, especially his heart has been completely destroyed and he's already completely dead. Even if the highest ranked deity was present… His body still possess an aura only because he has not been dead for long and the aura in his body has not completely dissipated yet."

Grandholme knew that these words were far too cruel for Calypso but she had to accept the truth no matter what.

"..." Calypso's body froze as she knelt dumbly in front of Percy's body, with the tears in her eyes rolling down like a downpour. Lying in front of her, Percy lost the last bit of color on his face and his aura also became completely still. Only the bloody wound on him continued to spread.

"Grandholme… sir aleck… Piper… What happened?"

Nico rush over and glanced at Percy who was lying on the ground before retreating in shock and mumbling, "Percy? He… He's… dead?"

"Don't spout nonsense!" The silent Calypso suddenly shrieked, "Junior Brother Percy isn't dead… He couldn't bear to leave me behind… He won't die… He definitely won't die!"

Flames ignited around Calypso and it gently wrapped around Percy's body as well. She carried Percy, dyed in blood with barely any aura, and flew towards the north west… As she left, she left behind a long trail of tears.

"Cal… Calypso!"

"Let her go." Grandholme raised his hand and stopped Nico, who had wanted to give chase.

"Calypso left in the direction of the secret ground. Perhaps she wants to rely on the Sword spirit god and the flames of nirvana left behind by the Phoenix God in the past to forcefully treat Percy's injuries… Sigh." Aleck was worried to death. Piper closed her eyes and two thin trails were marked onto her face by her tears. Phoenix nirvana Fire's inextinguishable flame could indeed greatly help people who possess Phoenix Flames recuperate their injuries, however, Percy's injuries were so severe that even if there was hundred times the amount of flames, it would be no use.

Furthermore, his current state was not just an injured person but an already dead man.

Aleck's eyebrows remained firmly knitted together as he gritted his teeth and said, "No, I have to go take a look. Calypso is too attached to Percy. Before at the Tartarus Burial Grounds, she had already said words like if Percy does not return, she would wait forever… She has completely lost her senses this time and something extreme might happen."

These words caused Piper and Grandholme's expressions to change instantly, They nodded at the same time and just as they were about to rush towards the Phoenix Fire Mythical Realm, a sudden untimely aura pierced down strongly from the skies, stopping them in their tracks, causing their hearts to sink.

This aura told them that the he was arriving… Although it was only one person, he was the most dangerous person within the Gaia Continent!

Luke Castellan!

He floated out of the sky, bringing an inextinguishable aura of death. Grandholme scowled and Nico drew his sword." Where is Percy?" Luke asked." Do you think we'd tell you?" Grandholme scowled.

Suddenly their group was surrounded on all four sides by four lukes. However, the last time, Luke had four clones at the peak of ninth rank. Now however, two were already emanating the death defying aura of the initial legend realm. Piper and aleck grit their teeth and pulled out their own weapons.

Nico started glowing with a dark light. Atop his head, the image of a dark helmet appeared and he faded away from existence.' Death God's Divine Transformation: Intangible Shadow!'

" you can't beat us Luke!" Nico's voice sounded out and Luke scowled." Is that so? We won't know till we fight!"

Calypso was hurrying a s fast as she could, heading directly for her clan's secret area.

There was a flash of red and suddenly Aphrodite was beside her. her eyes were red and she didn't even bother asking any questions. Without a doubt, Nico had already sent her a mental message.

The two of them silently headed to the underground Forbidden room and then froze in surprise. The room had changed. It had expanded beyond belief, and was filled with flickering flames and arcs of thunder.

There was no doubt. These golden flames were the trademark fire of the Phoenix and Golden Crow!

Aphrodite was in awe." Oh my…. This place….."

"This is that small world that the Heavenly Sword Divine Spirit created?" Aphrodite asked. She had heard Percy speak of Heavenly Sword Lightning Flame Valley before but its true appearance still far surpassed what she had imagined.

"Mnnn," the Calypso replied in affirmation, her brows faintly raised. This was because she could clearly sense that the fire aura in Heavenly Sword Lightning Flame Valley was much weaker than it had been the last time they had been here.

After passing through countless flame seas, a mountain rampart finally appeared. In front of the mountain rampart, a profound formation that was burning with golden flames was slowly revolving in place.

"There it is!"

They landed in front of the fire profound formation, the Aphrodite gently shrugged off Calypso's supporting arm before slowly kneeling to the ground:

"The successor of the Phoenix, Golden Crow and Thunder Dragon, Calypso Thundre, begs to see the Heavenly Sword Divine God."

Aphrodite also hurriedly knelt down as she held Percy in her arms. In front of the only hope they had of saving Percy, she would not hesitate in the slightest even if she was required to adopt the humble posture of a lowly ant.

Calypso' voice was quickly swallowed up by the sound of the roaring flames and crackling thunder that resounded in the Heavenly Sword Lighting Flame Valley. But even after waiting a long time, they received no response.

Bewilderment and uneasiness welled in the calypso's' heart. This was the independent world that the Heavenly Sword Spirit had created, so its spirit perception should cover every corner of this world. Anything that happened in this place would not be able to escape it's spirit perception. It should have sensed their presence from the moment they had entered Heavenly Sword Lightning Flame Valley.

Especially since it had expressed such regard for Percy the last time around...

So why had it not made an appearance and met them yet?

"The Successor calypso begs to see the Heavenly Sword Divine God."

The Calypso called out again but she still did not receive the Heavenly Sword Spirit's response, even after a long time had passed.

"Calypso junior sis, the Heavenly Sword Spirit… Is it not present in this place?" aphrodite asked in a worried voice.

Just as her voice fell, an ear-splitting and soul-shaking voice abruptly rang out from all corners of the place, "Calypso Thundre! why did you suddenly come to this place and disturb this noble one's slumber!?"

This voice was even more intense and violent than lava and it also contained a simmering rage.

"Ah!" Aphrodite cried out in alarm. Then Calypso raised her head and looked upwards as she spoke in an extremely respectful and reverential tone, "For inadvertently disturbing the Heavenly Sword Divine God's slumber, Calypso is willing to accept all punishment. But… Percy has sustained heavy injuries and he teeters on the edge of death. The only one in the world that can save him now is the Heavenly Sword Divine God, so I beg that you present your divine body and save his life. Calypso is willing to pay any price. Even if you want my life in exchange, I am willing to give it."

Aphrodite's mouth dropped open and she stared dazedly at Calypso. Calypso had uttered the words "even if you want my life in exchange, I am willing to give it" in such a calm and matter-of-fact manner.

"Him? Heavily injured and on the brink of death? Hahahahaha…"

The Heavenly Sword Spirit did not materialise and Calypso's words only provoked a loud laugh of disdain from it, "Idiot! Percy possesses the bloodline of the Dragon God and has the protection of the power of the Rage God. So no matter how heavy his injuries are, even if he is lingering on his very last breath, as long as he isn't dead, he will definitely recover. But the both of you want this noble one to save him? This is simply ridiculous!"

"No, that isn't the case this time around," the Aphrodite pleaded in a loud voice. "It was not just any power that harmed him this time. He has already been tottering on the edge of life and death. He hasn't woken up and he might die at any time. In this world, it is truly only you that can save him now."

"...?" The Heavenly Sword Spirit's voice was clearly laced with suspicion. Because Percy had the body of the Dragon God and the powers of the Rage God, so on this plane, there should not be any power that would cause him to lie at death's door without any signs of recovery.

Clang!

At this moment, a pair of scarlet-blood red colored eyes suddenly opened up in the dark room as scorching rays of light that seemed like fire descended from above. It seemed as if a blazing sun had risen in Heavenly Sword Lightning Flame Valley as the place grew even brighter and hotter.

The Heavenly Sword Spirit finally appeared and Calypso bowed deeply in it's presence. Aphrodite also hurriedly knelt down but after that she gently placed Percy in front of her body as she plead, "Great and magnanimous Heavenly Sword Divine Spirit, I beg that you definitely save Junior Brother Percy. I, Aphrodite, am willing to use everything that I have and everything that I am to repay this favor."

The light released by those scarlet-Blood red eyes first fell on Calypso's body as it lingered on her for a very long time… Because her body was releasing a Phoenix aura that was far too dense, dense to the point where it was abnormal.

" I beg that the Heavenly Sword Divine God definitely save Percy," Aphrodite pleaded once again.

Facing the Heavenly Sword Spirit, every single word she said was regarding saving Percy's life.

"Hmph, then let this noble one see just what kind of wound can render a person, who possesses both the body of the Dragon God and the powers of the Rage God, unconscious!"

A beam of golden light fell from the sky before morphing into layers of weak flame which covered Percy's body.

In a single instant, all the flames that had just touched Percy's body fiercely jumped before dispersing like flashing lightning. The red eyes which hung in midair also released a strange light as the Heavenly Sword Spirit said, "This is…"

The Heavenly Sword Spirit's tone underwent a fierce change, "Why did he get harmed by this kind of power? Just what did all of you encounter?"

"We don't know either." Calypso as she shook her head, "At that time, I was at Junior Brother Percy's side but I did not even see who harmed him. I could not even sense a single trace of any strange or abnormal energy auras around him. Junior Brother Percy just suddenly… became like this."

"..." The Heavenly Sword Spirit suddenly grew silent and it did not speak for a very long time.

The aura in Heavenly Sword Lightning Flame Valley also suddenly became stifling.

The Heavenly Sword Spirit's silence caused a thick sense of uneasiness to arise in the hearts of the Aphrodite and Calypso. Calypso was finally unable to endure this stifling aura. She raised her delicate head and spoke in a pleading voice, "You are the great and magnanimous Heavenly Sword Divine Spirit, so you definitely have a method to save him. I beg that you bestow your great mercy upon us, no matter what…"

"There is no need to speak any further."

The Heavenly Sword Spirit suddenly spoke, interrupting Calypso's words. It continued in a cold voice, "Are any of you aware just what kind of power he was harmed by?"

"..." Both the Aphrodite and Calypso shook their heads at the same time.

"The person who harmed him used the power of the Heavenly Poison Celestial God!" The Heavenly Sword Spirit's voice was like a raging fire, "However, on this plane, there shouldn't be any person who has heard of the name 'Heavenly Poison Celestial God'".

"Then… how can we save him exactly?" Who the Heavenly Poison Celestial God was and why that person wanted to kill Percy was not their main concern right now. The only thing that they wanted to know was how to rescue Percy.

"Save him?" The Heavenly Sword Spirit said with a heavy snort, "You don't even know what kind of existence the Heavenly Poison Celestial God is, so it's natural that neither of you can even imagine how terrifying she is. This is an incomparably strong divine power and it is far more malicious than it is strong, reaching the very pinnacle of maliciousness!"

"The power which has harmed Percy is enough to reduce any other living creature on this plane to dust. But Percy possesses the Dragon God's marrow and his bones are as strong and resilient as star steel, so that is why he did not disintegrate completely."

"The Heavenly Poison Celestial God's power also definitely contains a virulent poison. The only reason why Percy wasn't poisoned instantly by this virulent poison was because he has the Styx Soul Inner World on his person."

"After the Heavenly Poison Celestial God's power has harmed someone, the lingering energy left after the attack does not dissipate. Instead, it will burrow into the body like a maggot and even if the person does not die immediately, it will continue to rend the soul and devour that person's life. Only a power on the same level as it can force it to dissipate. This is also the reason Percy has not yet recovered his strength or recovered from his wounds yet. But in the end, he still has the protection bestowed upon him by the body of the Dragon God and the power of the Rage God, so that is why he has forcefully endured until now without succumbing to death."

"The fact that he can forcefully survive under the influence of the Heavenly Poison Celestial God's power is a miracle in and of itself. If the same power had been inflicted on either of you, both of you would have already died ten thousand times over! But even though he still lives, it is only the last gasps of a dying man! And if you truly want to save him… that is no more than a fool's wishful thinking!"

The four words "a fool's wishful thinking" felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads. Calypso's tears immediately started to gush out. She tried her best to hold back her tears as she spoke, "Heavenly Sword Divine Spirit… is it true that even you… can't think of anything?"

"Percy's innate talent is special and unique and not only is he the one who wielded this noble one in his past life, he is also the one that this noble one has placed all of my hopes in. If I can save him, this noble one will not spare any effort. But even if this noble one's power was a hundred times what it is right now, it would still be far from that Heavenly Poison Celestial God who harmed him. I am just a spirit. Perhaps if I was fused with Percy, then I would have the power… so it seems my old friend has no hope left anymore…"

"It would be easy for this noble one to rouse him temporarily but even if I expended all my strength and effort, it would be impossible for me to save him."

Even though the Heavenly Sword Spirit's voice was still as fiery and explosive as fire it was now laced with a deep somberness and helplessness.

Calypso immediately melted to the ground, hugging Percy as she sobbed and wept. Their last ray of hope had been mercilessly destroyed. If even the Heavenly Sword Spirit was unable to save Percy, then there truly existed no method in this world that could save him...

"Speaking of which, there was originally someone that could save him but since the Heavenly Poison Celestial God appeared, then it is natural that this person would definitely not be able to continue to stay in this place," the Heavenly Sword Spirit said, its voice and the gleam in its eyes had dulled by several degrees.

The person it was referring to was naturally Artemis. But right now, it could no longer sense the presence of Artemis's soul in Percy's body. In the next instant, it deduced that seeking out the Heavenly Slaughter Celestial Moon God was the only reason the Heavenly Poison Celestial God would even appear in this world. It was also for this reason that she would make a move to kill Percy.

Calypso knew that the person the Heavenly Sword Spirit was speaking of was that dreadfully powerful girl in the red dress. But… she had already left and she would never ever be able to return. Even if Calypso wanted to go look for her, she would not be able to find her.

"You should leave," the Heavenly Sword Spirit said in a somber voice. "He is dead and that is indeed extremely regrettable. But such is fate. Given his tenaciousness, he should still be able to struggle on for around another ten days… In this life, he has already experienced good fortune that a normal person would not be able to even hope for in ten lives. Even though he was born with an unfortunate fate, it could be said that he has not lived his life in vain at all."

The Aphrodite stood up, her eyes bleak and lifeless. She gloomily said, "Calypso, let us depart. He hasn't seen his father or mother… for a very long time now."

Calypso's mind was a swath of grayish white, her vision completely blurred by her tears. She gently hugged Percy as she listlessly stepped forward in a disoriented fashion but she did not even know which direction she was headed.

"Wait a moment!"

The Heavenly Sword Spirit's voice suddenly rang through the air like an unexpected peal of thunder, stopping the footsteps of Calypso and the Aphrodite.

Two scarlet lights fell on Calypso's body as the Heavenly Sword Spirit stared her fixedly. The light that it's pair of Red eyes was releasing at this moment was far more thick and intense than it had been at any other moment.

"Heavenly Sword Divine Spirit?" Calypso muttered lifelessly.

"Calypso, answer one question for this noble one." The Heavenly Sword Spirit's dull voice suddenly regained the explosiveness of a volcano, "Are you still a virgin?"

 _-Luke's secret hideout-_

Luke was gasping and panting and two of his clones were sporting severe injuries." That damned successor of Hades. How the hell could I know even he could shadow walk!?" for the first time ever Luke had been forced into combat while shadow walking. Nico seemed used to it, but Luke could barely save his life as he escaped.

He panted and collapsed onto a couch. His maids surrounded, worry evident in their eyes. They immediately started binding his wounds. He had no idea that a divine sense had been watching his entire battle as well as right now.

Drew was smiling as she watched him. She looked at artemis who had sealed all her senses as she built her body. She flickered and disappeared.

A.N.: well like I said. Review for whether the smut between Luke and Drew has a description or a time skip. Also should there be a Percy x Drew smut? The next chapter is purely smut based I guess so the more there are, the longer it will be. Well enjoy the treat and don't forget to review!


	31. AN: Important Announcement

A.N.: Important notice! Luke and drew are having a smut. That's not going to change. Its necessary to the plot to continue, to kinda give Luke a major power up just like Percy will get while screwing calypso. What I asked was if you guys want me to write down the smut or just put a –Time skip- in between and skip the entire thing. Also Percy x drew was just a question. It might happen, it might happen right after Percy x calypso or it might happen after ten more chapters, or it might happen after Percy becomes superpowered and makes her his plaything, or _**it might never happen**_. So I'll just leave this here till I post the new chapter. Maybe no updates for a few days, since I need to plan the next few bits and also work on my other stories. So just vote on

 _ **1) whether I write down the smut between Luke and drew or time skip it.**_

 _ **2) whether drew and Percy should have a smut and why.**_

Well I'll leave the hardwork of voting to you. I'll only update after I see many votes so you better vote. Or else I just won't bother updating.

Also since many of you wanna see smut in the story, review exactly what smut you want. Don't just say Pertemis, since that's a relation that requires dedication and work. Their entire romance is useless if Percy simply screws the main girl. that's why it's a harem. So he can enjoy all the girls and work his way up to the main girl. here is the basic list for now:

 _ **In harem: Piper, Calypso, Aphrodite, Artemis, Hong'er(confirmed)**_

 _ **Waiting list: Hestia, Meg McCaffrey, Persephone, Drew, Rachel, Zoe( confirmed in the future chapters)**_

 _ **Status Unknown: Athena, Amphitrite, Juniper, Demeter, Sally, Hera, silena, Bianca(maybe in the harem. Depends on votes and the story needs)**_

 _ **Not in the Harem: Annabeth, Chaos(not till the end at least), Fates, Nyx( not till the end at least), Hemera.**_

So just vote for who you like from the third list, which is Status unknown. You can vote for how many ever girls you like. So just vote as you like.

Ciao, with Peace from Manhattan


	32. Dual Cultivation

**Fourth Arc: Dual Cultivation**

"Ah…" Calypso was stunned by that question and she did not even know how to begin to respond to it.

"Answer this noble one's question, are you still a virgin?" The Heavenly Sword Spirit repeated in a grave voice, "The answer to this question is directly related to whether or not Percy can be saved."

To the two girls who had already given up their last bit of hope, these last words uttered by the Heavenly Sword Spirit were without a doubt completely earth-shattering. Aphrodite instantly turned around and the confused Calypso was also shocked back into sensibility. She opened her tender lips while frantically nodding her head in embarrassment, "I… I… am…"

Even though Calypso was practically like a sheet of unspotted white paper when it came to relations between men and women, she still clearly understood the meaning of the word "virgin".

"Hahahahaha…" Calypso's reply caused the Heavenly Sword Spirit to abruptly start laughing loudly. Moreover, this loud laughter began to surge fiercely, sweeping away the previous heavy and stifling atmosphere, "Percy has the Dragon God's bloodline. Combined with the Divine beast, the Golden Crow's flame, this means that the yang energy in his body is incomparably rich and vigorous. Furthermore, you possess surpassing beauty and it seems like your feelings for him are deeply rooted as well. To think that he hasn't even touched you yet, this is truly an extremely rare occurrence! I can't begin to imagine the self control he must have!"

Aphrodite, "..." she suddenly started remembering the one month she had spent with Percy. He hadn't shown any self control back then. In fact she had been sure she was halfway to heaven by the time he was done most of the time.

"I…" A red blush stained Calypso's cheek as she began to hem and haw, "The power within my bloodline still hasn't… still hasn't fully awakened… So I can't… lose… my virginity… or it'll slow down… my growth… a-and… Junior Brother Percy… has…has always cherished and treasured me… as his… best friend…So… So…"

"Hmph, this is simply absurd!" The Heavenly Sword Spirit said in a huffy voice, "If you had lost your phoenix vital yin to any other male, it would indeed have seriously stifled the awakening of the power within your bloodline. But how can Percy's constitution be compared with that of a normal male's!? Just by the virtue of his Dragon God bloodline, not only can he cause your physique to fundamentally change, he can even greatly aid the awakening of the power of your Phoenix bloodline."

"Right now, you have awoken roughly forty percent of the power of your Phoenix bloodline. If you maintain your present state, you will need at least fifteen more years to fully awaken your power. But if you practice Dragon Phoenix Dual Cultivation with him, you will be able to awaken ninety percent of your power in no more than three months! Within half a year, you will be able to fully awaken your power. At that time, your strength will far surpass Aphrodite and the Phoenix Spirit who bestowed this bloodline upon you. Two years later, you will be able to step into the way of the divine and reach a new horizon!"

"You desire for the power of your bloodline to be fully awakened, yet you are not even aware that such a top-class male incubator is right by your side. Instead, you reject what is near at hand and seek something that is far away. It is simply far too laughable."

"Ah…?" The strange and unreasonable outburst from the Heavenly Sword Spirit stunned Calypso in place, leaving her at a complete loss.

"Heavenly Sword Divine God, you just mentioned that there was a method to save Percy. Is that true?" Aphrodite asked in an anxious voice.

"Hmph, I guess this kiddo is pretty fortunate after all." The Heavenly Sword Spirit said indifferently, "If he had touched that Phoenix girl in the past, then he would undoubtedly be destined for death right now. Not only was this Phoenix girl deeply in love with him, she also possessed enough beauty to overthrow a country. As someone who carried such heavy yang energy, with someone like her by his side, being able to control himself was indeed not an easy feat. But since this is the case, he has also gained a new life for himself."

The scarlet-Blood red eyes hovering in midair opened wide as thick and dense firelight spilled out, "Right now, there is indeed a method that can save him. Furthermore, it is a method that will not only allow him to fully recover but it will also cause his cultivation to explosively increase within a short period of time."

"What method!?" Both Calypso and Aphrodite yelled at the same time. The elation of rising to heaven from the depths of hell caused all of the blood in their bodies to roil about agitatedly.

"This noble one has already said so much but the both of you still do not understand? Of course it's your phoenix vital yin!" The Heavenly Sword Spirit thundered as it Stared at Calypso, "When it comes to destructive power, the Phoenix flames are far inferior to the Divine Crow flames. But the Phoenix flames have a special cleansing ability. Percy is unable to recover from his heavy injuries because the Heavenly Poison Celestial God's power is still running rampant inside his body. Given your Phoenix flames, it would undoubtedly be a fool's errand to attempt to cleanse a power that far exceeds the level of your own. However, your phoenix vital yin is able to ignite the Phoenix's 'primal flame" one time in his body."

"It's other name is—the Flame of Nirvana!"

"The Flames of Nirvana… I have heard Lord Phoenix God mention this before," Calypso said dazedly.

"The Flame of Nirvana is a divine flame unique to the Phoenix and it possesses the ultimate cleansing power in this entire universe. Furthermore, even the Phoenix itself can only ignite these flames twice in its life. The first time is when it is born, the second time is when it experiences rebirth. Furthermore, if it forcibly ignites those flames before its rebirth, then when it loses its life, it will not be able to undergo a nirvanic rebirth."

"The Flames of Nirvana is impossible for a normal person to ignite but you are different." Even though the Heavenly Sword Spirit was repulsed by the Phoenix flames and Golden Crow flames, it possessed a deep interest and astonishment towards Calypso, "Because you did not merely inherit the bloodline of the Phoenix, you also inherited the entirety of a Phoenix Spirit! So your phoenix vital yin is completely sufficient to ignite a faint and weak Flame of Nirvana one time when you are on the verge of death."

"Even though it is faint and weak and should only last for an instant, it is enough to disperse the power of the Heavenly Poison Celestial God that is running through his body!" The Heavenly Sword Spirit's tone changed abruptly after that, "However, if this is the case, then if you perish in the future, you will be unable to undergo a nirvanic rebirth as well. You, who should have had the body of the Phoenix which possesses two lives, will only be left with one life just like everyone else."

"Then… then what should I do? What can I do to save Junior Brother Percy?" Calypso completely disregarded whatever she was going to lose. If she was able to save Percy, she would not hesitate no matter the cost. Even though she had vaguely been able to guess at something but her understanding of relations between a man and a woman was completely limited to the intimate actions that Percy normally displayed with her. She did not even have the foggiest idea regarding the rest of it and she did not know what she had to do.

"Right now, it is fine if you don't know what to do. Don't you have a person beside you that can teach you whatever you need to know!?" The Heavenly Sword Spirit declared, relishing every word that it spoke.

"Ah?" Calypso gave a low cry while Aphrodite was in a mild shock. The heavenly sword spirit chuckled as its eyes stared at Aphrodite." Even if I hadn't read Percy's memories back when we first fought, I still would find out just looking at you right now. Your mind is wide open so all your memories are just something for me to read as I please."

" "~！ #￥%..." Aphrodite' mouth faintly opened. A panicked and flustered expression that even Percy had never seen before was now clearly pasted on that sometimes cold and practically emotionless face that she kept up in front of everyone else.

The gloomy and stifling atmosphere shared by both girls suddenly became extremely subtle. The Heavenly sword spirit's eyes flashed before it gave a heavy snort, "Hmph, how troublesome!"

Whoosh!

A ring-shaped barrier of illusory swords suddenly sprang up around the three of them, placing them squarely in the center. After that the thunder suddenly surged, forming a gigantic electric barrier which contained all three of them within it.

"Aphrodite, you better listen up and listen good." The Heavenly Sword Spirit's grave and serious voice resounded in her ears, "If you merely want to save Percy, then you can simply rely on the 'Flame of Nirvana' that will be ignited by Calypso's phoenix vital yin to disperse the power of the Heavenly Poison Celestial God that is coursing through his body. After that, Percy's extremely strong self-healing ability will allow him to make a full recovery within days. But Calypso is definitely not any normal inheritor of the Phoenix bloodline and her body can nearly be called the actual 'body of the Phoenix God'. Because of this, her phoenix vital yin is incomparably precious, so even if the slightest bit of it is lost, it will still be a huge, incalculable loss which can never be recovered."

"If Percy can perfectly obtain her phoenix vital yin, then it will definitely cause his profound strength to soar within a short period of time. At that time, it might be possible that he could even surpass you and directly enter the Legend Realm."

"The enemy that you encountered was able to force Percy into such a helpless state. Given Percy's current strength, even if he does make a full recovery, the moment he clashes with that enemy, he will undoubtedly die. If you don't want him to suffer a miserable death after he barely manages to snatch it back in the first place, then you should assist him in perfectly obtaining Calypso's phoenix vital yin. At the same time, it will also help Calypso by speeding up the awakening of the power of her bloodline."

"This barrier will last for three months. Given Calypso's body of the Phoenix God, she will completely use up her phoenix vital yin after these three months. As for how to allow Percy to perfectly obtain her phoenix vital yin… Heh, you should be far more experienced regarding that than this noble one. The results that all of you obtain after three months will be entirely dependent on you. So you definitely must not disappoint this noble one."

"Hahahahaha…" The Heavenly Sword Spirit let out a loud laugh, as if it had done something delightful. After that, those eyes flashed with a Scarlet light and the barrier below was instantly sealed away completely, securely trapping those three people within its confines.

The heavenly swords intent descended upon Percy and his wound stabilized and his eyes opened. He coughed lightly and looked down at his chest, expecting to see a gaping hole where his heart had been but it had already healed over and not even a drop of blood remained..

His eyes fluttered as he looked around with confusion."calypso…? big sis… Aphrodite…? Where are… we?" calypso knelt next to him, controlling her tears." Percy, you'll be fine, trust me. W-we asked the heavenly sword spirit and he's sure you can be healed." Her lips trembled and Percy struggled to sit up at the sight of her.

" calypso! W-what 's… wrong..?" he asked as tried to regain his bearings. she smiled at him reassuringly then kissed his forehead. Aphrodite chuckled softly then began pulling at her clothes. Calypso blushed, but didn't resist as her clothes were loosened and pulled off. She'd bared her body to Percy already, but now knowing exactly what was going to happen between them, she really couldn't control her emotions.

Percy turned a fierce shade of red and hastily looked away." B-big sis Aphrodite! Don't teach calypso your habits!" Aphrodite humphed angrily then said." Damn kid, you loved these habits when I was sleeping with you for an entire month during your holidays." Percy laughed weakly and turned his head away with embarrassment.

Suddenly Calypso reached out and caught Percy's face, pulled him in and kissed him. Percy stiffened as their lips met, then he gradually relaxed as they sank into the kiss. By the time they were done, both of them were red faced and breathing heavily. Calypso's breasts jounced and trembled with each heaving gasp she took.

She touched her forehead to Percy's and then looked him in his eyes." Perseus jackson. i… have always…. Loved you." Percy's jaw dropped and he started to speak but she kissed him again, tentatively curling her tongue into his mouth and around his tongue. She drew back and then continued speaking as she panted furiously.

" I always loved you…. hah… but you… hah …. Never noticed….." she shook her head and pushed him down then slid onto him, her hips straddling his waist." ….hah…. please… I can't…. bear… this….. haaah … feeling… anymore…"

" do you love me Percy?" she asked directly, her eyes boring into his. Her heart was trembling fit to burst and she was so worried he would start with some excuse or explanation to gently let her down.

Then Percy cupped her cheek with one hand and his eyes closed as he seemed to fade into his thoughts for a moment. Then his eyes opened and a small smile grew upon his lips and calypso felt the same smile growing on her own." Yes calypso. You are the dearest person to me apart from my master."

Calypso embraced him and they kissed yet again. Aphrodite sat by on the sidelines, taking off her clothes as she admired the two of them. When she was through she strode over her luscious boobs bouncing and swinging with each step. Her hips swayed with each step and she was soon standing behind the two passionately kissing lovers. She reached over and started pulling at calypso's robes.

Both the girls started on Percy's clothes and got rid of them as well. Percy was still exhausted and all he could do was lie back and let both the girls take care off him.

Calypso was too embarrassed to do anything except continue kissing him, peppering his entire body with kisses, ranging from his face to his chest, cautiously kissing the area where he had had his wound. Aphrodite moved lower, fiddling with his member as it grew harder in her hands.

She took it in her mouth, experiencedly running her tongue along the length and swirling it around his hot and throbbing manhood. Percy moaned as both of them teased him, playing with every inch of his body. Then Aphrodite pushed calypso down and started her, pinching and squeezing her nipples until she was drooling with pleasure. Then she climbed onto Percy and slipped his member into her waiting snatch. She swallowed all seven inches of him and whimpered as she bounced on his hardness.

She kept a firm hold on herself and moved her hips slowly and rhythmically as she gyrated on top of him. She moved calypso onto Percy's face, letting her soaking wet snatch rest right on his mouth. She'd found Percy to have unbelievable talent when it came to pleasuring her, and she was sure he would do a good enough job preparing calypso's virgin pussy for his hard cock. Percy quickly started on her pussy, sliding his tongue along the quivering lips of her womanhood.

Calypso gasped and shuddered in sheer pleasure as his tongue slipped into her, exploring her soft insides. Percy's hands gripped her plump ass, squeezing as he parted her and slid his tongue in even deeper.

His hips started rising and thrusting as well, rhythmically slamming into her womb, eliciting deep groans from Aphrodite. She leaned forward and started fiddling with calypso's breasts. Though she didn't have Aphrodite's monstrous proportions, she was still well endowed with mid sized C-cups.

Aphrodite giggled at her cute moans as she tweaked and played with her hard nipples, driving her high up into heaven with the help of Percy. Before long, her thighs were clamped around Percy's head as she moaned and trembled, strands of saliva marking the edges of her full and luscious lips. Her hips bucked and shook as she squirted a spray of her love juices right onto Percy's face.

Then she swayed slightly and almost collapsed with exhaustion. Aphrodite reached out, steadying her as best she could. But her own climax was approaching and she was trembling faintly in anticipation as their thrusts speeded up, rising to a crescendo before she exploded, spraying her love juices all over Percy.

Percy's thrusts didn't even pause as her pussy clenched around him, squeezing and gripping his member as she tried milking him with all her force. The love juices reenergized him and he rammed into her with even more force. He rode out her entire climax at full speed, each thrust sliding into the depths of her quivering body.

Having the Dragon Physique, Poseidon's Godly Power and the Divine Golden Crows Bloodline gave him not just an immense boost to stamina, but also gave him an extreme yang attribute. Thus even after having ridden Aphrodite through her entire climax, Percy did not feel the least bit fatigued, but rather he felt even more energized.

His body was starting to surge with powerful energy now and he flipped Aphrodite over, pinning her next to the shivering form of calypso. He held Aphrodite down as he rammed into her depths with fluid strokes, moaning as her pussy swallowed every single thrust. Percy felt like he could have gone on forever, but he was soon stopped by Aphrodite when she placed her hand against his hip, silently motioning for him to stop. She smiled and grabbed his hair, pulling his head down until his face was next to hers." Wait up, the main course is still yet to be served." She whispered in her incomparably sultry and seductive voice. Percy's body felt a hot throb run through it just at the sound of her voice.

She pushed Percy over onto his back and started sucking on his member, while her right hand expertly tweaked and fiddled with calypso's pussy. She slid her fingernail under her aroused clit, and giggled as calypso arched her back, hissing as her sensitive body reacted fiercely to Aphrodite's stimulation.

Then she ran her fingers down the folds of her pussy, tracing the fleshy labia. Calypso was completely shaven and her pussy was smooth, without the hint of a prickle. She turned red as she felt Aphrodite slip a finger into her. she moaned and grabbed her breasts, squeezing and massaging them as Aphrodite slowly and rhythmically thrust her finger into her tight insides.

When Aphrodite felt she was ready she stopped her hand and then slowly, deliberately drew it out of her. calypso gave one last moan, shuddering as Aphrodite pulled her finger out, before licking it clean.

She grabbed calypso and guided her onto Percy. Before long, calypso was straddling Percy's waist, her dripping wet pussy resting atop his rock hard member. His member pulsed and throbbed as she slowly moved her hip over it, following Aphrodite's instructions.

She panted lightly, her entire body glistening with sweat, mirroring Percy's sweaty form. Percy gently massaged her soft breasts, fingers lightly working on her silken skin. Aphrodite sat back and furiously worked on her clit while she drooled over them, her sultry voice coaxing calypso into rhythmic motion.

Finally calypso reached the peak of her endurance. Gasping and moaning, she pushed down on Percy, her small face screwed up in pleasure as she felt him slowly start to penetrate her. she hesitated slightly just as she felt the primordial yin convulse within her body, obviously reacting to the extreme yang attribute of Percy's blood. Then with a light sigh, her lips closed onto Percy's and she gave a soft whisper into their kiss.

With one swift motion, her body slid down and he entered her entirely, breaking through her final barrier and completely claiming her." my everything is yours…" she whispered softly and then clenched her teeth in response to the sharp pain. Her body shook slightly as she struggled to maintain her composure. She felt Percy's arms around her and slowly calmed down.

She buried her head in his shoulder as her hips moved slowly. He grasped her waist, and they moved rhythmically as Percy slowly responded to her, moving in unison with her until the sound of their moans were drifting through the air. Soon calypso was sitting up straight, her hand clutching Percy's as she bounced on him. Aphrodite quickly joined in, gently teasing her nipples with her teeth and softly massaging her clit with one hand.

While Percy had impressive stamina, owing to his dragon body and Poseidon godly bloodline, calypso wasn't one whit inferior. Her phoenix, Golden Crow and thunder Dragon bloodlines granted her immense stamina and all three together were almost on the same level as Percy's bloodline.

Her entire body shimmered with a faint red glow from the inside as she neared her climax. Percy was rapidly nearing his own as well. The image of a blazing phoenix appeared behind calypso as her primordial yin began stirring violently within her body. Percy's body displayed a similar image of the Azure Dragon that shook the world with its majestic presence. The two divine beasts rose and intertwined, rising into the heavens together, a stream of Azure Blue and Flaming Scarlet.

Below them, the two youngsters were gasping as they reached the limits of their endurance. They shuddered and trembled as their pleasure climbed and engulfed them, rising in crescendo with their moans until with one last gasp, they both slammed into each other ferociously, trying to meld into each other. Calypso gasped as all her primordial Yin turned into a whirlpool of essence that drained into Percy. At the same time, Percy's member twitched before finally releasing a flood of his own essence deep into her, flooding her insides and filling her with his thick cum.

Calypso closed her eyes, groaning with ecstasy as his warm essence melded into her.

Then she gasped and collapsed onto Percy and the two remained still for a few moments as their bodies adjusted. Calypso suddenly felt very light headed and dizzy and the feeling made her giggle as she wrapped her arms around Percy, gently kissing him over and over. Percy's own a rms were softly stroking her back, lightly tracing her spine.

Calypso raised her head and looked at Percy, and for a moment she felt like she had to say something to Percy, something important that was buried in her very soul. His sea green eyes sparkled and calypso caught sight of the oceans in them, gently lapping at the shores, inviting her in deeper.

She opened her mouth, to say something, though she had no idea what, then the moment was shattered by Aphrodite's laugh." Enough you two love birds!" she jumped in and snuggled against Percy." So my hero, how do you feel?" she purred as her arms encircled his neck and she hugged him so hard, her breasts were mashed into his chest.

His face grew red and he was severely aware that though he was supposed to be exhausted right now, calypso could no doubt 'feel' how excited he was.

Calypso seemed absent minded however and she ignored Aphrodite's teasing remarks.

Her body was getting hot. Very hot. It felt as if she were engulfed in immense flames. Her sweat steamed and evaporated from her skin.

"Calypso?" Percy asked surprised. He could feel her growing warmer with each passing second. At first he thought she had simply overexerted herself, but now her entire jade like body was glowing a faint shade of red. She was panting more noticeably as well and her breath was actually steaming.

"P-Percy…" calypso moaned softly and her hands cupped his face. Her eyes were wide and unfocused as she was half dreaming and wasn't even seeing him. In fact, Percy felt as if she wasn't in fact looking at the real him, but rather something in her mind. She kissed him again, this time more passionately.

Aphrodite started to join, but yelped like a wet cat and jumped back In surprise as her skin was scalded by calypso. She looked at her suspiciously then seemed to realize that her entire body was growing crimson red and was steaming.

Percy's mind shook as he realized a nimble and soft strength was running through his body, spreading through his body, from his abdomen, dispersing the rampaging poison attribute power within him. A gentle flame burnt all the heavenly celestial poison gods power from within him.

Calypso didn't seem to notice anything. She kept kissing him, panting heavily, her entire body now dripping with sweet smelling sweat as she embraced Percy. " Percy… hah….i… feel…. So… hot….haaah…." she moaned as her pussy started grinding against him.

Her arms were trembling now, but still she raised herself, before sliding his member back into herself. The gentle flame seemed to intensify within Percy, turning into a raging inferno. Her fiery heat flowed into him, burning to his very soul.

He pushed calypso over and roughly grabbed her tender breasts. She moaned intensely, her hips violently moving in unison with Percy. He savaged her soft body, leaving traces of his domination all over her body. Her fingernails dug into his arm, gripping tighter and tighter with each savage thrust he made.

A flaming lotus bloomed around them and then shattered with the roar of a dragon. Percy bent over her, hips moving in a blur as rammed into her. calypso gasped desperately her pussy tightening around him and sucking him in deeper and deeper.

Both of them seemed filled with unrelenting passion and neither seemed ready to stop.

Calypso's eyes cleared slowly as time passed, and her pupils turned into flaming disks of golden fire. She pushed Percy down and her fingernails left savage scars across his chest as she scrabbled against his chest, her body trembling.

Then she erupted into fire as her pleasure peaked. With a sharp cry her body gave rise to a phoenix spirit that spread its wings before rushing upwards. Her eyes snapped open and blazed with furious intensity. Her body gave a divine red glow as enormous Black feathered wings erupted from her back. She screamed with ecstasy as Percy reached his own climax and came inside her womb. Once again, the phantom of the azure Dragon appeared over Percy, roaring as it defied the heavens, and Azure Dragon scales sprouted over his bleeding chest. Turquoise Blue Scales covered calypso's face as well before fading.

Her wings flapped once, stirring the world around her with their fearsome power. Then they folded back into her and she fainted, collapsing onto Percy. Percy stared uncomprehendingly for a second, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he blacked out as well.

Aphrodite was still watching the two of them in shock.

A pair of scarlet-blood red eyes opened above her and a deep voice rumbled." This brat… this is her second nirvana and yet he still managed to take part in it." The heavenly sword divine spirit's voice was filled with amazement and a small degree of surprise." They really are a pair of dragon's and phoenixes. Together, in this world at least, their combined might can said to be unmatched."

Aphrodite woke from her daze and hurriedly rushed to check up on Percy and calypso. Riptide chuckled." Don't forget, I said three months. This barrier will not open before then. You did well for your first attempts in teaching her. keep this up and by the end of three months, they will truly be a pair made in the heavens." Aphrodite turned around with shock plastered on her face." We're supposed to do this every day?!" riptide snorted." Not just every day, you must do this all the time!" Aphrodite fainted next to calypso.

 _-Luke's mountain hideout-_

Luke was panting as he knelt on one knee. Before him stood the devil incarnate, a seductive enchantress who had not only broken into his house but also beaten him with a single flick of her finger." Luke could say with confidence that after the death of the Monster king, there was no one who could defeat him easily in one on one combat. But this demonic enchantress had forced him to his knees just by casually flicking a finger at him.

He grit his teeth and his bloodline activated, a demonic existence roaring to life behind him." Release her!" Luke roared furiously as he rose to his feet, his bloodline supporting him with immense strain.

Drew cocked a head as she looked at him. In her hand she held the throat of one of Luke's maids. The maid was alive and conscious but it was as if her soul had died. She was droling and her tongue was swollen and she was bleeding from all seven orifices. Her skin was turning greenish purple even as Luke watched.

" how can you even stand in the presence of my divine aura?" she asked curiously and Luke had to resist the urge to sink to his knees and kiss the ground at her feet. Just her presence seemed to be enough to crush his will and spirit.

"leave…!. Her….!" Luke roared and sprang forward. Drew smiled and the pressure intensified, forcing him to his knees again. He roared angrily, but the pressure seemed to chain him down. Even his bloodline started crumbling until it finally flickered back to sleep.

Luke's skin turned golden and his eyes turned into piercing diamonds. He erupted with even more power and he leapt forward again. Drew's brows scrunched but she didn't stop him as he snatched the girl from her and retreated furiously. He gently laid her onto the ground then ignored drew as he focused entirely on her, sprinkling her face with water as he nourished her life force with his own life force. The rest of the maids were huddled in the end of the room as they whimpered with fear.

Drew smiled at them and they felt as if their souls were being frozen with terror. Luke suddenly stood again and his aura expanded, forcefully resisting her aura and shielding the people behind him. This meant Luke withstood the entirety of her soul freezing aura with his own power.

"If you dare harm… any one dear to me.. anyone I have vowed to protect.. even the gods will not be saved from my wrath!" Luke roared.

Drew giggled then she disappeared and reappeared with a flash right before him. Her soul freezing aura directly sunk into him, completely immobilizing him. Luke's eyes grew hazy as her seductive aura seeped into him. She gently cupped his face and giggled." Oh handsome little brother is so strong and brave! This big sister admires such manly people!"

The world around Luke seemed to blur into a heavenly dreamland as drew stepped even closer, embracing him and kissing him. Where her hands touched, his clothes sizzled and burnt away with the acrid scent of poison. On the other her hand, her clothes turned into a aphrodisiac like perfume and engulfed the room. She glanced at the other girls over his shoulder, a wicked smile on her face as she nibbled on his ear." Oh handsome little brother, why do you waste your talent on such lowly women? With such a lovely incubator such as myself, within three months, a top class bloodline like yours would entirely awaken." She murmured seductively into his ear.

Luke's body suddenly shook with unreleased passion and pushed her down, ravaging her breasts. She giggled and pulled his face down to her lips that were glowing with an aphrodisiac type poison." My dual cultivation needs the fresh blood of several young girls" she said and her eyes slid onto the trembling girls with a triumphant smile. The hideout was filled with the anguished screams and pleading of several young girls. Then silence… soon replaced by lewd moans. The room was stained with blood.

A.N.: pretty weird smut scene between Percy and calypso. Also you people were the people who were against the Luke x drew smut being written, so whatever happens will be strictly off chapter. So we'll pick up three months later, when both hero and villain finish dual cultivating. Also you just saw Drew's cruelty level. Still want a smut scene between her and Percy? If you want Percy to dominate her that's impossible. And no, artemis isn't going to help him screw someone she hates so get that idea out of your head. And no, no, no Percy x artemis smut scene anytime soon. That's the most major thing so you'll need to wait and read.

And yes, calypso is based on Feng xue'er, Xiao Moxian(little demon Xian) and Ning'er from ATG, MW and TDG. Just in case you guys were you know wondering how I made up such an emotional character. Cause all these three characters have strong personalities, and I took inspiration from their most emotional moments when I was planning calypso's personality. So apart from artemis she is by far the most in depth character I created. Sorry PiPercy fans.


	33. Eternal Dance of the Dragon and Phoenix

**Fourth Arc: Eternal Dance of the Dragon and Phoenix**

Percy, calypso and Aphrodite were sealed inside the sword barrier formation for three whole months, during which the heavenly sword spirit insisted they screw each other almost endlessly. Percy and calypso grew even closer than they had ever been and even Percy and Aphrodite's relation suddenly took a leap. Three months of dual cultivation, with only the sword spirit supplying them energy. They needed neither food nor drink.

Their strength increased explosively and rose without stopping. After three months straight of dual cultivation, they spent another month stabilizing their power and learning the extent of their strength and exactly what they were capable of. Calypso had learnt the initial stage of phoenix trueform that allowed her to assume the form of a phoenix. Meanwhile Percy and she both gained control over their respective dragon bloodlines, and mastered the divine transformation 'Dragonification'!

Then Percy started his biggest trial, one he was unsure artemis would approve of if she had been there. But he still wanted more power, and he knew there was only one way to do so. And so, under the worried gazes of calypso and Aphrodite, and under the mocking laugh of the heavenly sword spirit, Percy walked over to the Forbidden Blade Sheathed into the ground, grabbed the hilt and pulled.

 _-meanwhile-_

While Percy and the rest were engrossed in dual cultivation, so was Luke. Drew had finished completely dominating his mind, spending three months digging out all of his potential. Luke's bloodline followed Slaughter and Sex. The stronger enemy he killed the more powerfully it boosted his physical form. But this method only worked till level nine, since after Level Nine, he crossed the Mortal realm and broke through his human limits. His body didn't need strengthening any more.

So now his cultivation was almost solely dependent on Sex and the more powerful woman he ravages, the more beautiful she is, the more pure she is, the more potential has, the stronger the boost to his Cultivation. Of course Drew wasn't pure, but in all other aspects she far exceeded the limits of even the most powerful women in even the Godly Realm. So naturally three months of incessant dual cultivation obviously boosted his cultivation immensely.

Of course, he was not only far more powerful now, he was also far more depraved. The last shreds of Luke's humanity, the maids he had raised as children and taken care and protected, were killed by his own hands. It would be sufficient to say, he had gone entirely insane now. And drew nurtured this insanity, without resting or taking a break, she carefully grew this bent and twisted mind to suit her own needs.

And then she sent him to destroy hope city.

 _-Hope city-_

Grandholme was feeling quite gloomy as he sat out on the city's recently rebuilt walls, feeling worried about piper. For three months she had sat outside the secret room, waiting for calypso to emerge with Percy. She was immensely grieved about the fact that though she had promised to marry him, she hadn't managed to deliver on her promise. Grandholme felt Percy's loss quite acutely too, as he was an incomparable genius and a talent that defied the heavens.

However he felt relieved that piper hadn't actually married him. If she had then his young grand daughter would have been left widowed at the tender age of 17. If Percy had lived he would have been an extreme talent. But a talent that died was no talent at all.

Grandholme was shaken out of his reverie when he felt a deadly dark aura approaching hope city. He immediately stood and watched in the direction of the dark aura vigilantly. Before long, even Nico turned up, spear in hand. He was on the verge of break through to the legend realm and once he did he would be one of the most fierce warrior of the Gaia continent.

As the two watched, a figure wrapped in darkness, trailing shadows that moaned in despair and howled in terror, suddenly appeared. Nico's eyebrows jumped. Even Grandholme frowned." This is bad" he murmured softly as he watched the approaching shadow.." this aura is definitely Luke's aura… but the cultivation level….is unexpectedly… Late stage of Legend Realm!"

Nico frowned." Just three months back he was only a middle stage Legend Realm Warrior. This is an absurd growth speed." Grandholme nodded. Luke came and stopped before the two of them. His face a desolate mask of hate and anger, he throws out a punch and Grandholme scowls as he retreats hurriedly. Even Nico is caught off guard and swiftly disappears in his own shadow.

Then suddenly the world before Grandholme's eyes turns dark as a powerful blow smashes into him from behind. He gasps and blood splatters from his mouth, as he tumbles down from the sky. And then from the other three directions, three more Luke's step out, all with Late Legend realm cultivation!

Nico feels horrified. He had originally felt Luke fused all four clones together to reach his cultivation, but unexpectedly it Is only an individual clone! And other clones are equally strong! If all four combine, then his strength may reach Peak of Legend Realm or even Break Through!

Nico's power was originally only slightly higher than grandholme's and he is in no way Luke's match.

Before long, Luke has them both tied in dark chains radiating the worst tortures of Hades. These chains are unexpectedly same chains as used on prisoners of the fields of punishment!

"Luke you damned bastard! What do you want!" Nico roared angrily as he swung to and fro, trying his best to break free. Luke laughed and this laugh contained pure madness within." My mistress needs high quality blood of young women to dual cultivate with me. So I'll make this my personal supply ground. Then I can dual cultivate with my mistress for all of eternity!" at this moment, his killing intent is stained with strong lustful desires.

"of course top talents like piper, Aphrodite and calypso I only use in case of special occasions!" Luke cackled viciously.

 _Note: song for this Fight: Destiny by Neffex ._

Then his laughter was suppressed by a heavy aura, an aura that gave off a baleful feeling of hate and anger. This baleful aura was even heavier than Luke's and seemed to crush everyone within it.

Luke glanced up with shock. His eyes widened with surprise.

Floating out of hope city, radiating absolute power and the destructive aura of the legend realm, was Percy." P-Percy? You're alive?!" Luke gasped. Then he burst into laughter." Not only alive, but you're a legend as well? Then let me personally send you off to your death!" all four lukes appeared, surrounding Percy. Percy just glanced around coldly, flexing his fingers.

"Luke… you really think this much is enough to beat me…?" he asked in a bored voice. Luke laughed again." Indeed, you're very strong! But even a single clone of mine is far more powerful than you! together, we can absolutely crush you! ahahaha! You alone are not my match!"

"Who said he was alone!" a voice rang out and a phoenix cry erupted and calypso shot out, a figure wreathed in golden and scarlet flames. She came to a stop next to Percy and Luke's eyes widened even further. Her aura was even stronger than Percy's." how did both of you reach the Initial Level Legend Realm?!" Luke roared, and his aura pressed down on both of them.

Percy smirked in response and raised both hands as he assumed a fighting stance." If you're so interested, why don't you come find out?" Luke shook with rage then suddenly a crazed smile appeared on his face." I won't underestimate you Percy. And so I will honour you by using all my force in defeating you!"

Luke flipped his palm up and a pitch black sword, emanating a very familiar aura suddenly appeared in Luke's hand. It was entirely black, from the curved blade that was nearly five feet in length, to the hilt, which was simple and unadorned, twisting and writhing and carved like a snake. The snake's mouth lay at the end of the hilt and it was open, clutching a black crystal that seemed to suck the light out of the air around it. As soon as the sword came out, Luke's own aura surged and erupted, and his bloodline immediately awoke.

Percy's eyes narrowed." That sword…. That aura… Typhon?!" Luke started laughing." You know Typhon?! Hahaha. His son was sealed into this sword! I absorbed his son and all his power, and turned him into my bloodline! This sword is the divine sword of endless retribution, the Endless Night Devil Blade! It is the most powerful weapon in existence! It is a forbidden sword!"

His aura swirled and rushed onto all of them and the phoenix aura around calypso started to dim under the pressure. Then suddenly another sword aura erupted, cutting straight through Luke's aura and making his expression turn pale and bloodless.

"No… what… what….is that?" he stared wide eyed at Percy. In Percy hand, he held a simple bronze blade, with a flat hilt adorned with gold studs. The bronze blade gleamed in even the darkness of his presence. The sword aura was simple, but unbelievably sharp. From even so far away, Luke could feel the sharpness of the sword, as if rested against his throat.

"r-riptide…?!" Luke gasped. Percy smirked and raised the sword, pointing it at Luke." If you're so brave then let's see who's sword is better shall we?". Luke clenched his teeth." Damn you Percy. You think you can scare me with just that sword? My sword is on a different level! Let me educate you!"

He roared and rushed forward his sword hummed with power. "Detestable trash!"

Luke charged into the skies. An enormous devil shadow appeared in the air and a black sword light of several dozen meters in length suddenly stretched above the Endless Night Devil Sword. Then, carrying an apocalyptic aura, it pierced straight towards the Percy.

Percy grit his teeth and raised riptide, blocking the Dark sword. The shockwave of power was almost enough to make him spit blood.

" Ahahaha!." Luke's arrogant laughter rang out across the sky." With trash like you how can you possibly resist me!, someone who has already reached the level of a Devil god!". His sword pressed down with all its force and even calyso who tried rushing in to help was blown away by the force.

" die! Perseus jackson! Die!" Luke laughed insanely and he used even more force, pressing Percy down.

Right at this moment, a clear and bright light suddenly shone down from above the dark sky. Everyone present instinctively raised their heads to look… In the northern direction, a ray of golden light, like a meteor from space, sliced apart the tumbling dark clouds above Hope City and amidst a long, sky-piercing cry, descended with a bang.

"Flames of the golden crow! Consume all!" calypso's voice rang out and her form erupted with power.

Boom!

Like a falling boulder, the golden flames smashed earth-shakingly onto Luke's pitch-black sword beam.

The dark clouds in the sky quickly scattered apart, revealing a petite figure dressed in a fluttering rainbow dress. Her eyes were like cold stars as they coldly gazed at Luke. In her hands, a cluster of golden flames was blazing intensely." I thought I made it clear, Percy and I will fight together !"

"If you wish to die together, then I can arrange for it!" Luke laughed and all his clones merged into one, and his aura began to climb even further. Grandholme and Nico's throats closed with fear as his aura reached the absolute peak of Legend Realm. Just another step, and he would turn into a true god level Warrior!

Percy and calypso moved at the same time. She erupted with fire and her phoenix wings spread from behind, huge Black wings that seemed to shadow the entire sky. Percy's arms were covered with Azure Blue scales that spread all over his body. 'Phoenix True Form!'. 'Azure Dragons Dragonification!'

Both of them shot at Luke together. Percy's sword swung, humming with the power of a dragon. Their swords clashed and the space around them fractured and a huge shockwave rippled out heading directly towards hope city.

A pinkish blue glow spread over the city, covering it and protecting it. Aphrodite floated up." Contract Beast! Alpine snow fairy!" behind her a glowing figure floated up, zither in hand, calmly crooning a soft song that seemed to wrap around the city, forming a barrier of ice." Leave the city's safety to me!" she called out. Luke almost had a heart attack." Another Legend Realm Warrior?!"

Calypso appeared behind Luke and both her eyes were filled with flames as she thrust her arms out." Phoenix nirvana! Burn to ashes!" flames exploded all over Luke, sending him flying. He grit his teeth and stabilized his flight." You pathetic trash!" he roared and thrust out his palm.

A deadly aura engulfed the sky and a pitch black Palm descended from the sky, crashing into both of them.

With a dull reverberation, the divine flames that had blazingly crossed through three kilometers in space were firmly grasped within his palm. The annihilation energy within the Phoenix flames and Golden Crow flames exploded forth at the same time. Fiery light charged into the skies, yet the flames were never able to escape from the control of the pitch-black hand. As the pitch-black hand tightened, the struggling Golden Crow flames and Phoenix flames quickly extinguished. In a short several breaths of time, they had already been completely engulfed by the black aura.

The black aura on Luke's body exploded forth as he pierced his sword straight towards Percy and Calypso. While he approached them, the streaks of light suddenly dimmed. The fiery light that was initially scorching to the eyes was quickly being suppressed into dimness. At the same time, the two of them felt that space had suddenly turned sticky, as though their bodies were stuck on a spider web, making it especially hard for them to move.

They were basically unable to evade as well and they were left with no choice but to take Luke's sword strike head on! Percy strained and riptide swung, meeting Luke head on.

The palm of his hand split open and blood flooded out and he was thrown backwards like a rag doll, spinning away until he crashed into the ground. He grit his teeth and stood, just in time to see calypso get sent flying as well. He flitted across the ground, reaching her just in time before she struck the ground.

The two of them were battered in mere seconds. Luke laughed and looked down." Is this it? I have surpassed you entirely!" Percy and calypso locked gazes. Then with a barely perceptible nod both of them stood together and rose into the sky slowly.

Both held hands as they flew towards Luke." Eternal Dance of the Phoenix and Dragon!"

The azure Dragon appeared behind Percy, spreading his wings as the power of a god spread across the sky. "Dragon God Domain!" calypso's wings grew larger and their speed shot up and they blurred. Luke smirked and he blurred, his own speed rising exponentially.

The three clashed and the sword in Luke's hand bent all the way as riptide clashed with it. Percy was covered with flames and with calypso's help his speed grew greater and greater as he clashed with Luke again and again, sword sparks filling the air with each collision.

The phantom of the Azure dragon roared and struck, a huge claw smashing down on Luke. He grit his teeth and the image of his Demonic bloodline appeared, intercepting the attack. "SKREEEEEEEE!" a flaming Phoenix suddenly descended from the skies, bringing apocalyptic flames with it. The phoenix flapped its wings, raising a tornado of flame. The tornado smashed into Luke from behind and he spat a mouthful of blood.

The Dragon roared with rage and ripped apart Luke's Bloodline Phantom and then struck towards him. He struggled to dodge. He barely managed to move aside when calypso struck. A flaming Lotus Bloomed around her, engulfing Both Luke and Percy.

Nine Layers of fire petals, each layer holding Nine Petals, the Phoenix Eighty One Fires Lotus!

Percy shot through the fire, turning into a silver blur as he swerved behind Luke and smashed down with his sword. From the other side the azure Dragon slashed with its claw, leaving no room to dodge.

Luke revolved his Battle Qi to its limit, then exploded with power, smashing aside both attacks heading towards him. Then he spun, bringing his sword to bear against Percy." Phantom Slash!"

Just before his attack could connect calypso descended from above, turning into a Phoenix of Flames. She struck at him with all her force, sending him spinning through the air.

She stood next to Percy, both their powers swirling together and forming the twin images of the Royal Phoenix and the Proud Dragon.

She stretched her hand out and a lotus of fire sprouted atop it. She flicked her hand and it flew at him, spinning before it exploded into peerless flames. Percy shot forward, twisting as he brought riptide around. Combined might of a dragon and phoenix! The flames condensed on his blade, turning it into a glowing blade radiating destructive power. Luke raised his own blade up and the two clashed.

Both of them shook and blood spurted from the edges of their lips as the blood vessels along their arms burst open. Percy's eyes glowed green.' Thousand Layered Waves!' the destructive vibrations shot into Luke, tearing through his insides.

He flew backwards, skidding and stumbling. When he finally stopped he glared at Percy with a look filled with pure hatred. His aura climbed and surged again." How could I possibly lose! I refuse! If its necessary then I shall do it!" his eyes turned black." Demon emperor! Accept my sacrifice! Grant me the power to defy the heavens!" his skin cracked and turned black and his aura climbed even further, infinitely nearing the Divine realm, on the verge of breaking through!

Luke suddenly laughed and his speed reached the limit. He appeared behind Percy and brandished his sword." Be lost forever in the depths of the shadows! Eternal Night Burial!"

A sticky black darkness spread from him, covering the entire sky, sucking out all the light. Calypso's flames dimmed and began flickering, then sputtered and faded away.

Darkness broke through the heavens, and for a moment, Percy's entire field of vision was engulfed in darkness… it was as if the entire sky had been completely and utterly buried by the darkness!

It was truly a power that could bury the heavens!

Percy shuddered and the godly bloodline within his body awoke. A faint blue green light tore through the darkness as his trident shot out tearing apart Luke's power. It shredded the entire domain and Percy followed the rampaging trident and shot at Luke.

His body was surging with power, but he could maintain this state for only about half a minute. He poured all his power into riptide, and he was surrounded by whirlpool of water that was formed from the clouds. It surged and twisted around his blade as Percy struck, too fast for even Luke to react. The sword fell onto his body and tore through his shoulder, slashing all the way across his body, down to his waist! Luke flew backwards like a meteor while a fountain of blackish blood spurted from the wound scarring his body.

When he crashed into the ground, the entire ground crumbled and shattered beneath him and he vomited blood on the impact. He groaned and tried getting up, but he had cracked the bone in his shoulder. He shuddered and glared at Percy." Perseus jackson! You will not win!" his bloodline demon faintly flickered behind him and he stood up slowly.

He flew up and faced Percy. Percy slowly lowered his sword and looked at Luke." Luke… we need to talk…"

 _-nearby-_

Drew was astonished. She had hardly expected a disciple of artemis to be weak, but this boy was absurdly strong. She was standing a short distance away but the light around her twisted and hid her entirely from view.

She had expected that with his power Luke could entirely crush Percy and calypso, but the two of them were actually able to resist his strength! She was growing more and more curious now. Then suddenly she felt a familiar aura approaching. A smile slowly flitted across her face and she turned.

She could see artemis hurriedly approaching, struggling to stay afloat. Clearly her powers were barely restored after returning to her body.

Artemis was terribly worried as she rushed towards Percy and Luke's aura. Without a doubt, Percy was being suppressed by Luke. She could even see them now, standing and talking. She grit her teeth and tried speeding up. She could feel Luke's rage and madness. And it was all directed at Percy.

"Luke… when I got my sword, I remembered some things…" Percy said hesitantly." I remember… you asking for the dagger… and me refusing you…" Luke's eyes widened and he lowered his sword as well.

" back then, you tried to make the right decision… but I was so… blinded… that I still tried fighting… and doomed everything." Percy shook his head, then looked at Luke. Calypso listened intently, though she didn't understand what he was talking about." I made a mistake back then…" Percy extended his hand." That is something I don't wish to repeat. So I want to ask your forgiveness… and for peace…"

Luke slowly lowered his sword entirely. His lips trembled and he floated forward, hand extended. Calypso tensed, then saw the two of them clasp each others hands.

Then suddenly a cry rang out." PERCY! GET AWAY!" Percy's eyes widened and Luke's eyes flashed. The sword in his hand gave a moan of despair and death. He moved, pulling his sword back. Percy felt someone tackle him. He saw the yellowish silver eyes and the long auburn hair. Her lips brushed his ear and her arms wrapped around his neck." –love you" she whispered. Then Luke thrust his sword with all his force and blood spattered the air.

Percy's eyes widened and artemis collapsed in his arms, Luke's sword still buried in her stomach. Luke pulled the sword back out and swiftly retreated as calypso furiously attacked him.

Percy stood there in a daze as artemis coughed up even more blood, struggling in his arms." Artemis!" he suddenly shouted as he came back to his senses. Artemis laughed lightly and punched his chest." Y-you idiot… what… were… you thinking!" she embraced him, her blood staining him. " A-artemis… I don't-". She suddenly drew back and touched his lips with a bloody finger." Shhhh. You idiot disciple. Your master will always protect you." she smiled. Her eyes dimmed and she fell onto him.

Percy quickly flew down and laid her down on the ground. He brushed her hair softly and then started binding her wound. Suddenly a sickly sweet voice came from behind him." Let me handle her highness. I think handsome little brother needs to worry about his girlfriend." Percy glanced back and saw drew standing there, smiling coquettishly.

He glanced upwards and saw calypso weaving in the air as she tried to escape Luke's attacks. He grit his teeth and rose into the air. Riptide's voice rang in his head." Ehehehe. Old friend, I told you, you were weak. You can barely wield me. If I wielded your body however, all your enemies would die and I can promise you victory and allow you to protect your loved ones! Do you want that power?"

Percy's eyes were red with bloodlust." I will kill that bastard!" riptide laughed again." Then you need this Noble ones power! Give in! with my power you will be unparalleled!"

Riptide's power flooded his body, filling him with new strength. It seeped through him, then started gathering in the Devil Orb Typhon had planted in his body." Ehehehe! Typhon gave you this devil orb to kill you, you know? Once it gathered enough power it would erupt and the devil energy within would kill you from within! But thankfully for you, this noble one can fuse with it and turn it into a weapon for you!" Percy's eyes turned black. His mouth opened but it was riptide who spoke." This devil orb will grant you the same darkness power Luke uses!" Percy and riptide raised their sword as one. And then they shot towards Luke.

"Luke! I will kill you today!" he roared and shot forward.

A.N.: Don't Kill me! *hides under a Pillow*. I'm sorry I hurt artemis okay! But seriously I had planned this Pertemis moment from the time I started planning this story. I was waiting for this lovely moment for so long! Also I hope you enjoyed the Pertemis moments coz I have bad news. No artemis didn't die, but she is leaving now in sometime. The only reason I kept her back was for this moment! song for this chapter: Destiny by Neffex .

Also, the reason we have no Annabeth in harem is….. well she'll make an appearance… but… well I'll let you keep guessing. Muhahahaha!

Also… my dear readers, stop asking for drew as a plaything. Look at the pitifully weak Percy and the OP Drew. She will kill him with a single finger. But we will have loads of Percy x calypso hopefully.

And stop reviewing that this story sounds like Tales of Demons and Gods, because its based off that story! Seriously, I mentioned it right at the start! Its not some big secret!


	34. Demon God

**Fourth Arc: Demon God**

 **Note: song for this chapter: Resistance by skillet.**

 **Mentions:** Kratous290s you got the transformation you asked for. Don't regret it.

Riptide began to glow and entirely merged into Percy's body. He floated up and faced Luke. Calypso immediately flew to his side. She was gasping for breath and a long cut trailed down her arm, seeping blood." Percy! Are you alright? And your master.. is she…?" calypso immediately asked. She could feel artemis's value in Percy's heart. However Percy didn't even reply, nor did he look at her.

Then she realized the aura that was flooding from his body was one she recognized. Percy had the exact same aura as he did more than three months back, when he had clashed with Luke. Back then this aura had come when he had erupted with power after Luke had slapped her. he had exceeded his limits and managed to even wound Luke who surpassed him in strength." Percy…?" she called softly as she grabbed his arm.

The aura was even more powerful this time and she was feeling suffocated by it as well. She shook his arm gently, then more insistently. He turned to her and she almost screamed. His eyes were shifting from their normal white and sea green to Black and red. He smiled gently and cupped her face." Calypso. Whatever happens, don't move or try to interfere in the battle. Or you'll injure yourself." She went to protest, then saw the look in his eyes. She had no doubt that right now his power completely exceeded hers. She nodded hesitantly." Just promise me you'll be safe…" Percy smiled." I won't die, because I couldn't bear to leave you behind." She smiled and slowly drew back.

Luke laughed. His entire skin was webbed with lines of black." You want to fight this sovereign? And you think you have the power?" Percy tilted his head and flipped his palm up." Hong'er!" there was a flash of vermillion light and the heaven smiting devil slayer sword appeared in Percy's grasp. Luke smirked." You think that will make a difference? In my current form I have the devil's physique! I can crush you with a single finger! Have you met Typhon? Fought him? Ahahaha! Currently I have all of his powers!"

He flipped his hand and his sword disappeared." You aren't worthy of seeing my sword!" he cackled.

Percy simply tilted his head." Lets take this fight somewhere else" he said. Luke smirked and shook his head." It'll be over in seconds so there is no need to-" he was cut off when Percy shot forward and grabbed his face, and shot away at terrific speed, before flinging him forward. They flew out wards and only slowed once they had crossed the mountain range and reached the wide expanse of the ocean.

Luke was wide eyed with shock." H-how…?" he looked up at Percy." Hmph it doesn't matter. I will destroy your body and scatter your ashes!"

Percy swung his arm and a red light flashed right after. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword loftily appeared and a vermillion red sword beam was swung down from above.

Booooooom...

With the present Percy and adding the present Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, though it was merely a casual swing, it had instantly collapsed the surrounding space. The sea surged and exploded with force amidst the explosive spatial noises and like the sudden rise of terrifying, surging waves, a disastrous storm blew toward the Sea shore.

Amidst the countless terrified shouts and screams, other than Percy and Luke, everyone else were like boats being tossed by the waves and were swept out of Seas, falling towards the ground beneath.

Calypso hurriedly moved, protecting Nico and Grandholme in a gentle fireball, allowing them to stay safe and unscathed during their landing.

Grandholme immediately got up as soon as he was freed." Calypso, get away, run! This fight is obviously beyond us! If you stay here you may be injured!"

Calypso lightly shook her head, her eyes were looking at the figure in the sky which was already especially faraway and gently said, "I believe in Junior Brother Percy."

"..." Grandholme gnashed his teeth and stomped his feet out of anxiety.

The Sea shore crumbled, space itself collapsed, and the sky filled with screams… Yet Percy and Luke were still facing each other in the air with incomparable calm, as if they had been completely isolated from the outside world. Percy raised the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword horizontally. Its tip pointed at the center of Luke's forehead yet the aura on his body was as quiet as sand.

An extremely uncomfortable aura caused Luke's brows to greatly furrow. Retracting his palm, he indifferently asked. "Though it's not important, this sovereign still wants to ask. Where in the world did you get that sword from!?"

"You can consider asking King Yama after you die. Show your devil sword… If you don't wish to die too quickly!" Facing Luke who was already arrogant to the point where he was no longer putting anyone in his eyes, Percy released an arrogant demeanor that completely did not lose to his.

"Heh, there's no longer anyone in this world who has the qualifications to have this sovereign use his devil sword. That includes you too," Luke said with a smirk. He reached out his hand towards Percy with his wrist hooked up. "Come, allow this sovereign to witness the extent of your struggle. Not only will this sovereign not use his devil sword, he will only use a single hand… to completely shatter your frail and laughable self-confidence."

(Author's note: ↑FLAG! We all know he's so gonna regret this!)

"Then you best not die too quickly!"

Percy growled and the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword was suddenly swung out. The monstrous might of the sword swirled up the entire surroundings and under this sword strike, the Sea shore that had survived for several thousand years completely collapsed, filling the entire sky with scattered waves that were being shot out. A storm of sword aura smashed towards Luke, yet Luke did not resist in the slightest, allowing himself to be pushed nearly fifty kilometers away by the sword aura storm. Only his loud, mad laughter resounded in the sky.

"Hahahahaha…"

He understood that Percy wanted to pull the battlefield away, to prevent involving the people that were still staying in Hope City.

"Luke, die!"

"Divine Sea Transformation!"

Golden Crow flames and Phoenix flames ignited around Percy's body at the same time and his profound energy and eyes turned a violent, Blue Green. After distancing themselves fifty kilometers from the City, he no longer had a shred of hesitation. With a loud roar, the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword carried monstrous, blazing flames as it smashed straight towards Luke.

In the instant the sword was swung out, clouds within a radius of fifty kilometers had all dispersed.

Enveloped by the might of this one strike, the light in Luke's eyes brightened, as they emitted a black glow that was several times more excited than before. "A truly astonishing pressure. This sovereign has surely underestimated you. Never did this sovereign expect that you had actually reached such a realm of power! You have actually more or less surpassed this sovereign of Three months ago… But unfortunately…"

"Unfortunately, no matter how strong a mortal is, how could one compare to a devil god!?"

"When this sovereign suddenly stepped into that realm, everything in this world, including this sovereign of Three months ago, have all become insignificant ants!"

Luke moved but his right hand was still behind his back; he had only stretched out his left hand. Black light circled around his hand and a black shadow appeared as his hand swung in the air, colliding with Percy's enormous vermillion red sword.

With a loud "bang," dimensional rifts instantly tore. Percy's sword stance was immediately broken and his entire figure tumbled back from the shockwave as well. However, he immediately charged back out and the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword once again smashed towards Luke.

"Heh…" Luke let out a quiet laugh, his pitch-black hand once again reached out to grab the enormous vermillion sword, flinging out one dark after-image after another which blew Percy's sword stance far away… Though in his eyes, Percy barely had the qualifications to exchange blows with him. No, Percy most probably did not have the qualifications at all; he was still unwilling to have his body make direct contact with that enormous scarlet red sword.

Back then in when he was in the middle legend Realm, the pain he suffered after taking that one strike was something he could not forget even in death.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...

Whenever their two powers collided, they shook the world as if they were the profound lightning of the Ninth Heaven. To the crowd at Hope city, every single explosion was like a terrifying disaster. They could feel the earth shaking and they were basically unable to get stable footing. Even when they were covering their ears tightly, the blood in their entire bodies was still rumbling intensely as if they were being boiled.

Boom!

After an explosive reverberation, an enormous wave rose from the sea, reaching up to several kilometers in height.

"Ah… Ah…" Nico, who had lived for more than a thousand years, paled from fright. Looking at the constantly quaking space in the northern direction, no matter how he thought about it, he was unable to believe that these were all coming from fifty kilometers away. "Is… Is this even strength that can be possessed by humans?"

"Junior Brother Percy… You have actually become so incredible," Calypso muttered in astonishment as well.

Percy smashed out forty or so sword strikes consecutively and they were all blasted away by Luke without making a single contact... Furthermore, he was only using his left hand, while his right hand had been placed neatly behind his back the entire time. Forget about harming Luke, Percy was not even able to close to a distance of a hundred meters from him.

"It seems like this is your limit," Luke lightly laughed. "Though you have indeed gotten stronger than this sovereign has expected, this is all it amounts to. In this sovereign's eyes, everything beneath the heavens are but mere ants and you, though you are the biggest one of them all, you are still similarly just an ant."

"Now, it's about time for this sovereign to attack." Luke, who had been defending leisurely the entire time, finally took up a different stance with his hand. No longer flinging it out, he instead suddenly opted for a forward grab. A pitch-black hand opened within the dimensional rift, instantly growing up to several dozen meters as it grabbed straight towards Percy.

"Come! Struggle with all your might within this sovereign's devil claw. The more tenacious your struggle is, the better. If this game ends too early, it would be a little too boring, hahahahaha…"

This pitch-black devil claw looked as if it was moving extremely slowly but it seemed to have leapt through space, instantly arriving in front of Percy.

Half-narrowing his eyes, Percy's figure slightly blurred.

"Craack!"

Space in a radius of about thirty meters, along with Percy's afterimage, was torn into pieces by the black devil claw. As if he had used instantaneous movement, Percy's true body had long since appeared about three meters away from Luke. With a growl, he smashed his sword right towards Luke's head as a strange fiery light flashed in the depths of Percy's eyes.

"Oh?" Luke was slightly astonished but right after, he flashed a playful smile as a black shadow collided with the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. "Tumble back obediently for this sovereign!"

Boom!

The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword clashed with the black devil shadow in the air but this time, the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword that was previously blasted away every single time had merely paused for a moment, followed by an explosive ignition of flames. Not only was it not blasted away, its might and speed had actually increased several times, instantly dispersing away Luke's power. Carrying the blurs of pitch-black space, it smashed straight towards Luke's head.

"Golden Annihilation!"

Luke had believed that Percy had already reached the limit of his strength previously… Furthermore, the strength at this limit had already far surpassed his expectations and even in his dreams, he would be unable to imagine just how his strength could have increased again by several times in an instant. He hurriedly withdrew and retreated speedily, his left arm rapidly swung out… However, he had merely raised it halfway through, before it was firmly suppressed back by the overbearingly immense power coming from the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

Luke was greatly shocked for the very first time and he wanted to hurriedly raise the right arm he had been keeping behind his back. However, he was basically too late. The power on his left arm was instantly crushed and the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword smashed onto Luke's chest with incomparable ferocity. The tyrannical Golden Crow flames exploded with intense light.

"Uuaaaaahhhh!"

Luke, who had been standing proudly straight in the air, was smashed flying away like a spinning top and alongside screams that sounded as if he was a pig being slaughtered. He flew for several dozens of meters before he managed to stop, yet the screams still did not end. His entire body was trembling and he was simply screaming even more wretchedly than Grandholme and Nico while they were being tortured. His chest was impressively marked with a vermillion red mark that stretched nearly a foot long.

Percy raised the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with a grin and once again pointed it at Luke. "Luke, you'd better not forget your own words and continue using a single hand. Otherwise, this so-called Heavenly Sovereign you make yourself out to be won't have any face at all."

"AAAAAHHHH—!"

Luke's miserable cry practically shook the heavens and the earth and those who were in Hope city as well as in the shadow alliance's hideout, which was fifty kilometers away, could clearly hear it. They looked towards the north and a look of deep shock and disbelief appeared on everyone's faces.

"That miserable scream… belonged to Luke!?"

"That cry belongs to Luke!"

"Could it be that… Could it be that Luke isn't Percy's match? Could it be that Percy has heavily injured Luke?" a profound practitioner from Hope city asked in an incredibly excited voice.

The strength that Luke displayed in front of them was equivalent to that of the legendary devil gods, so they could not fathom what kind of power could go up against him. They had never imagined that Percy would be able to duel Luke… Yet the miserable scream that they had heard had come from Luke.

"Is this… truly real?" Grandholme asked. It felt like all of them were caught in some kind of dream right now.

"That… that can't be true!" The eyes of everyone from the Shadow Association had widened into saucers, their faces filled with fright, "The Heavenly Sovereign's might is comparable to that of a devil god, so how can he be losing to Percy!?"

"Haah… This is truly hard to believe," Aphrodite said as she looked at the northern sky before sighing deeply. " Five years ago, he was just a child who had just entered School and still needed me to protect him from the shadows. Today, in such short years, he actually managed to reach these heights. Rather than saying that this is a feat that was completely unprecedented and never to be repeated again, it might be better to describe it as an incredible dream that can scarcely be believed."

"In terms of age, isn't the current Percy still a kid compared to us?" Grandholme said with a bland smile. "He has a strange and unusual personality, his temperament is domineering and imperious. His desire to never be controlled by another is drilled into his very bones and he has never been willing to be anyone's subordinate. This kind of person naturally will not be driven by any principles of righteousness nor will he be willing to shoulder any sort of duty. Yet he was the one who saved Hope city and today, he is the one who holds the future of the entire Gaia Continent in his hand…"

"Even though he will definitely not pay any mind to it, if he manages to get rid of Luke, the dark shadow that is looming over the Gaia Continent today, then he will definitely become a legend that has never appeared in the history of the Gaia Continent and may never ever be surpassed."

"UWWAAAAAHHHH…"

Luke pressed a hand against the wound in his chest that was glowing with vermillion light. His face was so twisted with pain that it practically resembled an actual devil. But no matter how much he focused his energy, he could not close that wound. In fact, he could not even stop it from bleeding and soon his entire palm was covered with reddish-black blood.

Even though Percy's expression was incredibly confident, he did not know just how strong the current Luke had become, so it was not possible for him to have absolute confidence. So he planned to display feigned vulnerability first so that he could use Luke's excessive confidence and arrogance to sneak in a strike and smash him fiercely with his sword.

Even though the sword wound was very long, it was also very shallow. This kind of wound would normally not even faze a regular Legend but because it had been inflicted by the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, it was the most dreadful nightmare in the world to Luke's "devil body." The sword wound which glowed with vermillion light not only caused him extreme pain, it also severely restricted his actions, as it also greatly affected the circulation of darkness profound energy.

What was even more terrifying about this sword wound was that it was basically not possible to use darkness profound energy to close it, so even if Luke's profound strength was ten times stronger, he could forget about being able to heal this wound quickly—In fact, being stronger would only cause this wound to linger on even longer.

"Percy… you actually dare to harm this sovereign's noble devil body!"

The pain being experienced by his body and the humiliation being experienced by his mind caused Luke's towering arrogance and light and easy manner to disappear completely. Under the influence of his darkness profound energy, his rage, violent urges and killing intent had thoroughly erupted.

Bang!

Black light exploded outwards from Luke's body and the already incredibly strong and vigorous aura of darkness suddenly explosively multiplied. A layer of dark black light circled and flowed around his devil body, lightning-like jet-black streaks of profound light flashing within.

A dark pressure assaulted Percy as it instantly forced his body to retreat several places. His hands tightened their grip on the Devil Slayer Sword as his expression grew cautious and alert.

"Ahahah… Percy, this sovereign is going to rip you to pieces!"

The wound on his chest was still bleeding and he did not know when the pain would subside. Luke let out a hoarse roar as the black light around his body rippled restlessly. Three black shadows abruptly shot out from his body before they morphed into three tentacles which squirmed towards Percy.

The dark might contained by these three black tentacles was completely incomparable to what had been displayed before and it was several times faster as well. Percy's body retreated swiftly, his arms turning as the Heaven Smiting Sword swept out in front of him, drawing an arc of vermillion light through the air… But the moment he had sent his sword out, his pupils faintly shrank.

Because he saw that hundreds of black sword beams had abruptly appeared behind those three black tentacles.

Boom!

The moment the three black tentacles came into contact with the Devil Slayer Sword, they were immediately sliced apart and they writhed about like three earthworms which had been cut into pieces, twisting in the air as they swiftly dissipated. During the instant it took for his sword to return to its previous position, hundreds of sword beams suddenly flew towards him as they let out icy whistles. The auras radiating from every single sword beam were not the least bit weaker than the black tentacles that had been blown away by Percy.

"Percy… Die!"

Percy's eyes widened as he retreated at the fastest speed possible. However, it was basically impossible for him to be faster than those hundreds of black sword beams which could rend space apart. The moment the sword beams approached his body, his gaze turned dark and he came to a fierce and sudden stop as he let out a low yell.

Profound light burst out of every pore of Percy's body, his profound energy swelled explosively and sea water spray surrounding him turned into a hurricane, and formed a Barrier. All of the black sword beams thrust into the Water Barrier, the collision producing a horrendous noise which bore a hole through one's very heart and soul.

Luke's hands had arched into claws and black light was dancing on his palms and around his entire body as he violently urged those black sword beams onwards. Percy gritted his teeth tightly as he spread both hands out wide and desperately tried to reinforce and support the hurricane Barrier.

The space which had been fiercely rippling and shaking had now suddenly turned completely still as both men descended into a fierce deadlock as they stared at each other across the intervening distance of more than three hundred meters. The black light in Luke's hands was churning more and more violently with each passing second and his expression was growing more and more warped as well. It was as if he could hardly believe that Percy could actually block his attack.

"Percy… this sovereign will see… just how much longer you can endure…"

"Heh…" Contrary to his expectations, Percy chuckled as he spat out his words with deliberate slowness, "It won't… be… for… too… long…"

As his voice fell, his gaze abruptly changed and he let out a great shout which seemed to shake the very heavens themselves.

"HAAAAAH!"

As that great shout rang out, Golden Crow flames ignited and soared into the sky as Percy's profound strength, which had already swelled by several times, increased once more. The profound energy which had been locked in a stalemate for a long time was suddenly released with full force as it drove against the hurricane Barrier from within, causing it to burst apart. The black sword beams which had been driving against the hurricane Barrier released terrified wails as they were smashed far away.

The azure Dragon appeared behind Percy and its spread its wings, the tyrannical power tearing apart Luke's strength.

An incomparably enormous energy backlash fiercely lashed into the body of Luke, as he was urging the black sword beams forward, causing the expression on his face to change dramatically as his entire body shook fiercely.

Percy suddenly sprang forward, the Heaven Smiting Sword shaking the air as it swept forward. In the blink of an eye, it destroyed all of the scattered sword beams. After that, Percy activated Moonlight Flash as he rushed straight towards Luke. A flame energy blade that was hundreds of meters long burst out from the Heaven Smiting Sword as it slashed towards the space that Luke was standing in.

Luke's gaze became incredibly dark and heavy. He threw out a black curtain of light, smashing that flaming energy blade far away. After that, he abruptly stretched out a hand and clutched at the wound on his chest and when he grabbed it, his hand became drenched in fresh blood.

He stretched his blood-stained palm forward and as the scarlet-black blood dripped down, a reddish-black profound formation slowly formed in the palm of his hands. It started to revolve slowly as it started to release a terrifying bloody light.

"Percy, this is the Heavenly Devil Blood Refining Formation that has been birthed using this sovereign's devil blood…" After his black sword beams had been blocked, it was clear that Luke had become even more irascible and enraged, "This sovereign had intended to leave you a whole corpse at first… But right now… this sovereign is going to refine you into a puddle of thick blood!"

As he howled those words hoarsely, Luke flung his hand out wide as the blood-colored profound formation, which was only half a foot long, swiftly flew towards Percy.

An extremely oppressive aura hurtled towards him, causing an extremely uneasy feeling to suddenly spring up in Percy's heart. He unwittingly retreated a few steps but in that instant, the blood-colored formation that was flying through the air suddenly unfurled like a picture scroll, as it swelled to hundreds of times its previous size and instantly trapped Percy within.

"Hahahaha…" Luke said as he laughed wildly, "Within the Blood Refining Formation, you will immediately be turned into a puddle of watery blood and even your soul will be refined out of existence, never to reincarnate… That is the end you get for enraging this sovereign!"

After he had been pulled into the Heavenly Devil Blood Refining Formation, the space around Percy had turned the color of blood. It was as if he had been plunged into a world of thick blood. Countless threads of dark and sinister energy swept at him from all around. These threads of energy seemed like they did not have any offensive properties but Percy could clearly sense his blood starting to churn by itself as his entire body felt a scorching heat which was gradually growing more intense.

Percy took a glance at his own palm as his eyes faintly narrowed. Phoenix flames and Golden Crow flames erupted simultaneously, the raging flame instantly repulsing all of the bloody energy as it burned and rampaged through every corner of the profound formation. Percy also flew into the air, all of the profound energy in his body surging. The Heaven Smiting Sword lashed out like a furious storm as it pounded heavily against that blood-colored profound formation.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

The vermillion greatsword which weighed more than one million kilograms danced in Percy's hand like light and graceful blade of grass. After one hundred sword strokes, the dense and bloody energy within the profound formation had been thrown into great disorder and it even made several whining sounds which signalled its impending collapse.

BOOOM!

Following the last strike of Percy's sword, a huge hole was smashed through the profound formation as flames poured out of that gaping cavity. Following that, the escaping flames suddenly parted as Percy's figure flew out from within. As he flung out his sword, the images of the Azure dragon and of the Phoenix simultaneously appeared behind his back.

"Phoenix Dragon Slash!"

"Wha… Whaat!?"

Only a short five breaths had passed from the point the Heavenly Devil Blood Refining Formation had engulfed Percy to the point where it had collapsed. Upon seeing this, Luke's face was finally completely drained of color.

Before this, he had been injured by Percy's sneak attack, so even though he had been enraged by it, he had thought that it was entirely due to him underestimating his enemy. He had definitely not thought that Percy had the ability to resist him. After all, he had only used twenty percent of his profound strength at that time.

However, the black sword beams he had sent hurtling out in rage had been generated using all of his strength, fully intending to tear Percy into countless shreds… After that, the Heavenly Blood Refining Profound Formation was sent out and he had even used his devil blood to invoke it, so its might was incredibly powerful.

But the black sword beams had been completely smashed aside by Percy and even the Heavenly Blood Refining Profound Formation had been swiftly broken apart by him.

Under his irascible violence and his extreme rage, he had clearly used all of the power that he could currently muster, yet… he was actually not able to suppress Percy at all!

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

As he howled in fury, Luke's black figure suddenly flashed as he dodged Percy's Phoenix Dragon Slash. But he did not follow it up with a counter attack. Instead, he let out a hoarse yell, "WHY!? How did your profound strength grow to this extent in just three short months!"

"This sovereign has cultivated for two thousand years, planned and prepared for one thousand years, endured for one thousand years. I've killed countless people, been soaked in oceans of blood, wasted so much time thinking up countless schemes. I've also endured heavens know how many risks and in the end I even turned my own body into a puddle of blood… Before I obtained this power!"

"But you…" Luke huffed and puffed as he was overcome by rage, shock, befuddlement… and a strong discontentment and jealousy, "Just how did you… Just how did you obtain such power in three short month!? You… Where did you get this power from? Just what did you experience!?"

Luke had been thrown out of hope city, he had his entire family exterminated, he had experienced un countable risks hiding in the wilderness, he had repeatedly struggled in dangerous areas, trying to gain benefits. He had once sneaked into the lair of legend rank beasts and found the Devils Lewd Dream Formula, as well as Typhon's Sword. He had waged war on Hope city for two thousand years and suffered the pain of the thousand soul resurrection as well as the pain of using a forbidden devil art. He had suffered and schemed for thousands of years, just to reach this level of power!

Finally, he gained the power he had today and truly had the world in his grasp.

Tenacity, obsession, patience, wits, maliciousness, ruthlessness… and adding a small bit of luck, had made Luke what he was today.

With the power he presently possessed, he had always believed that it was something he deserved and was the only one in the world. Today, the day he completely refined the devil blood, other than him, what was left of the Gaia Continent were but mere ants.

However, when his grand title as a Heavenly Sovereign had only just been born to the world, Percy suddenly popped out and displayed power that he could not suppress… And it had only been a short three months since the last time the two of them exchanged blows.

The power of a devil god he had sacrificed his entire life to obtain had actually been caught up to by Percy in just a short three months. How could he possibly accept that!?

Percy said with a sunken voice, "A large half of my power comes from my master, while I obtained the other small half through gambling with my life! At the very least, I'm definitely not like you, who would exterminate an entire city, throw the world into chaos and snatch away someone's body and virginity, all in order to satisfy your obsessive pursuit for power!"

"Master…" Strands of blood ripped apart within Luke's eyes, as that peerlessly terrifying girl in a red dress surfaced in his mind. Even when he had become the "Heavenly Sovereign", whenever he recalled artemis, fear would still strike his heart. He screamed out unwillingly, "Why… Why did this sovereign not encounter a master like that!? Why!? Not fair… This isn't fair! AHHHH!"

Envy, was similarly a type of negative emotions. The moment his envy was stimulated by the dark profound energy, it would grow even more intense like straws set on fire.

With a loud roar, Luke made a frontal charge, pouncing towards Percy like a wild beast which had gone berserk. Two enormous devil claws materialized at the same time and they slashed towards Percy's body in a criss-crossing manner.

Percy pushed off his feet and his figure instantly flashed several dozen meters away. Luke, who struck empty air stopped in his tracks, constantly trembled. However, he did not turn around… After a long while, the shivers of his body gradually weakened, until they stopped completely.

Even his previously disarrayed dark profound energy had completely calmed down as well.

"Heh, heheheh," Luke was laughing, however, it was no longer that furious, uncontrollable wild laughter. Rather, his laughter was especially sullen. He slowly turned around, his pair of pitch-black eyes had actually regained their terrifying calm.

Percy. "..."

"This sovereign almost overlooked something." He raised his eyes and focused on Percy, as he sullenly said. "Your profound veins were crippled before you were Eight years old and from then to now, you have at most cultivated for not more than Five years. Not more than five years… Heh."

"To possess your present level of strength in less than five years, just how many secrets are you hiding in your body?" Luke's smile grew even more sullen and the eyes he was looking at Percy with, had suddenly grown several times more dangerous.

"So?" Percy returned a cold smile.

"In the end, the luck between two people can never be compared. To possess your present level of strength in just less than five years, you must possess the largest amount of luck in this continent as well… Unfortunately, the greatest tribulation you will ever face in this lifetime of yours, is encountering this sovereign."

"This sovereign will completely sever your luck and life! After your death, all the secrets hidden within your body will naturally belong to this sovereign as well!" Luke's eyes instantly widened, exuding out a blazing and wild glow. "Then, all your luck will become the stepping stone for this sovereign to ascend to the other world!"

"What a great shame. Even if I die, you shouldn't even think about snatching even the slightest bit of what I have in my body." Percy had an expression that looked as if he was looking at an idiot.

"Is that so…" Devil Wheel Blood Sacrifice, the forbidden technique of the devil way which allowed him to steal bloodlines, flashed in Luke's mind. The corners of his mouth curved up little by little. Though activating it in such a short time frame was a little straining, if he could obtain all of Percy's powers… This madman would be willing to suffer even the largest of prices.

"Percy, you being able to reach such a level has indeed astonished this sovereign greatly. Not only did you succeed in making this sovereign lose control of his emotions, you have even made this sovereign feel fear in that short moment," Luke blandly said as he slowly raised his hand which was tainted with black light. "However, it's time for everything to end."

Crack!

Pitch-black lightning sparks flashed from bottom to top as if they were dark lightning bolts that came from purgatory. A large pitch-black sword was grasped in Luke's hand and at the sword hilt, a pair of devil eyes was exuding out a terrifying black light.

In an instant, the dark aura on Luke's body surged. The black light that was pitch-black in the first place, had turned even deeper. What was even more terrifying, was that the dark power on his body was quickly spreading at a horrifying rate. Under this dark might, the sky and earth quickly dimmed. The relentlessly tumbling ocean beneath, as if it was being pressed down by a mountain, turned incomparably still.

When this dark might surged to a certain extent, it instead weakened all of a sudden. However, the sense of pressure it was exuding on Percy did not weaken in the least but had instead, all of sudden, jolted his soul for a moment. Following after, under Luke's aura, an intense sense of inferiority was quickly birthed within Percy and it was even increasing in intensity.

This is...

Luke's profound aura… is undergoing a qualitative change!?

Under the indescribably enormous, terrifying might, several hundreds of kilometers of the ocean turned dead silent. The sky turned sinisterly dark and space itself was no longer trembling in the slightest, as if it had been sealed. Under the sky-enveloping might, countless profound practitioners in hope city subconsciously knelt down from immense fear, not daring to stand after a long while.

Under this might, it was as if they were facing the descent of a divine being.

"..." Percy's body stiffened. He slightly gnashed his teeth and then took in a heavy breath. His chest, which had been stifled for a long while, finally heaved heavily for a moment and that overbearing suppressive feeling slightly lightened up as well.

Crack!

Crack!

The sky had completely darkened. In the region the two of them were at especially, it was no longer possible to see one's fingers when stretched out. Even the ocean water had turned pitch-black in color. Bolts of dark profound lightning struck down, their battlefield looking as if it had turned into a dark purgatory.

"Do you see this? Do you feel it? This is this sovereign's true power."

With the devil sword in hand, with blood and soul interlinked, Luke's strength had undergone far more than just an earthshaking change.

Now, the increase in Luke's strength provided by the devil sword had grown even more evident.

"This is the power of the divine way, the power of the Divine Realm. In the Gaia Continent, it was but a mere ancient legend. However, because of this sovereign, it has become a reality."

Luke slowly raised the Eternal Night Devil Sword. Its blade sliced open a long, black trail… That spatial tear, however, did not scatter even after a long while.

"This might be a little bad…" Percy softly muttered to himself. He had really never expected that Luke's strength to have actually risen to such an astonishing extent. Though his heart was clenching, he did not reveal the slightest bit of fluster on his face. Instead, he said with considerable scorn. "Divine Realm? Heh, such a joke."

"Mn? What do you mean?" Luke's voice suddenly turned dark, as if he was furious at Percy for doubting his power.

"Though my power is still far from the Divine Profound Realm, my understanding of the Divine Profound Realm is much greater than yours. Because my master's power, is the true power of the divine way!" Percy's lips slowly curved into a sneer. "My master once said that, to truly step into the divine way, not only must there be a breakthrough in profound strength, one's vitality, soul energy and spiritual sense must also reach a suitable realm before one can truly step into the Divine Realm. And, the moment one enters the divine way, one's entire being will be reborn, allowing one to sense a different world and its laws, allowing one to possess a soul that can exist on its own, along with possessing an extremely long lifespan."

"As for you, though your profound strength has indeed reached the level at the Divine Profound Realm, unfortunately, your lifespan and soul energy…"

"Shut your mouth!" Luke suddenly trembled, the dark light surrounding his body and the sword twisted intensely all of a sudden as well. "You actually dare… You actually dare to doubt this sovereign's power of the divine way."

"Oh—" Percy laughed. "Looking at how agitated you are, it seems you're very aware of it too."

"Though only possessing a thin amount of devil blood and a damaged devil soul, in order to pursue power, you forcefully guided out all of their energy in a short time. This is exactly the biggest taboo of the profound way… Oh no, rather, such a short-sighted action is a taboo of any plane," Percy coldly said. "Though you now wield an extremely strong power that might compare to the Divine Realm, this will be the peak of your power for your entire life. From today onwards, it will only weaken and it will no longer increase even the slightest bit. As for your lifespan, heheheh, most probably, you will only be able to live for up to a hundred years at most, which can't even compare to an early stage Level Seven Warrior."

"You!" The dark light surrounding Luke's body had turned completely chaotic and his entire body was even releasing an extremely intense air of hostility. Because Percy's words had ruthlessly torn through the most painful place under his arrogant and proud outer appearance.

"Not to mention!" Percy's words however did not stop there, as he shouted out even louder than before. "Your vitality and soul energy are even weakening instead of growing stronger and how can your spiritual sense possibly improve as well? calypso and I had previously concealed ourselves just ten kilometers away from the you, yet you did not manage to sense us even to the very end, how can you possibly sense the existence of another world… Heh, evidently, that is just a pitiful imagination you're using to lie to yourself…"

"You! This sovereign shall shred you into tens of thousands of pieces!" Luke wildly roared as he pounced towards Percy while carrying a dark aura that could swirl up the entire sky and earth. The Eternal Night Devil Sword released a dim light that looked as if it had come from purgatory itself.

Percy's eyes narrowed. He did not dare to take it head-on and had instead quickly dodged, retreating far away. While he was at it, he did not forget to stab another ruthless blow. "Not only did you not step into the Divine Realm, you will definitely not be able to step into the true divine way your entire life!"

A.N: this will be a really long battle, and won't end quickly. This is the top level boss battle and the prize will be the losers life. So sit back and buckle up. It's gonna be a hell of a ride!

Bro's I have a question. What's a beta and how does it help in the story? I was just reading stuff and came across it. Seems useful so I decided to ask, in case it's helpful, cuz this story hella drains me.

This battle was inspired by the battle between Nie Lie and the Demon King in Hope City from Tales of demons and gods.


	35. Battle of Legends

**Fourth Arc: Battle of Legends**

Percy laughed as he weaved around Luke's attacks. He needed to infuriate him as far as possible in order to stand a chance in this battle where he was completely out matched!

"In this world, Calypso possessed the purest divine blood. In several years time, she would definitely be able to breakthrough to the Divine Realm and become the first person in the entire history of the Gaia Continent to attain the divine way. After that, she would still have a limitless future and unlimited possibilities.

"And you, Luke, not only would you be unable to breakthrough to the Divine Realm, there is also no future for you either! Furthermore, since your bloodline and soul have already been completely corrupted, disrupted and broken, after your death, you'll completely dissipate and you'll be unable to reincarnate for all eternity!"

Taunting the opponent, making him angry, and lose his cool would sometimes be more effective than cutting off one of his arms. Percy had obviously succeeded, as all his words had stabbed into Luke's vitals. Luke's entire body was trembling and the black aura on his body became chaotic. It was obvious he was completely enraged.

Just when Percy was about to add fuel to the fire, he suddenly and accidentally saw that Luke's trembling had started to calm down and even the rage in his eyes had started to swiftly reduce.

"Heh, heheheh…" Luke started to laugh and his laugh was no longer ferocious but instead extremely grim, "This sovereign is already the world's Heavenly Sovereign, a devil god that possess the strength of the divine way… how could I be angered by a mere mortal like you?"

"..." Percy opened his mouth and closed it. This Luke went from calm to irritated and back to suddenly calm again. Then, he became irritated due to his own words before he suddenly calmed down yet again...

This constant intense change of emotions was simply insane!

"Limitless future and unlimited possibilities? Heh…" Luke laughed grimly, "You are the ones that truly have no future or possibilities! Because today, this sovereign will just… exterminate all of you here!"

BOOOOM...

In the sky that was devoid of light, darkness had become like a sticky solid substance that gradually showering down while rumbling. In a world devoid of light, it seemed like a fierce darkness beast that was consuming the heavens and the earth.

Percy felt that the intense pressure was getting stronger at this time. His eyes pierced through the darkness and he realized that the rumbling darkness was gathering behind Luke's back. It gradually grew and became a more and more massive sea of darkness where the borders nearly could not be seen.

The upper limit was the heavens while the lower borders were the vast seas!

Percy's eyebrows ferociously knitted, the profound energy in his entire body surged and the Heaven Smiting Sword quickly swept out in front of him.

The area where Hope city stood had completely darkened and even with the eye power of Cultivators, they still could not see clearly what lay three meters beyond them. Calypso swept her snowy hands and phoenix flames burned in the skies, returning some light to the world.

"What… what kind of power is this?"

This frightening change in the heavens and the earth; this frightening pressure that was far more frightening than hell in their minds… They didn't dare to imagine that there would be such a powerful existence in this world and this strength had actually come from someone they knew.

"Percy, this sovereign wants to see how are you still going to struggle before the strength of the devil god!"

Boom!

The Eternal Night Devil Sword pierced forward. With a simple action, a boundless sea of darkness that covered the heavens and the earth enveloped Percy, leaving him no escape routes.

"Sss…" Percy inhaled strongly and all the profound energy within his body began to circulate without restraint. Other than the abnormal existence that was Artemis, this was the heaviest pressure and most frightening strength that he had ever encountered in his life. It was different compared to all the strength that he had withstood in the Gaia Continent… A complete difference in terms of level and realm.

Luke could never truly enter the divine way; these were not empty words. Because even when he died, he could never attain the longevity, soul power and spiritual sense of the true divine way.

However, simply in terms of profound strength, he was indeed in the Divine Profound Realm!

The Divine Realm that had never before existed within the Gaia Continent!

Against strength at that level, Percy had absolutely no chance of winning.

However, if it were against Luke...

Percy fiercely stepped forward. The Heaven Smiting Sword swung out with intensity and the golden crow flames surged several hundred meters into the air, forming a sea of scarlet flames which strongly chased away the darkness.

"Boom!"

The sea of darkness collided strongly with the fierce flames in the air. In an instant, the dark sky split into two distinct separated worlds. The higher part was the sticky and dense darkness while the lower part was scorching hot flames that made it seem as though a golden sun was currently rising. The shine from the flames shone downward and formed beautiful rays on the surface of the sea.

"That… that is!"

At the Western part where the red and black of the skies met, it was as though the image depicted was that of doomsday. Even those warriors who were scared so badly, they had hidden in their homes or were running away from the city, all looked up with all their might towards the West, unwilling to miss this image, This was an image that was more shocking than any natural disaster and they would definitely only encounter it once in their lives and there would never be a second time.

Anyone could tell that darkness was Luke's strength while the scarlet flames were Percy's strength. Although they were hundreds of kilometers away, they could still clearly tell the developments of the battle.

"Junior Brother Percy… Good luck!" Both of Calypso's arms gripped onto the corner of her dress tightly as her heart as could not settle down.

The two worlds remained in a stalemate for only a couple of breaths of time before the darkness suddenly descended, fiercely suppressing the sea of flames. When the suppression began, it gradually became more and more intense and the light from the flames became more and more dim. The surging sea of flames seemed as though it was a sun that had been consumed by dark clouds and in an instant, half of it had already disappeared.

"Percy!" Calypso screamed, shocked as both her hands held her chest tightly.

Artemis had told Percy before that if he viewed the Nine mortal shifts to the Legend Realm as one huge realm, then the Divine Realm was a whole different realm.

When under extreme states, Percy could battle the Seventh Realm with strength of the sixth Realm, he could battle the Legend Realm with strength of the Ninth Realm. When he was within the Ninth Realm, he could already defeat and extreme powerhouse that was Grandholme.

All this while, his strength was capable of transcending one or even two Levels. However, although the Legend Realm and the Divine Realm seemed like they were only one realm apart, the gap between the two was far too massive… It was so massive that in the history of Gaia Continent, although there were countless Level Nine Warriors and countless Legends, there had never been a true God before.

At this time, Percy, who had already stepped into the Legend Realm was facing off against the first Human within the history of the Gaia Continent to break through the bottleneck of the Legend Realm, possessing the strength of the divine way. He was also personally witnessing just how massive the gap between the two realms was.

The Golden Crow flames that he ignited with all his might had only lasted a mere five seconds before they got defeated by the might of Luke's strength of the divine way. There was a pressure that seemed as though the heavens were collapsing. Percy's entire body trembled and the sea of flames swiftly fell along with his body. When he neared the surface of the ocean, the golden crow flames on his body extinguished and there was no light once again between heaven and earth.

The darkness that shrouded the skies seemed like the mouth of a devil as it rolled and consumed Percy within it.

"Hahahahaha!" Luke let out a heaven shaking hysterical laughter, "Percy, are you seeing this!? This is the strength of a devil god! No matter how much luck you possess, even if you were to make a massive improvement, it would all be meaningless! In front of the devil god's strength, you're still a mere ant!"

The darkness devil aura began to roll with even more intensity, gradually and completely suppressing Percy's aura. Suddenly, a sharp screeching noise was heard and a vermillion sword glow suddenly shot towards the sky. The dense darkness was being split apart layer by layer and the sword tip pierced towards Luke. Wherever the sword tip went, it swept up a twisting tornado.

"Mn?" Luke's hysterical laugh was suddenly cut off. The world of darkness had already been pierced from the bottom to the top by the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. The sword tip that was giving off a vermillion glow was going towards his abdomen.

Even though it had pierced through the entire world of darkness, the might of the sword still did not reduce in the slightest.

"It's that despicable sword again!"

Luke howled and suddenly pulled the Eternal Night Devil Sword downwards.

Clangggg!

This was the first time Percy had collided head on with the strength of the divine way. From when his flames had been completely suppressed, he had already felt how frightening the strength of the divine way was. When they were about to cross swords, he had already sufficiently prepared himself. However, when their swords collided, Percy's entire body still trembled. Both his arms were numb and he blacked out. In that instant, his consciousness had actually been dispersed.

Percy snorted dully and his body spun backwards.

"Heh, continue struggling. Only when you struggle long enough will you feel more despair!"

All the black aura regathered behind Luke and he stabbed his sword towards Percy. The darkness flowed along with the strike.

Percy, who was flying backwards, forcefully stabilized his balance with a distorted stance. The profound aura on him surged and the flames reignited. Facing a sword of Luke who was in his killing stance, not only did Percy not retreat or dodge, he swung his sword out instead. The space surrounding the sword shattered swiftly like glass and the boundless energy fused with the scorching divine flames. The atmosphere distorted and burned.

Boom!

The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword and the Eternal Night Devil Sword pierced through the air at the same time, heavily clashing. In an instant, the world lost all sound before it fiercely erupted once again as the fragile atmosphere let out a long screeching noise and collapsed for several dozen kilometers. The surrounding flames and darkness were all forcefully separated and thousands of massive waves swept across fifty kilometers of sea.

"UWAHHHH…"

Hope city was filled with numerous nervous cries as the entire city was trembling strongly, as though it could completely collapse at any time.

"Pfft!"

A long streak of blood shot out from Percy's mouth. Both his arms were devoid of feeling and he was sent flying like a crashing meteor. However, Luke's sword stance still could not be completely withstood. Numerous darkness sword auras lashed at his body, destroying his outer wear while adding numerous deep streaks of blood to his body.

Luke on the other hand had only been knocked back by less than thirty meters.

Only when he was nearing the surface of the ocean nearby had Percy finally stopped. His entire body was in pain and the areas that were directly attacked by the sword aura were in excruciating pain. His two arms, that had withstood that frightening strength, were exuding streaks of blood.

Within the Gaia Continent, the only person that could withstand a blow from Luke would be Percy. If it were anyone else, even if they possessed similar strength to Percy, their arms would undoubtedly be shattered. However his entire body had been rebuilt by the blood of Poseidon and his bones were strengthened by the Bone marrow of a dragon god. Hence he was unmatched in sturdiness.

Slowly lifting up the Heaven Smiting Sword again, the Golden Crow flames on his body ignited once more as his profound energy surged alongside it. Although there were many stains of blood on Percy's entire body now and he had started to pant slightly, his resurged strength was no weaker than before.

This Luke...

At this point, Percy was already certain that although Luke would never possibly obtain the longevity and spiritual sense of the divine way, his frightening strength was indeed truly within the Divine Realm!

The reason why there was such a massive gap between the Legend Realm and the Divine Realm was because, anyone under the Divine Realm, no matter how strong, was still just a human.

When one stepped into the Divine Realm, he would have transcended the mortal realm and become a true god among humans!

Percy's previous opponents, no matter how strong they were, were still humans… Even the grand devil god Typhon's strength had already deteriorated to the level of humans. However, today, he was relying on his mortal strength to fight against someone who possess the strength of the divine way!

Not just that, this was a battle that had to be won no matter what.

"Oh? You actually only suffered minor injuries?" Looking at Percy's condition, deep astonishment flashed within Luke's pitch-black eyes, however, he immediately flashed a cold smile right after. "Very good, this sovereign shall enjoy your struggles to the fullest!"

Luke's voice turned arrogant. The moment he released the power of the divine way, Percy's strength could no longer suppress him in the slightest. He let out a loud laugh as the Eternal Night Devil Sword struck down. A dark sword beam that was close to three hundred meters in width swept across space, slashing towards Percy.

Percy focused his gaze as he flew upwards, leaping up to three kilometers in height. The black light flashed past beneath his feet and a dark divide was instantly sliced across the ocean below. With his two arms raised high, he locked onto Luke's position. Flames ignited around the blade of the sword and the roar of the Azure Dragon resounded through the vast ocean.

"Phoenix Azure Dragon Slash!"

Screeech!

Space was torn apart like cotton and even the dense dark energy was ruthlessly chiseled away. Crossing several kilometers of space in an instant, the image of the Azure Dragon bombarded straight towards Luke's chest.

"Hmph, in the face of this sovereign's devil god power, this bit of strength is but a mere joke!"

Luke did not use his sword. Instead, he stretched out his hand and a mass of black light smashed into the blazing image of the Azure Dragon. Amidst the sudden explosions of wailing noises, the orbit of the blazing image of the azure Dragon twisted a great extent and swept by Luke's side. Then, it exploded behind Luke and the energy tornadoes that exploded forth were quickly engulfed by the darkness.

Percy, "..."

"Did you see that? This is the power of the divine way, this is the difference between you and this sovereign!" Facing Percy, Luke stretched out three fingers that were tainted with a black glow. "Thirty breaths. Within thirty breaths, this sovereign will obliterate you into dark ashes! Even if you use the Devil Slayer sword, don't even think of escaping from this sovereign's hands!"

"And then, that little phoenix will be next!"

"The so-called 'limitless possibilities and future' you spoke of, are but mere jokes in the eyes of this sovereign!"

Darkness swirled and Luke swept up an illusory shadow within the darkness as he quickly approached Percy. The Eternal Night Devil Sword once again slashed out, striking out with a strange six-pointed sword light. The moment it appeared right before Percy's body, it had already turned into an enormous dark sword formation, causing Percy's soul to experience immense, piercing pain.

Conflict flashed past Percy's face. In the end, he did not choose to receive it head-on and instead speedily flashed away with Moonlight Flash, completely dodging the sword formation. Luke instantly re-locked onto his position as well and pierced out a second sword strike that tore through space like a surging lightning bolt.

Percy's figure flashed again, shattering out five afterimages one hundred and fifty meters away.

Boom!

Boom!

Crack!

Luke threw out five sword strikes consecutively and all had amounted to nothing under Percy's strange and unpredictable Moonlight Flash.

The strongest aspect of the Poseidon's Power of the Seas, Percy's core profound arts, was its berserk profound energy and the heavy sword in his hands could even allow his destructive power to reach extreme levels. Thus, a head-on clash had never been something he was afraid of.

Usually, the Moonlight Flash was mostly used to supplement the drawbacks of his profound movement skills, preventing his opponent from escaping and forcing his opponent to exchange blows with him head-on. This was the first time he had consecutively used the Moonlight Flas to avoid a head-on clash with his opponent.

Because with just the previous two sword strikes, he had already taken considerable damage. The terror of the power of the divine way had greatly surpassed his expectations.

"Fleeing?" Luke's face turned ferocious, "This sovereign wants to see how you're going to escape!"

Luke's hand suddenly reached out and he fiercely grasped the space Percy was positioned in.

In an instant, several hundreds of kilometers of space surrounding Percy had completely distorted and amidst the distortion, they gathered towards Percy's position.

Percy's expression instantly changed, because he clearly felt that space itself was tightening and all his body parts felt as if they were being pressed under a tremendously heavy iron plate. Even his breathing was being severely obstructed. He hurriedly wanted to move away but his body had only managed to sway a little, before the surrounding space fiercely shrank again. The suppressive forces on his body suddenly grew by several times, preventing him from even raising his arm for a moment.

This… This is...

"At this sovereign's realm, space is already this frail and weak." Luke retracted his hand and leisurely approached him. "This is the intervention towards space by the power of the divine way, an almighty power that you will never have the chance to make contact with in your entire lifetime!"

"Allow this sovereign to witness if you will beg while wagging your tail like those lowly ants, at the moment of despair! Hahahahaha…"

Facing Percy who was already a turtle in an urn, Luke let out an arrogant laugh. The Eternal Night Devil Sword swung out and a pitch-black sword beam that was about ten meters long pierced towards the space-sealed Percy, carrying the peerlessly terrifying power of the divine way.

"Uuuurghhh!"

Percy groaned as he gnashed his teeth, struggling with all his might. This seal was completely different from the "Darkness Prison" which Luke used back then. Darkness Prison used darkness devil energy to forcefully restrict the target's movement abilities, but the one exerted on Percy was a spatial seal executed by interfering with space purely through immense strength.

Spatial seals were things which Percy had experienced before but he had never experienced such a terrifying spatial seal.

The profound energy in his entire body wildly poured out, yet, he had only managed to slightly shift his body. However, the dark sword beam had already pierced through space, striking straight into his chest.

Puuuf!

Even the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword could not completely disperse the dark sword beam which originated from the Eternal Night Devil Sword as it ruthlessly smashed into Percy's chest. Amidst of the burst of black light, a large cloud of bloody mist exploded forth, instantly dyeing Percy's upper body red. A painful groan flowed out of Percy's mouth as well.

"Mn?" Luke, however, narrowed his eyes… Because this sword strike, a sword strike that carried the power of the divine way, had clearly struck straight onto Percy's chest, yet it did not penetrate his body.

"That's truly a tenacious body." Luke slowly crooned. Though his eyes carried a playful vibe, his heart was filled with lasting shock and disbelief. Because he was very certain that even if his own body was struck head-on like this by that sword beam, it would have definitely been pierced through as well.

Could Percy's body have actually surpassed this sovereign's devil physique!?

That's definitely impossible!

"Then what about… this strike!?"

Luke flashed out a ferocious smile of a vile devil from the corner of his lips. A pitch-black sword beam that was close to several hundreds of meters long suddenly appeared above the Eternal Night Devil Sword. Shortly after, the sword beam had instead began to quickly shrink, shrinking from several hundreds of meters, to merely a length of two feet.

Hsss...

"Die!"

The space around the pitch-black sword beam emitted a wailing howl, as if it was trembling due this sword beam which held extremely terrifying power.

Bang!

The space around the Eternal Night Devil Sword completely exploded apart, shattering into countless spatial fragments. The sword beam that had a deeper black than the abyss itself tore through the shattered space and flew straight towards Percy's chest with the aura of a death god.

Seemingly at the same instant, brilliant golden flames suddenly erupted from Percy's body.

"Yellow Springs Ashes!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM

The Golden Crow flames wildly erupted with Percy's body as the center and with every booming noise, another layer of flames would explode outwards. The space that was sealed and intensely shrunk under Luke's profound energy was instantly melted through in a forceful manner. After being penetrated by more than twenty layers of flames, even the sword beam that was flying towards Percy had been completely obliterated at a distance of several meters away from Percy's chest.

"Oh?" Luke's eyes once again widened. Right after, he let out crazed roar that was either from anger or excitement. "Good! Struggle just like that! Struggle with all your might!"

Facing the terrifying flames that were wildly erupting, Luke had instead taken them head-on amidst his crazed roars. All the dark energy behind his body had instantly gathered onto the Eternal Night Devil Sword. Then, following the swing of the Eternal Night Devil Sword, an enormous arc of dark light materialized, smashing towards the Golden Crow flames that were still spreading at an immense speed.

Weeooom!

The exploding Golden Crow flames were instantly sliced apart by the arc of dark light. Looking from afar, it looked as if a blazing sun had been ruthlessly sliced into two right at the center. Percy, who had just escaped the spatial seal and released the Yellow Springs Ashes with all his might had yet to catch his breath when an overwhelmingly heavy pressure descended from the sky.

Percy fiercely gnashed his teeth as he forcefully circulated the profound energy in his body that was already in a state of utter chaos. Amidst his loud roar, the Heaven Smiting Sword was smashed upwards with all his might.

"Divine Sea Tsunami!"

The vermillion heavy sword aura surged upwards, ruthlessly smashing onto the arc of dark light originated from the Eternal Night Devil Sword. The energy of the arc of dark light instantly weakened but it was still not something that Percy could block with a sword strike he hastily dished out so the energy of the heavy sword dispersed after a short stalemate. Percy groaned as he was sent flying far away like a withered leaf being swirled up by a hurricane.

"It seems this is the limit of your struggle! This time… thoroughly die then!"

Luke slowly raised his arm. A formless sword intent reverberated silently between heaven and earth and then, he gently pushed out the Eternal Night Devil Sword.

The world was suddenly silent for a single moment. All the colors, sounds, and objects completely froze. Between the heaven and the earth, merely a single enormous dark sword that seemed as if it had come from the depths of purgatory was piercing through the air… The pitch-black trail it left behind looked as if the entire sky had been sliced apart.

Sword of No Return. An extreme sword technique that could only be activated after attaining complete mastery over a sword. Luke had already been a peerless swords man in his previous life. And now, he had honed his skills for thousands of years and perfected this single attack. It was also the single sword move at the apex Luke attained after sacrificing his entire life in the way of the sword.

Ever since the day he cultivated it, there had never been anyone who could dodge this sword strike.

This sword strike was simply too fast, to the point where even Percy was unable to catch a hint of its tracks. However, the ice-cold sensation of an incoming life-threatening blow ruthlessly stabbed his soul. His body was a step faster than his consciousness and seemed to have instinctively expanded towards the ocean. He called the sea and it rose to him, forming the largest hurricane he had ever created till date. The hurricane stretched from the surface of the sea and into the sky above, entirely enclosing Percy within!

Crack!

The instant the Hurricane expanded, the Eternal Night Devil Sword smashed onto the Hurricane as if it had flown out from the cracks in the dimensional rift.

"Hss~"

Percy's teeth were close to shattering from his gnashing as the energy in his entire body was gathered onto the Hurricane. All the injuries on his body had all completely burst as well. What looked like a simple sword strike, actually carried a never-before-seen terrifying strength. The moment it smashed onto the hurricane, Percy could feel as if the bones in his entire body were about to completely scatter away.

In an instant, in merely that short neglectable instant, he had already been sent flying twenty to thirty kilometers away. It was also in that one moment, that countless tears surfaced on the hurricanes, residing at the very brink of collapsing. Furthermore, the Eternal Night Devil Sword that was right before his eyes had already ruthlessly stabbed into the barrier and was not even five metres from his chest. Not to mention it was still closing in quickly.

This was the sword strike of the number one swordsman in the Gaia Continent.

Furthermore, it was his ultimate sword strike infused with the power of the divine way.

Being able to hold it back for this single instant with the power of a mortal, was already enough to go down in history as a miracle in the Gaia Continent.

And in the next instant, he could not possibly hold it back, no matter what.

"Divine Sea Transformation!"

Percy fiercely gnashed his teeth and drops of blood from his mouth scattered into the air as the he used his Divine Transformation for the second time in the fight. The strain on his body increased exponentially as the divine trident flickered into life over his head.

Bang!

His profound energy surged and his profound aura grew. The defensive power of the Hurricane instantly rose in strength and then, it immediately erupted right after.

And at this moment, Percy had already been sent flying for almost fifty kilometers by the Eternal Night Devil Sword. The sea shore was now less than five kilometers behind him.

Finally, the Eternal Night Devil Sword was barely shaken off by the shattering of the hurricane. A long streak of blood sprinkled across the sky, as Percy fell straight into the ocean.

And at this distance, it was already enough for the countless experts in hope city to clearly witness this scene.

"Percy!" With her beautiful face paling, Calypso cried out. No longer caring about anything else, Phoenix flames ignited all around her body and she flew straight Westwards. In a fluster, Grandholme and Nico wanted to obstruct her but they had only managed to grasp empty air.

However, before she had yet to fly out of the mountain regions of hope city, Percy's voice suddenly resounded next to her ears. "Calypso, no need to worry about me. Protect Nico and the rest."

Though the voice was a little frail and painful it was especially slowly came to a halt and she stared blankly at the vast ocean which had swallowed Percy for a long while.

The Eternal Night Devil Sword drew a long streak of black shadow in the sky and then flew back into Luke's hands.

"He had actually managed to directly block it." Luke muttered to himself with narrowed eyes and then, let out a sinister laugh. "It seems he used some sort of a final trump card but he should be more or less dead by now."

The moment his voice fell, he suddenly sensed Percy's aura coming from the depths of the ocean and it was even moving further and further away.

"Mn?" Luke's black eyes fiercely narrowed. "He actually still has reserves… Heh, wanting to flee?"

"This sovereign wants to see just where you're fleeing to!"

Luke's body descended, sinking into the boundless ocean as he chased after Percy's aura.

Within the vast ocean depths, where the ends could not be seen, it was hard to determine one's location and it was even harder to clearly discern one's direction. Percy kept the Heaven Smiting Sword and pressed his hand onto his chest, quickly stabilizing his injuries. His body split apart the ice-cold ocean water as he fled further into the ocean depths at his fastest speed.

Behind him, Luke's aura suddenly enveloped downward and was furthermore approaching him at high speed. His loud, arrogant laughter had even penetrated through the ocean water and resounded in his ears. "Percy, flee with all your might, flee as desperately as you can! However, even if you flee to the end of the world, don't even think about escaping from this sovereign's hands!"

"..." Percy did not turn back and once again sped up. As if his entire body had turned into a sharp sword, he sliced apart the heavy obstruction of the ocean water and quickly charged into the deeper regions of the ocean.

Behind him, was Luke's approaching heavy and sinister dark aura. When Luke had already caught up to just half a kilometer distance between them, the two had already sunk thirty kilometers below the ocean surface.

Thirty kilometers into the deep ocean, the surroundings were completely enveloped in darkness without the slightest strand of light. The water pressure in this place was enough to instantly crush a profound practitioner into flesh pulp. It was a peerlessly terrifying death zone.

And right here, Percy who had been fleeing deeper into the ocean, suddenly stopped… The moment his body turned around, a dense dark light flashed within his eyes for an instant. The corners of his mouth which were still slowly seeping out blood, had actually curved up, revealing a strange, light smile. And then riptide spoke from Percy's mouth." Ehehehe… Luke you followed me… the son of Poseidon into the sea? And here, no one can see exactly how you even died!"

Have you finally resigned yourself to your fate?" Luke said as he gave a deep and low chuckle. "To be able to endure for so long when facing this sovereign's devil god power, you indeed do have the qualifications to be praised by this sovereign."

"Resign myself to fate? Heh… Heh heh." Percy was laughing. When he stopped fleeing and took the initiative to face down Luke, he had started laughing non-stop. "I have never ever known what resigning myself to fate means."

"Luke," Percy said with a low laugh. "Don't you find that there is something strange with the wounds on my body?"

"This sovereign does indeed feel there is something strange going on," Luke said in a nonchalant manner, "You have been slashed by this sovereign so many times and if it was any other person, he would have already died ten thousand times. But despite all of your wounds, your aura has not weakened in the slightest. So it looks like your body is far superior to your profound strength and it just might be that it is actually comparable to this sovereign's devil body. This sovereign is now extremely interested in the secrets hidden within your body, so before I obtain those secrets, I can hardly bear even the thought of destroying it."

"No, no, no." Percy's smile grew even more strange. He raised his own arm as he spoke in a leisurely manner, "Have you not realized that all of the wounds in my body are merely wounds created by your swords. Your so-called devil god power has not even left a single mark on my body!"

"..." Luke's eyes narrowed into slits, the black light within faintly trembling.

Fire energy would create burn wounds, ice energy would cause cold-related injuries. Darkness energy was even more terrifying than either of the other two. The moment someone was wounded by darkness energy, their very flesh and blood would be devoured. If one got off lightly, the wound would turn black. If it was a serious injury, that person's flesh, blood and even bones would turn into black water.

When Percy had fought that vicious battle with the darkness attribute devil god Typhon inside the Tartarus Burial Grounds, his entire body had been so ravaged by the darkness energy that it was too horrible to even look at.

Even though the current Percy had many small and large wounds on his body, these were all either light or heavy sword wounds. There was no trace of decay or rot on these wounds and the blood that leaked from them was dark red.

Luke's dark devil energy and the darkness energy which had filled each and every sword stroke had seemed not to even touch Percy's body.

"What are you trying to tell this sovereign?" Luke said as his voice grew deep and booming.

"Heh… Heh heh…" Percy's laughter grew even weirder and no matter whether it was his gaze or his expression, both were gradually becoming more unusual and strange. There was also a hint of something sinister in them. He slowly raised his eyes to Luke, a pitch-black light flashing in his pupils.

Luke's gaze jumped, "Mn? This is…"

Whoosh!

It was as if a long-slumbering devil had suddenly been roused within Percy's body as an incomparably thick and dense black energy abruptly erupted from Percy. His hair stood completely on end before dancing wantonly amidst that black light. A dark and sinister oppressive might held Luke's entire body in an incomparably icy grip.

"Wha… WHAT!?"

Luke's pupils expanded to their widest, the darkness of the fathomless deep sea abyss was unable to seal his sight. The black light that radiated from Percy's body and his suddenly changed aura was clearly...

Dark devil energy!

Furthermore, it was incomparably pure and dense dark devil energy!

"y-you…. you have… devil energy?!' Luke exclaimed with horror.

A.N: finally! Riptide finally begins to act. If you guys have had enough of Percy getting beaten up, then buckle up buckos! We're gonna see the evil sword finally reveal it's might! Also should Luke die or continue as a rival? Just curious. I've already made a decision so its not changing btw. I'm just asking you guys.

Also should I release one chapter per day, or release all the chapters I finish on the same day?


	36. Battle of Devil Gods

**Fourth Arc: Battle of Devil Gods**

 **Note:** Song- Feel Invincible by Skillet

Warning: intense Pertemis moments ahead. Read at your own risk.

"Darkness energy!?" Luke's expression completely changed. "Why do you possess darkness energy!? Why do you possess this sovereign's power!?"

"Your power?" Percy flashed a disdainful, cold smile. The richness of the dark aura on his body had seemingly surpassed Luke's. "To be blunt, I don't really like this power too much, nor do I want to be treated by others as a devil like you. But in this place, it no longer matters."

The profound veins were the source of profound energy for regular people, while the devil origin orb was the source of profound energy for the ancient devil gods.

As for Percy, he had two sources of profound energy.

One was Poseidon's Profound Veins, while the other, was the devil origin orb that originated from the Typhon and had assimilated into his profound veins!

Possessing the blood of Poseidon and the phoenix and golden crow, he had power over water, ice and fire. However, the devil origin orb could only release dark profound energy. As it was a terrifying negative energy Percy did not want to let anyone realize he wielded such forbidden magic.

Thus, after ascertaining that he could not defeat Luke, he lured Luke deep into the ocean and then finally released the power of the devil origin orb without the slightest hesitation. The energy released by the Poseidon's Blood had all converted into darkness profound energy as well. Under the convergence of two masses of dark profound energy, Percy instantly turned into a completely awakened devil god as the aura on his body expanded at a peerlessly terrifying speed.

Clang… Hsss...

The Eternal Night Devil Sword in Luke's hand suddenly trembled, letting out an obscure metallic sound. After which, an extremely terrible-sounding voice emitted out from the Eternal Night Devil Sword. "This energy… Where did you obtain it from… Impossible… This is impossible."

Typhon's son who had been silent while watching this entire battle had finally decided to speak out.

Percy did not find the restlessness of the Eternal Night Divine Sword the slightest bit unexpected, because the devil soul within the sword was the son of the Typhon, so naturally, he would be able to catch the scent of the Typhon from his dark profound aura. Raising the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, the dark aura from his body speedily spread towards the blade of the sword as well and mixed with the crimson red vermillion sword glow that was originally there in the first place, forming an incomparably strange dark crimson mist.

"There's no need for me to answer a dead person," Percy's voice was shady and his face displayed haughtiness that far surpassed his usual. "Though I'm still not too comfortable with this power, it should be enough to kill you, Luke."

"Hahahahaha!" Luke laughed wildly. "Though this sovereign doesn't know where your dark profound energy came from, compared to the power of this sovereign who has stepped into the divine way, your dark profound energy is but a lowly existence. Wanting to kill this sovereign, is forever a foolish dream!"

"This time, you no longer have anywhere to run to. Die!"

The Eternal Night Devil Sword penetrated through the ocean water, smashing towards Percy's head… What seemed like a simple and plain sword strike, actually carried a might as if a devil god was making its descent.

Percy stepped forward with his right foot, the dark aura around his body intensely surged. The energy coming from his profound veins and the devil origin orb gathered on his two arms, as he smashed his sword towards Luke.

Percy, who had previously evaded Luke with all his might, had actually chosen to clash head-on this time.

"You're courting death!" Seeing that Percy was actually not dodging and was facing him head-on, Luke released a ridiculing loud roar. The energy he poured into the Eternal Night Devil Sword once again intensified, as if he was planning to shatter all of Percy's bones with a single sword strike.

The two swords clashed. Even in the ocean depths, a loud, piercing reverberation was still emitted out. The ten millennium old bedrock beneath their feet instantly disintegrated.

Wanting to expel the ocean water thirty kilometers under the ocean was incomparably difficult, because every drop of ocean water carried a heavy pressure from thirty kilometers of depth. However, the moment their two swords clashed, the three hundred meters of space surrounding Percy and Luke instantly turned into an incomparably terrifying vacuum zone and this vacuum zone was even maintained for a long while. Within it was filled with a terrifying energy that was enough to destroy mountains as tall as thirty kilometers.

Their eyes met through the lock between the Eternal Night Devil Sword and Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. Luke's face was intensely distorted, his eyes were filled with deep astonishment. While Percy's gaze was mild, the corners of his lips curved into a light, arrogant smile.

"You…" Luke's voice was slightly trembling, fine strips of blood erupted within his eyes, because Percy was actually able to hold up against his Eternal Night Devil Sword!

He held up against his Eternal Night Devil Sword head-on and without any fancy tricks!

When the Eternal Night Devil Sword was in hand, what the devil blood and devil soul released, was power of the Divine Realm! It was the one and only absolute power in the history of the Gaia Continent that was enough to view all the profound practitioners of the Gaia Continent as ants!

It was actually… blocked by Percy!

Percy loudly roared, as flames ignited within the dark light surrounding his body. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword fiercely pushed forward and with a loud boom, a second wave of energy erupted from the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. The two of them were instantly sent flying far away.

Whooosh!

The ocean water that was expelled quickly poured back in, however, the surrounding dozens of kilometers of the deep ocean were in unrest for a long while.

Luke, who was blown away, felt a numbing sensation in his arms. He looked at his own hands in utter disbelief and with even more disbelieving eyes, he looked towards Percy who was immersed in black light on the opposite side… When his power was suppressed by Percy before he wielded the Eternal Night Devil Sword, it had merely astonished him.

However, with the devil sword now in hand and his body now circulating with power of the divine way… How could his attack possibly be fended off by a mere mortal at the Legend Realm?

"Impossible… Earlier, you must have… you must have used some sort of trick!"

Luke roared out in agitation and as if it had exploded, the black aura surrounding his body wildly surged. Then, he once again pounced towards Percy.

"This sovereign wants to see how you're going to take on this blow!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM...

Before the Eternal Night Devil Sword had even made contact, the surrounding ocean water was already in chaos, as if it was boiling water. The terrifying water pressure did not seem to exist when it came to the two of them for a distance of three hundred meters in the ocean was instantly closed. The Eternal Night Devil Sword and Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword once again clashed ruthlessly against each other.

The clashing sound this time was extremely sullen and the ocean began to shake incomparably violently. Intense ripples wildly shot out towards the surrounding ocean water, all the way towards the ocean surface thirty kilometers above. However, they did not stop there and had even shot through the waters, carrying waves of thirty kilometers in length.

Even though the surrounding world had sunk into a crisis that had never occurred before, even in ancient times, at the center of the crisis, the Eternal Night Devil Sword and Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword were as if they were glued to each other. Luke was not blown away and similarly, Percy was not blown away either.

This sword strike, a sword strike which Luke did not leave even the slightest of reserves behind due to his frenzy, was still completely received by Percy head-on.

"Guaaah…" Luke's eyes were astonished to the verge of exploding apart. To Luke, this was definitely not as simple as receiving his full powered blow but the power of the divine way he had chased after for an entire lifetime… No, it was the faith he had finally managed to obtain after experiencing countless pains and pursuing it for an entire lifetime that was seemingly about to collapse.

"It seems like this is your full power," Percy's eyes half-narrowed and he sullenly sneered. "You schemed for a thousand years, killed so many people and have even forsaken your own flesh and blood to obtain your present power. While I… have only used less than Six years!"

Percy's words were a simple declaration of a truth, without even the slightest of offensive remarks. However, when they resounded in Luke's ears, it was as if he had heard the most heartless and disdainful and most malicious curse in the world.

"AHH!" Luke loudly roared as if he was venting out, to the point where his throat had instantly turned hoarse. "Percy, no one in this world is worthy of looking down on this sovereign! How can this sovereign's strength possibly be compared to by a little bastard like you who has yet to grow out a single hair!?"

"You have but received two of this sovereign's blows… Let me see just how many of this sovereign's blows can you receive!"

This time, Luke's degree of irritation had far surpassed any single moment previously. He was like a dark ferocious beast which had been completely enraged as he charged towards Percy with a hoarse, wild roar. The Eternal Night Devil Sword smashed down with all of his might and fury.

Clang!

Boom!

Shaa—

The Eternal Night Devil Sword clashed intensely with the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. Within the ocean depths, it was as if an ancient divine bell was vibrating from being struck, as their positions in the ocean depths constantly changed. As they moved horizontally, the ocean water was either overbearingly expelled or annihilated into nothingness. The bedrock beneath their feet had even caved, shattered and disappeared layer by layer.

Incomparably rich black light wound about their bodies and within the ocean depths where the sun and moon could never be seen, it was as if two ten thousand year old ferocious beasts tearing each other apart had suddenly appeared.

Boom!

The blue ocean exploded and the two of them were sent flying back several hundreds of meters away at the same time. Luke's head heavily struck onto the bedrock and several meters of it instantly shattered apart. The Eternal Night Devil Sword had also plowed out a gully of several dozen meters in length in the ocean floor.

This time, Luke did not immediately charge towards Percy again. The hand he was grasping the Eternal Night Devil Sword with was trembling… Because after several hundred clashes, his two arms had seemingly been completely numbed. The gaps between his fingers were all drenched in black blood, yet he did not seem to feel the slightest bit of pain.

Compared to his numbed arms, what was even more terrifying was the energy that was surging in his entire body which was close to bursting out of his body.

Every single sword strike Luke threw out, was imbued with the power of the divine way, while Percy's Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword was already one million kilograms in weight alone. In every single clash of the two swords, the might they carried was as if a meteorite had fallen and the immense rebounds had all gone to their bodies.

Even with Luke's prided devil physique, he still found it hard to endure after several hundred intense clashes. He could feel that his own organs were about to be torn and the bones in his entire body were at the verge of falling apart.

However, at this moment, Percy let out an explosive roar. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, shrouded with a dark aura, smashed towards him, carrying a terrifying might that did not seem to have weakened.

The two of them had been enduring the exact same rebounds the entire time and he was beginning to feel that his devil physique could not last much longer. Percy, however, actually looked completely unharmed and had instead grown even fiercer.

"You…" This time, other than the astonishment in Luke's eyes, there was finally a hint of fear within them. He fiercely gnashed his teeth, as he raised the Eternal Night Devil Sword horizontally to forcefully block it.

Boom!

That short breather earlier had weakened Luke's momentum and the energy of this one sword strike was far weaker than the previous ones. With a booming noise, the blood vessels in his arms erupted and blood scattered into the water. As he screamed out, his body which was leaning against the bedrock was sent flying away. Percy had merely stepped backward for a moment and had then suddenly caught up to Luke when he smashed down his sword.

"Un… unforgivable!"

"Lightless… Eternal… Night!"

Luke's pupils intensely shrank and then they intensely widened with fear. He stopped his body and fiercely puked out a large mouthful of black blood as a black light that was even denser in black aura by several times suddenly exploded. It instantly swallowed the surrounding space of several tens of meters, completely engulfing Percy within.

This was the dark domain that originated from the Illusory Tome of Eternal Nyx and it was also the most extreme dark power which Luke could release. The dark energy that had reached the stage of the divine way was sufficient enough to engulf everything within the domain into endless darkness and emptiness.

Facing this peerlessly terrifying dark domain, there was not the slightest of bit of anxiety and heaviness on Percy's face. Rather, he flashed a light, disdainful smile. Then, he completely ignored the extreme darkness that was engulfing towards him and had suddenly moved forward, with a speed that was even slightly faster than before. Under Luke's utterly disbelieving eyes, a sword stabbed into his chest and the tip of the sword penetrated out of his back.

"UWAAHHH!"

Luke's body stiffened. His eyes widened as he let out a painful and hoarse scream. The Lightless Eternal Night Domain that was just established earlier quickly dispersed like a punctured soap bubble. In front of him, Percy was grasping onto the enormous vermillion sword that had stabbed into his body with a heart-palpitating ghastly smile.

Bang!

Luke suddenly smashed his palm onto Percy's chest, pushing Percy and the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword far into the distance. Luke held onto his chest where a hole had been punched all the way through and stepped back in a staggering manner. The pain running through his entire body felt as though he had fallen into hell itself.

"Cough… cough cough… Haha, hahahaha! Luke, isn't it really refreshing!?" Percy consecutively puked out several mouthfuls of bad blood. He looked at Luke's miserable state and laughed out loud in a wilful manner. With riptide and him fusing together, he was nearing madness more with each passing second. He even enjoyed the pain of his wounds now!

"This sovereign… shall kill you!"

"Kill you!"

All of Luke's viciousness was completely stimulated as he released the hand that was pressing on his chest. Allowing the black blood to rapidly flow, his hands grasped onto the Eternal Night Devil Sword as he crazily smashed it towards Percy.

BOOM BOOM!

A crack several dozens of kilometers in length tore through the ocean depths and under this sword strike, Percy was ruthlessly smashed flying, smashing through seven or eight boulders in the ocean. However, he instantly leapt back up the moment he landed on the ground and like a ferocious beast which did not know of pain or fear, he made a counterattack against Luke.

The two of them swept up terrifying dark tornadoes that continuously grew in intensity and their blood swirled within the tornadoes, suffusing and raging within the ocean region.

 _-hope city-_

Boom boom!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM...

The ocean waves below were tumbling intensely. All of the ocean within sight was in complete turmoil, as if there was a sky supporting pillar stirring chaos beneath the ocean. The constant explosive reverberations were not loud but it was as if one's heart could crack from their oppressiveness.

"Junior Brother Percy…" Calypso called out softly, as she hurriedly turned around to look at the rumbling ocean surface. Deep colors of anxiety appeared on her snow-white face.

 _-deep in the ocean-_

After his heart had been pierced by Percy's sword, whether it was his profound energy or blood, both rapidly leaked out from Luke's body. The power behind his every subsequent sword strike was gradually weakening and with every breath, the pain he felt intensified. When he swung out his twentieth blow, the Eternal Night Devil Sword had already been smashed into a crescent shape by the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

Luke could no longer take on a blow from Percy's sword and the bones in his arms all shattered into pieces. A deafening explosion resounded in his ears and the scene before his eyes started to spin as he was directly sent smashing towards the bedrock below. Only his head remained exposed on the outside.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Luke furiously howled, the dark light around his body erupting forth. The surrounding bedrock had completely disintegrated into dust but right after, his body began to shake intensely. With his hand firmly grasping on his chest, his heavily injured body seemed to be unable to resist the chaotic water currents as he twisted and turned about. His face that was filled with agony and had turned even more ferocious than an evil ghost.

"Ha… ha…" Percy panted like a cow but he had only paused for a short few breaths of time before he once again raised his sword and charged towards Luke.

He lured Luke into the ocean depths for two reasons. One, he did not wish to expose his dark profound energy in front of outsiders and two, he had the absolute advantage within the ocean. With the sea power supporting him, he was constantly healing and regenerating his energy.

The ocean currents and water pressure here could restrict people's movements and spiritual senses and could even increase one's energy consumption by a considerable degree. However, to Percy whose body carried the Blood of Poseidon, all these negative influences were completely non-existent. Rather, the rich water elements here could hasten the recovery of his injuries and profound energy.

"Urgh…" Seeing Percy charging towards him again this quickly, a groan that seemed to be filled with agony and despair leaked out from Luke's throat. However, his bone-shattered arms could not even raise the Eternal Night Devil Sword in time.

Boom!

An enormous vortex swirled up within the ocean depths as Luke was smashed firmly on his chest. He screamed out and was then sent flying far away, brushing a long streak of crimson-black blood within the ocean water. The Eternal Night Devil Sword had also flown out of his grasp in that motion

Luke flew for several hundreds of meters before he stopped due to the obstruction from the ocean waters. His entire body was like a pile of boneless, tattered flesh while he powerlessly swirled with the tumbling ocean water. It was as if he had completely lost all his energy.

Though Percy's body was soaked in blood, his expression and aura were still incomparably ferocious.

Just from profound energy alone, if not because the Devil orb and Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had suppressed Luke in all aspects, he indeed would not have been a match for Luke.

However, when speaking of physiques and recovery abilities, Luke's self-proclaimed undefeatable "devil physique" was far from being comparable to his dragon god physique and his blood of Poseidon.

"It's about time for this to end, Luke." Percy panted heavily. Separating the ocean water, he walked towards the silent Luke a step at a time.

At this moment, an irregular black aura suddenly surged from Luke's body. Following after, his eyes opened and his body which was filled with vermillion scars suddenly flipped up. Then, he stretched out his arm and the Eternal Night Devil Sword flew back into his grasp.

That layer of irregular black aura began spreading toward the Eternal Night Devil Sword as well.

Suddenly, an intense metallic cry sounded from the Eternal Night Devil Sword and following after, the devil soul within the sword emitted out a hysterical roar. "You… What are you doing!? Ah— Stop!"

"..." Percy fiercely stopped his feet. At that one moment, he suddenly had a dangerous feeling… It was as if an extremely terrifying evil spirit from a bygone era was awakening within Luke's body.

"Luke, you… Ahh! What are you doing… Stop!"

"You dare… You scum… Ahh! Even if this sovereign turns into a ghost, this sovereign will never forgive you! "

The screams of the devil soul within the sword grew even more agonizing and then, after one final roar filled with despair, it sank into complete silence. The devil's eyes that had been struggling within the hilt of the sword, had completely closed as well.

An abnormal black miasma suddenly surged from Luke's body. His entire body was clearly covered in heavy injuries and his profound strength was weakened, yet the dark devil's aura on his body was intensely rising at an extremely abnormal rate.

Luke's eyes slowly opened at this moment, a pair of indescribably deep, dark light beams shot towards Percy… as if the eyes of a devil that had been asleep for countless years had suddenly opened.

"..." Percy's expression heavily sank, the two hands he were holding onto the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with slowly tightened as he said with a low voice. "Luke, as I expected, you have already gone mad."

What Luke did earlier, was clearly forcefully devouring the devil soul within the Eternal Night Devil Sword!

By devouring the soul of a primordial devil, the devil blood and devil soul within his body achieved a perfect fusion in its truest sense, allowing his dark profound energy to surge for a short period of time. However, this sort of state evidently could only be maintained for an extremely short period of time. After that, following after the gradual disappearance of the devil soul within his body, Luke's profound energy would forever be broken off from the divine way and his lifespan would also be shortened by an extreme degree.

If severing his future prospects and his lifespan were costs to forcefully obtaining the power of the devil blood were considered as draining the pond to catch a fish, then, his present actions, were akin to killing the goose that laid the golden eggs in his madness!

"No one… can defeat this sovereign… No one!"

Luke's entire being was enveloped in dense black light, the only thing that could be seen from his entire body were a pair of devil-like eyes.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Luke stepped forward. Due to heavy injuries, his body was a little shaky but his every step would cause intense quakes in the ocean depths, as if a true devil god was closing in.

Percy slowly raised his two arms, the vermillion and pitch-black glows on the Heaven Smiting Sword circulated chaotically. He sensed a never-before-seen terrifying pressure… A terrifying might that was close to a twofold increase of Luke's at his previous peak condition!

"Percy… This sovereign shall… shred your corpse into tens of thousands of pieces!"

Luke's voice had already turned as coarse as sandpaper. His every word carried incomparable agony and hatred. When his feet stopped, the surrounding ocean water was annihilated and quickly disappeared. Before he had even lifted his finger, an incomparably terrifying vacuum zone had already appeared in Luke's surroundings.

"GUAHHHH!"

As Luke roared out, the Eternal Night Devil Sword which had had its devil soul devoured, carried the might and hatred that originated from the nine hells, as it smashed towards Percy.

Before the sword aura had even closed in, Percy was already absolutely certain that the present him was definitely unable to take on this strike. If he were to take it on through brute force, he would definitely suffer heavy repercussions.

Percy's feet quickly stepped back and he disappeared the exact moment that pitch-black devil sword smashed its way towards him.

Bang!

The Eternal Night Devil Sword smashed Percy's afterimage apart and several hundreds of meters of bedrock beneath it were all lifted up. An enormous fissure madly tore through the ocean depths, stretching into the unknown.

Percy appeared one hundred and fifty meters away but was still ruthlessly swept into a somersault by the shockwave. His expression sank. Swinging out his left arm, the blue-colored Trident materialized into a sharp sword and it stabbed straight towards Luke's close to "eye-piercing" dark eyes.

Luke's dark profound energy had expanded but because of the heavy injuries on his body, his movements were especially slow and made with great difficulty. The moment he retracted the Eternal Night Devil Sword, his eyes had already been stabbed by the Sea God Trident.

"AAAAHHHH!"

Luke released a tragic roar like a wild beast, his right hand firmly held onto his eyes. On the other hand, right at this moment, Percy had already charged over like lightning, his eyes emitting a pitch-black peripheral light that was even fiercer than Luke's.

"The one who's going to die… is you!"

"Divine Sea God's Transformation!"

The profound light on Percy's body erupted, his profound aura instantly expanded… and the degree of its expansion had even far surpassed Luke who had forcefully devoured the devil soul.

"UWAGHHH! This sovereign will kill you! Kill you!" Sensing Percy approaching, Luke madly screamed out as the Eternal Night Devil Sword smashed towards Percy again while swirling up the aura of a devil god that could even shake the blue ocean.

"Thousand Layered Waves:Divine Sea Tsunami!"

This time, Percy did not choose to retreat. Carrying the extreme power of the forcefully opened "Divine Sea Transformation," the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword smashed towards Luke.

Everything within several dozens of kilometers, no matter the ocean water or the bedrock, all of it had disappeared without a trace, turning into complete nothingness. At that one moment, there were more than several hundred black holes of different sizes flickering at the same time.

Amidst the loud reverberations that could seemingly overturn the ocean, Percy's arms swirled with blood while Luke's entire body was already splattered with pitch-black blood. His right arm had instantly shattered into dust and the Eternal Night Devil Sword was sent flying far away like a stone which had been struck by a meteorite.

Percy's expression had turned even more ferocious than a devil. Not caring in the least about the injuries nor the energy and blood that was rumbling chaotically all around his body, he channeled the remaining energy from his profound veins and the devil origin orb. Carrying all of his hatred and killing intent, he pierced the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword towards Luke.

The vermillion sword beam turned into a meteorite amidst the darkness, piercing into Luke's body… And then, with its force carrying Percy along, it penetrated right through!"

"Ah… Ah… Aahh… Aaah…"

Blood poured out from Luke's right eye and his glaring left eye which was filled with streaks of blood was already at the verge of exploding. Slowly, he lowered his head and looked towards his own body. His sight however, did not make contact with his chest but had landed on the darkness behind, through an immensely huge hole.

A large hole close to thirty centimeters in width appeared in his body. His organs and profound veins had all been completely destroyed. The once undefeatable "devil physique," had turned into a bag of blood with a large hole torn through it, as crimson black blood rushed out.

"Uug…" Percy who had penetrated through Luke, had a complexion as pale as paper. He knelt onto the ground and had only managed to catch his breath after several breaths of time. A frailty he never once had before filled his entire body and his hands could no longer even raise the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

With his current physique, though the consequences of forcefully opening "Divine Sea Transformation" were not as miserable as in the past, it was still hard to bear. Furthermore, he had even forcefully Used Divine Sea Transformation Thrice against Luke and the endurance of his body had already reached its limits. The energy of the devil origin orb had also completely depleted with his final strike. Only within his profound veins, were there still small amounts of energy left.

Turning around with great difficulty, he looked at Luke whose body had a huge hole smashed into it by him and he refreshingly laughed out loud. "Ha… Hahahaha… Hahahahaha! Luke… This is… the end of your road! Cough cough…"

His loud laughter ruthlessly stirred the injuries all around his body. As he rubbed off the fresh blood from the corner of his lips, his face still wore a proud and arrogant smile.

"Ah… Ah… Im.. Impossi… ble… How… can… this sovereign..."

Whoosh!

The surrounding ocean water poured in, once again filling up the place that was annihilated into a vacuum zone by the powers of the two people.

The ocean water swirled up Luke's black blood and his strength was also quickly disappearing with the loss of his blood. His body which had lost its strength could no longer resist the heavy pressure beneath the blue ocean and he began to gradually twist and deform.

Incomparable fear could be seen within Luke's widened eyes as he sensed his own power quickly flowing away. A terrifyingly hoarse voice emitted out from his mouth...

"No… This sovereign's power… This sovereign's power… No… No… No… NO!"

"This… This can't be true… This sovereign's power… This sovereign's power…"

His remaining arm wildly flailed about in the water, as if he was trying to capture the power that was quickly flowing away back into his own body. However, what came in exchange for his struggles and terrified roars were still the heartless vanishes of his life and and power.

"Ahh… NO! This sovereign's power… Come back… COME BACK! This sovereign doesn't want to become trash… Come back… COME BAAACK… WUAAAHHH…"

His struggles, his roars, in the end, had actually turned into an agonized cry of despair and powerlessness. His body, which was quickly losing its strength, had already been twisted into an extremely terrifying shape under the water pressure.

Percy panted heavily as he used the water elements to slowly restore his own vitality and profound strength. Looking at Luke's miserable state, the refreshingness in his heart receded and few hints of pity had even surfaced.

In both his lifetimes, he had been in a desperate pursuit for Revenge. For that goal, his entire life was filled with schemes and he spent his entire life using all possible means to accomplish it. Finally, he used a thousand years to obtain his wish but on the very first day he became the "Heavenly Sovereign," he was sent into hell.

To him, losing power, was undoubtedly the most brutal torture in the world.

"This sovereign's power… This sovereign is… the overlord under the heavens… Why… Wh...y…"

Even when his entire body had already been tattered and twisted to the point where not a single feature of a human remained, he was still unwilling to die off as he roared out in despair...

"Why? Because of your own desires, you were willing to use anything in your disposal. You did all those evil deeds, killed so many innocent people, and destroyed the lives of so many people… Even if I don't kill you today, there will still come a day, where you will be judged by heaven's law!"

After Percy roared out, his palm suddenly stretched out. A mass of flames pierced through the ocean water and smashed onto Luke's damaged body.

Bang!

This mass of flames was not intense and it could not possibly burn even a single strand of hair of the previous Luke. However, to the present Luke, it was the flames of annihilation. Amidst the explosive fiery light, Luke emitted his final scream of unwillingness, before quickly disappearing within the flames.

He was then completely burnt into pitch-black ash and was scattered everywhere by the turbulent ocean water.

In both his lifetime, he might have lived several days that could be said to have challenged the heavens. However, before he could even have the time to truly enjoy the results he exhausted his lifetime to obtain, he was already reduced into ashes.

"Whoosh!"

Percy took in a deep breath, his entire body powerlessly floating in the ocean water. It was as if he no longer even had the energy to balance his body.

Percy laughed self-mockingly. Then, he closed his eyes and lightly said. "Artemis, do you see this? I won. I defeated Luke. Without you by my side, I'm finally able to defeat a powerful enemy as well… If you see this… Heh… Will you be willing to praise me a little…"

Artemis's usual cold and stern look surfaced in his mind. He could not help but laugh and within the warmth of his laughter carried a hint of bitterness. When he opened his eyes, the figure of a blonde haired girl floated in front him for an instant, stormy grey eyes gleaming as she held up a dagger.

Then the world darkened and twisted. Percy felt power flood his veins again. Along with power, he felt enormous bloodlust fill every part of him." What… what…..?" Percy's eyes widened and he gasped as he felt utter hatred cover his thoughts. Then mocking laughter sounded in his mind." Finally! Come old friend, let's get rid of all your enemies!" Percy watched helplessly as his arms moved by themselves and he flew out of the ocean.

A sinister smile covered his face as he surveyed the ocean. Then he shot towards hope city.

 **Note:** song- The Part that Hurts the Most by Thousand Foot Krutch

 _-meanwhile-_

Artemis gasped and sat up, looking around uncomprehendingly. Drew knelt by her side, channeling energy into her. she smiled wickedly." Oh your highness! Such worry for a disciple!" artemis sat up and grabbed her arm." Where is he ! What happened?" drew chuckled softly then jerked her head towards the west." he took the battle away. He wanted a one on one. Perhaps he's already dead."

Artemis eyes flashed silver and drew felt suffocating killing intent spread out from her. without a word she flipped her hand up and a silver sword appeared in her palm. She immediately rose into the air and flew away.

Drew chuckled." Looks like she's regained around half her power. She should be able to kill Luke without any problems. Such a pity Percy had to die though."

Calypso saw Percy flying over and she burst into smiles as she shot towards him." Percy! I knew you could do it!" she drew closer to him, just then a sene of danger covered her. her eyes widened as Percy swung his sword at her.

There was a bang and the sky shook as a silver sword suddenly appeared in between, blocking the swing. artemis appeared by her side." Run foolish girl! he's under the control of the Devil Sword God!" calypso's eyes widened even further and she retreated hurriedly. She had never expected Percy could ever try to attack her.

She watched with bated breath as he and his master faced off." Idiot disciple! You will fight your master?!" artemis shouted raising her sword. Percy gave a crazy laugh and lifted the devil slayer sword." Ahahaha! Right now even you are not my match artemis!" his skin was trailing darkness type power as he suddenly shot forward swinging his sword.

Artemis grit her teeth, then her sword lowered." I took that sword for you! I'm not afraid of taking this one either!" . Percy cackled and swung down with all his force. At the last moment his expression twisted and his aim swerved, missing her.

He scowled and twisted bringing his sword around with full force. It clashed with her sword, sending her flying. She spun and stopped and shouted at him." You idiot! Wake up and see me! This is the last time you'll see me!"

Percy roared and clutched his head.. his face twisted and he started swinging his sword wildly, stirring up the ocean around them." C-curse you… this is the last time!... because I will kill you!" he shrieked and shot forward, his eyes turning pure black.

Artemis scowled and raised her sword." Hong'er!"she shouted loudly as she clashed with Percy. The sword shook and suddenly Percy's expression twisted even further. He backed away, swinging at artemis to keep her back." Back off you vile creature!" artemis followed him, blocking each swing.

"Percy! All those years back, you were willing to let me stab you! that day in the dragon god trial, you told the dragon god, you believed I would never hurt you! then trust me today!" she shot forward, sword pointed at his chest, ignoring defense. Percy shuddered and the sword in his hands shivered.

His eyes closed and he dropped the sword. He stretched out his arms and embraced artemis just as she rammed the sword into his chest. He shivered and coughed up blood, but his grip on her didn't loosen even slightly as he stroked her hair. Artemis blinked away the tears from her eyes as her divine power spread through out his body from her sword, dispersing the excess devil energy back into the devil orb hidden inside him. Percy gasped as he regained control of his body then slumped in her arms, feeling the world turn black. Artemis hugged him and he heard her soft whispers as his consciousness faded." Idiot disciple… even if I leave you today… you still have many friends… and if that stupid sword oversteps his bounds. Call hong'er. When you're in danger, she will hear the call of your soul, and she will help you." her soft hands stroked his cheek and he blacked out.

Artemis grit her teeth and wiped her tears. Calypso was still staring open mouthed. Artemis snorted coldly then beckoned to her." you. silly girl." calypso snapped out of her shock then rushed over. Artemis pushed Percy over to her." take care of my idiot disciple. Don't worry. He's back to normal. And don't mention this to him. He'll hate himself and blame himself for losing control." Calypso nodded mutely.

Artemis sighed and then turned. She gripped space and tore it open before disappearing into it. drew felt her presence and tore open space and joined her as well." Well your highness, you need to go back home. I'm continuing my vacation!" she giggled softly. Artemis nodded silently then turned to the right." You cannot let him come to the realm of the gods." She snarled. A soft chuckle floated out of the darkness." Oh please mistress. I'm the gateway keeper. You can't order me around. Anyone with sufficient power is allowed to pass." Artemis grit her teeth with frustration." But he cannot pass before he reaches the divine realm! Understood!" Chiron chuckled." Of course. But then… I am the trainer of heroes, so I suppose it is my duty to train him."

A.N.: thank god for the Pertemis moments. Cuz they're so cute. Also you guys must be glad, since Luke finally died. Also we have Chiron showing his horsey face as long last! And so the fourth arc ends and the chase after artemis begins towards the fifth arc! And the next chapter is something I smashed out while being half asleep last night. Its not great, so skip the smut if you want.

And yeah no more daily updates. I'm burned out to the limit pulling all nighters. I can type around 1K to 2K words in an hour if I do it nice and slow and proofread it. so you can imagine the time it takes to update so fast. I don't mind the effort but I'm just out of ideas for the events of the realm of gods. I mean I know I want Percy to chase artemis and find her. but what happens in between? How does Percy go from Legend to Full God level? What new powers does he get? Who does he meet and how do the girls in his harem fall for him?

I just planned out the arc where he finds artemis and saves her. but I still need to plan what happens in between and how he grows stronger. So clearly I am in a bind. I'm not all out of ideas. I have enough to write another couple chapters, then deadlock. So I'm gonna slow down my releases. I'm sorry since I know how annoying it is when a fast paced story suddenly cuts off. So I'll try planning it out. All ideas will help! And maybe i should try that beta thingummy. Well keep an eye out for my updates and keep reviewing awesome ideas!

Yes im talking to you~ heretical god Douluo and The YoLOman.

Peace bro's


	37. Intense Dual Cultivation

**Note:** my wifi's down. So I couldn't update. Sorry.

 **Fifth Arc: Realm of Gods**

 **Intense Dual Cultivation.**

 _-one day later-_

When Percy woke, he was lying in his bed at home. He opened his eyes and looked around with surprise. Calypso lay by his side, arms wrapped around him." Artemis what time is it?" he asked out of habit. The silence that replied brought back his memory. He winced and closed his eyes. His inner world was empty except for Hong'er who was gnawing on a sword. She saw him and sprang up." Uuuu master! Hong'er is feeling bored! Without big sis artemis there is no one to play with Hong'er!" Percy smiled at her and hugged her on impulse.

Hong'er squealed with delight. " Hong'er, before your big sis artemis left, she told me to take care of you really well you know?" Percy told her and sat down next to her. Hong'er giggled then tilted her head." Of course you have to take care of a little beauty like me!" Percy laughed and rubbed her head.

She giggled with delight and climbed into Percy's lap. Percy looked at her with surprise and she looked back with annoyance." Uuuuu big brother don't stop now! Keep patting Hong'er. Hong'er enjoys being patted " she complained and Percy laughed lightly before continuing to pat her head.

Hong'er closed her eyes with delight and sank into Percy's lap. She was quite petite and so compared to Percy's stronger build, she seemed quite small. She nestled into his lap and was soon asleep. Percy shook his head helplessly." This brat! All she does is eat and sleep! No wonder artemis found it so easy staying with her! all she does is eat and sleep!"

There was a hum and riptide suddenly materialized." You don't say… this brat almost tried eating me!" Percy's eyes widened and he almost leapt up in shock, but he stopped himself as Hong'er was asleep in his lap.

"you damn sword! You have some guts, showing your face! How dare you-" riptide cut him off with a light laugh." Oh please! All those acts were done by you! you were the one drunk on power! If this noble one was controlling your body, then do you truly believe I would have stopped you when you tried killing that pesky girl? I would have simply continued and killed her! she is a big weakness of yours, all your friends are!" Percy grit his teeth and forced himself not to yell and wake up Hong'er." I stopped you! I forcefully took back control!"

Riptide chuckled." Don't try to shift the blame. Its just that you were able to control your bloodlust when you faced her. if this noble one was controlling you, he would have killed her for sure and you would never be able to stop me!" just then hong'er shifted and her tiny nose started twitching as though she smelt something." Oh shit, she's waking up!" riptide cursed and disappeared.

Just then hong'er sat up and looked around curiously." Oooh! Master got something for hong'er to eat!" she sniffed hard and looked around." Where is it master!?" she was drooling intensely now, and the drool was dripping off her chin right onto Percy." Uhhh well… I didn't bring anything to eat. But you have so many swords!" Percy gestured at the pile of swords stored in his inner world. Hong'er shook her head insistently." No master, those swords taste so bland! But hong'er can smell something really delicious! She glanced around desperately." It smells really good! It 's even better than Farmer faulty!" "dragon fault!" Percy yelled in his mind. Then he sighed and suddenly recalled artemis's words." If that sword ever tries to over step its bounds, call hong'er. If you really are in trouble, your souls will be able to hear each other. And I am sure… hong'er will never let you get hurt!"

Percy looked at her and realized what artemis had meant. Even the mighty Heavenly Sword Spirit God, Riptide was afraid of this tiny 40 kg girl sitting in his lap. Or rather, afraid of her and her appetite. Even a god was nothing more than a snack for hong'er. Percy almost burst into laughter at the thought of the mighty riptide being chewed up and swallowed by this little girl.

Hong'er looked at him curiously and then suddenly grabbed his face, pushing him down as she suddenly kissed him. Percy's eyes almost popped out with surprise as he felt hong'er close his mouth with her own. All that saliva that had just been dripping off her mouth a moment back flooded into his mouth.

She was surprisingly adept, and her tongue wound around Percy's in an intoxicatingly good manner. When she broke off and drew away, her cherry like lips were sparkling and her small tongue was trailing saliva down to his own tongue. They both panted slightly and hong'er stared at Percy intently as if he were another sword for her to eat.

Percy gulped as her eyes bored into him and her tongue slowly touched his cheek. Then she drew back and giggled." Master tastes even better than Big sis Artemis!" Percy's mind was blank for a few seconds and then he suddenly registered what she meant.

"Wait you've kissed artemis?!" he asked surprised. She giggled and nodded." Big sis said master was a big bad pervert who preys on small girls like me. What does big bad pervert mean master? Does it taste good?" she asked curiously Percy felt like spitting blood." That damned artemis had no doubt told these words to hong'er so that she would repeat them to me." He murmured then smiled at hong'er. " it's nothing important honger, but it tastes bad." She nodded with understanding, then continued." Big sis said, that since master was a big bad pervert he will kiss hong'er and try doing naughty things with her. but if he doesn't do it then hong'er should do them with him by herself because she said that master is a forgetful idiot disciple." Percy sighed and when he closed his eyes he could see artemis, hands on her hips, cute scowl on her face while she called him an idiot disciple. Then suddenly he remembered that artemis had told him to claim Hong'er in order to completely fulfill the master-slave contract. But Hong'er was always so obedient he had never felt like it was necessary. And more importantly, he didn't feel like taking advantage of her innocence. She had originally formed her bond with him as she had lost her memory, but she was still devoted to him quite wholeheartedly and he trusted her entirely.

Hong'er kissed him again, more insistently this time." Master, pay attention to hong'er! Or else hong'er will start molesting you!" Percy laughed and ruffled her hair." My cute hong'er wont do that to me will she?" Hong'er giggled and threw her arms around Percy." Hong'er would do anything for her master!"

Percy kissed Hong'er lightly on her forehead." I promise I'll play with you more often from now onwards okay?" Hong'er laughed." Yaay! Master will play with hong'er!" she got off Percy and merrily headed for her pile of swords and Percy had to sigh in his heart. Hong'er was one of his connections with artemis and that was why he would always treasure her.

He opened his eyes looked around again. Immediately he felt the different foreign aura. His eyes widened and he started to get up when suddenly drew was sitting on his waist, straddling him.

She giggled softly and put a finger to her lips." Shush handsome little brother. We wouldn't want to wake your little friend would we! She would be quite surprised!" Percy glanced around and saw calypso was still sound asleep. He glanced back at her." why the hell are you here!? Shouldn't you have already left with artemis!" he whispered angrily.

Drew giggled" oh little brother, don't be so harsh with this big sister. She was sent here to find artemis. So I found her and sent her back! But little brother has made me very curious! I was surprised by your battle with Luke. You exceeded my expectations! So I am really curious how you managed to do it…" she cocked her head to one side and smiled at him curiously.

" I dual cultivated with calypso." He said harshly. Drew's expression grew stiff." You dual cultivated? But how is that possible? Such an explosive growth from dual cultivation? Is she an even better cultivation oven than me?!" she looked at calypso curiously. Then her eyes slid towards Percy" or does little brother here have great potential, a strong yang bloodline and a lot of vitality?" she smiled and slid down his legs. His clothes started sparking and burning. They turned to smoke and Percy's eyes widened and he tried sitting up, but drew's power spread over him, holding him down. Her own clothes faded into sweet smelling aphrodisiac like poison, wafting in the air around them.

She brushed Percy's thigh and his face grew red as his manhood grew hard and soon stood up with all it's glory." Oooh!" she giggled and poked it with a finger with a soft laugh." Handsome little brother seems quite excited to see me!"

She bent and kissed the tip of his member and Percy groaned softly. Her plump lips opened and surrounded his hardness, engulfing it in a wet heat. Her soft tongue swirled around it, lightly tracing the head and then going down. She took his entire length into her mouth, humming softly. She held her place for a few seconds then went back up and started licking his entire length. Percy clenched the bed clothes, gritting his teeth as he held in his groans. She bent and started sucking on his balls while her hand slowly stroked his wet rod.

"hehehe" she giggled." Little brother seems very happy with all my hard work! Give me some praise little brother!" Percy unclenched his teeth and hissed at her." what the hell are you doing here!? Stop and leave!" drew giggled and grasped her breasts, and wrapped them around his cock." Little brother says such harsh things, but you can't lie to me. Your manhood is so honest! It's telling me it loves me!" she started moving her breasts up and down his length, letting the silken soft flesh enclose his hardness and gently tease him. She bent and engulfed the tip in her mouth, sucking on it as she swirled her tongue around it and her breasts worked on his length, slowly moving, gently stroking it.

Percy uttered soft groans as her breasts squeezed every inch of his cock. They were unbelievably soft and warm and felt incredible. She kept working hard on his tip, sucking it intensely while she kept humming. Before long Percy was desperately clenching his teeth, struggling to hold in his moans as she kept sucking on him, her soft breasts pumping his cock for all she was worth.

She glanced up at him, her sultry and dark eyes seeming to peer into his soul. She intensified her speed and force and Percy gasped out loud as his balls clenched and cum spurted out of his cock. She kept sucking on him, her boobs furiously pumping his length until she finished sucking out every last drop.

She twirled a strand around her finger then swallowed it all and licked her finger clean. She bent and deep throated him, cleaning his entire length. Then she clambered onto him and started showering him with kisses. She kissed his chest and his arms, trailing up until she reached his face.

Her lips glistened with her saliva and the aphrodisiac type poison she applied. She bent and kissed Percy full on his lips. For any ordinary man, that would have been enough to drive him insane with lust for her, even if she was fully clothed. But she was completely naked and was kissing him after just having deep throated him.

This would have completely destroyed a normal mans sanity. Even Luke after having lived for thousand of years and having hardened his soul by bearing torture of his very soul for so long, had been unable to resist her charms once she got close to him.

However Percy possessed not just the Styx Soul Inner World that resisted all types of poison's and strengthened his soul, he also possessed the Dragon God's soul, which was a unique and immensely Powerful type of Soul. Its natural attribute was to dominate other. Who could dare to say they would dominate it! In addition, he had suffered the soul stealing pain of the Netherworld python flower.

And most importantly, he wasn't so easily swayed as he already cared for a number of people quite deeply from the depths of his heart. This was his fatal flaw and his saving grace.

Drew frowned slightly, then kissed him again, deeper and more passionately. His member reacted appropriately bouncing back into action and prodding her thigh. She giggled and shook her head." Oh little brother has such strong willpower! But willpower can't control your true desires can it!" she turned around and sat on his face, grinding her pussy into his mouth. She moaned and clutched at her breasts, massaging and pinching the hardening nipples. She bent forward and started kissing Percy's member.

"Little brother had such powerful Yang!" she smiled greedily" do you know your big sis has a very powerful amount of yin in her body!" Percy found it very hard to reply with her pussy grinding on his mouth.

"Because of my strong yin attribute, your big sister needs a very fine man with powerful yang stored in his body!" she giggled and started licking his length." Little brother, your big sister wants to practice Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation with you! don't be shy now, open your mouth and taste this lovely sisters juicy womanhood!" her power wrapped around his jaw and forced it open and a sweet tasting nectar flooded into Percy's mouth, filling it entirely. His tongue accidentally came in contact with her wet folds and his eyes widened at the sweet taste coating his entire tongue. He licked at the folds of her pussy hesitantly and she moaned out loud." Yes Percy! Lick me! Savour my rich taste!" she giggled and pushed down on him." Don't be shy, go ahead , go even deeper! Don't worry, this house is filled with sleeping gas so everyone else is asleep!" she moaned and pinched herself as she continued licking Percy's cock with long strokes. She soon figured out all his sweet spots and focused on them, intently nibbling and sucking on him. Percy groaned into her pussy each time she did and her body shivered in response, dripping more of her love juices into his mouth. Soon his attack intensified and he focused his attack on her clit and she shuddered and nearly collapsed with pleasure as Percy nibbled and sucked on her clit, driving her up into heaven with pleasure. Before long she was shuddering and heaving as her pussy rhythmically clenched around his tongue, spraying her love juices with each clench.

She gasped and sat up, then slipped off his face. It was red and completely covered with all his love juices. She swiveled around and sat onto his waist again. Then she bent forward and started licking his face, carefully licking at each spot stained with her love juices, which was nearly his entire face. Soon he was clean, his entire face shining with her saliva.

She started kissing Percy while her hip rose, gently nudging his cock and hovering over it, teasing his completely erect and waiting member." Oh dear!" she giggled." Percy.. do you really want me so badly!?" she giggled again and dragged her tongue along the side of his face.

She pressed down on him and she let out a deep low groan as his member pressed into her soft body, slowly parting her soft flesh until it drove all the way into her, burying the hot throbbing rod deep within her flesh.

Her pussy pulsed gently around his member, trickling love juices down his length as it clenched his manhood, the soft warm flesh wrapping all the way around him. Percy gave a deep groan as she pressed herself into him, mashing her soft breasts into him." Ohh yes, it feels so exquisite!" she giggled and looked at Percy with her seductive eyes." Oh my Percy. It seems you're perfect for dual cultivating with and you're even quite addictive!" she bent and kissed his neck, sucking deeply until she left a hickey." So I'm afraid you're girlfriends will have to share you with me for sometime!"

She grasped her breasts with both hands and started bouncing on him. Percy's hand automatically grabbed her hips and fluidly guided her smooth motions on him, his own thrusts meeting hers, each thrust driving him into her depths. She gasped with delight and bent over him, painted fingernails digging into his shoulders as she speeded up her bounces, slamming down on his member like a supersonic blur.

Her lips closed onto Percy's greedily, sucking and nibbling before sneaking her tongue into his mouth. Then she shifted herself and let her tender breasts dangle over him like oversized melons. Percy reached up and started nibbling on one. She groaned and her bounces slowed down to moderate speed as she savored the exquisite feeling.

Percy grabbed a handful of her free breast, roughly kneading and squeezing it before moving it to his mouth. He suckled on both at the same time and drew have a shrill scream and her bounces began speeding up again, going faster and faster till it felt like her tight pussy would tear him off.

Percy fiercely bit down on both nipples and she shrieked as she slammed down on him with all her force before exploding with love juices, the sweet smelling liquid spraying all over the two of them.

She didn't slow down throughout her climax, her already tight pussy growing even tighter with each bounce. She didn't slow down, continuing at top speed her pussy clenching and massaging his manhood as she grinned at him sadistically.

 _-time skip-_

drew had ridden Percy for hours, continually going until he had finally grown exhausted and then had been forced to leave, barely giving Percy time to dress himself. Right after she left, calypso stretched and hugged Percy from beside him."mmmnn" she mumbled into his shoulder." You're finally awake?"

She smiled and pecked his cheek then started nibbling on his ear. she glanced down at the bedclothes for a second, but drew had already cleared all traces of her presence before disappearing." You changed your clothes?" she giggled then she climbed onto his stomach and straddled his waist." You're finally awake huh.. how do you feel?" she bent and rested her forehead against his, then closed her eyes.

Both of them held hands and lay still for a few moments. Then calypso opened her eyes and gave him a meaningful smile." I have some fun planned for you!" Percy had a sinking feeling in his stomach as she reached down and started rubbing his member.

"ooooh it looks like you catch my drift." She waggled her eyebrows at him with a seductive smile. Percy felt his Poseidon's blood stir into action and he offered a quick than you prayer to the dragon god for his inhuman stamina. Calypso shifted off his waist and tugged at the new pants he had put on. She quickly slid them off them started licking his hardness." I have three months of lessons from Aphrodite. Lets see how well they help me." She said in a soft voice and Percy swallowed down a mouthful of saliva at the meaning in her words.

 _-time skip-_

Percy escaped from her clutches after nearly five hours. Despite having the stamina of a Dragon and the Stimulation of poseidon's bloodline, he was mentally drained. He felt sweaty and tired so he directly headed for his bathroom.

He stepped in and he was greeted by the soothing and refreshing feeling of steam. He sighed and headed towards the bathing pool that someone had filled quite luckily with hot water already. He pulled off his clothes and headed for the pool, then froze as the water parted and someone suddenly rose out. He stiffened in surprise and his eyes widened." D-drew?!" She rose from the water and the water cascaded off her in torrents, leaving her hair hanging like a wet curtain on her back.

The dripping water especially accentuated her large soft breasts and Percy swallowed a large mouthful of saliva as his manhood stiffened and rose to its full length in nearly an instant." Damned blood of Poseidon" Percy cursed quietly in his heart.

Drew giggled." Seems like little brother is very happy to see big sis here as well! Don't worry! Big sis will take good care of you and make you to clean you everywhere!" her voice emphasized everywhere and Percy felt his mouth fill with saliva as a few suggestions rose up in mind. His member twitched in response.

Drew laughed and sat back in the pool." Come to this big sister! Let her take care of you!" Percy started to back away, but right then she gestured and he flew towards her and crashed into the pool, giving rise to a fountain of water. She grabbed Percy and started licking his neck while her hand softly squeezed his rock hard member." Ooh! Your so happy to see your big sister! I can feel it right here!" she pushed Percy down and straddled him slipping his cock into herself. Her pussy responded immediately and she gasped as it clamped down on his member. Percy groaned with pleasure and started massaging her breasts. She giggled and grabbed his hands." No no little brother, let me handle that. Your hands belong here!" she said and pulled his hands down to her waist. He grabbed a hold and she giggled with delight. He lifted her up and she groaned deeply as he lifted her up, then slammed her down. His member rammed deep, right into the back of her womb and she gasped and shuddered with pleasure." Oh yes! That feels so great! Keep it up! Keep it up!"

Percy didn't need any more motivation. His hands clenched her soft buttocks, squeezing the blissfully elastic flesh then started lifting her up and then slamming her down onto his member. His hip jerked involuntarily to each time he slammed her down, rising slightly in response to each fall.

She groaned each time his member rammed into her depths. Her arms wrapped around Percy's neck and she nibbled on his neck, biting his ear and kissing his hair, groaning and moaning all the while.

Percy speeded up, moving her up and down at top speed, face screwed up with pleasure as her tight pussy flew up and down his manhood. Each time he rammed into her, he would feel his balls tighten, getting ready to explode and fill her up with his seed.

He pushed her down into the water, submerging her. her eyes widened slightly but she didn't actually face any problems except for the surprise of suddenly being thrust into water.

But Percy was fully reenergized by the water as soon as he was completely submerged. He grabbed both her legs at the ankles and pushed them down all the way to her shoulders, bending her completely before ramming into her pliable body.

Her enormous bust was squashed and deformed against his chest as he pressed himself against her, driving himself deep into her depths with each thrust. Drew moaned in ecstasy then her legs flexed, pushing out of his grip and wrapping around his waist, pulling him in all the way into her body, till he was as deep as he could possibly reach.

And soon he felt his balls clench as he rammed himself down into her. Her pussy clenched him as well, tightly squeezing his member right before he exploded, filling up her womb with his thick hot cum.

Drew sighed with pleasure." Ah little brother is so good at this! You make big sis feel like she was in heaven right at the end each time!" she raised her head and nuzzled Percy's throat with her nose." It feels so great! I can feel your warm essence deep inside me!" she giggled then suddenly flashed with a green light and disappeared. Percy was surprised and dazed for a second as her comfortable warmth and softness disappeared from around him.

The he heard the door open and Aphrodite walked in, wearing nothing but a small towel wrapped around her waist, leaving her enormous bust open for him to stare at as he pleased. She smiled and dropped the towel from around her waist and then walked over, her hips swaying slightly along with her immense breasts.

She sank into the pool with a satisfied sigh and gave Percy a seductive smile." Let me wash your back!" she said suddenly and before he could respond she was behind him, soaping up his back. Then he felt her lovely mounds press into him from behind and she started scrubbing his back with them, letting the soft tits do the job of soaping him up. Her hands reached around and her soft hand gripped his cock, stroking it as her boobs rubbed him from behind.

The exquisite feeling flooded his mind and his eyes half shut with pleasure as she embraced him from behind. Then she pushed him out of the pool and quickly spread her legs open, grabbing him and guiding him into her soft body. She wrapped her legs around his waist, arms hugging him as he savagely thrust deep into her each stroke filling her up and stretching her to the limit as he rammed into her.

She whimpered as he had his way with her soft body, abusing her and leaving her covered with marks of his domination.

 _-time skip-_

By the time Percy walked out of the bathroom, nearly three hours had passed. He felt especially haggard and tired right now. Aphrodite on the other hand left glowing pink and stuffed to the limit.

Just the thought of her plump body swiftly aroused Percy and he cursed his godly bloodline. He had never expected that this would actually be a problem he would complain about, but Poseidon's blood was seriously causing him enough problems as it was. He sighed and wondered whether to head back to his room or head for a bit of practice. He decided his room wasn't safe enough and headed for the training room instead. He needed to loosen up and let out some strain as well after all.

He headed to the practice room which was only occupied by one other person who was busy hacking a dummy apart. Percy had to admire the precision and force behind each strike. Despite using a standard issue sword the person who was practicing managed to land a lethal blow with nearly every swing of her sword.

Before long the dummy was reduced to nothing more than straw. It's armor was shredded and destroyed without any difficulty. Percy started to pick a sword to practice with when suddenly he felt her eyes on him. He turned just as she pulled off her helmet. She had hair as dark as night that swung and fell. Her plump red lips turned up in a smile." Oh little brother! How lucky to see you here!" Drew giggled and her seductive voice wrapped around him, almost softening his bones.

She stepped forward and her breasts trembled with each step she leaned forward and her tongue traced his ear." Little brother, your big sister is feeling very hot after training, do you mind helping her take off these stifling clothes?"

Percy gulped as he looked at her clothes. The sweaty clothes were practically glued to her tight curves and left almost nothing hidden. He could even make out her hard nipples from under her shirt and then he felt them as she moved closer, pressing her tits into his chest." Well…? How long will you keep your big sister waiting? I'm all hot, sweaty and wet for you, you know?" she said in a soft whisper that almost melted him into a puddle of water.

He was sure that if it wasn't for the dragon god's marrow strengthening his bones, by now he would have melted apart into water.

She didn't wait for him to answer and reached up and pulled her shirt, making her luscious breasts bounce even more noticeably.

She dropped the shirt and didn't waste any time, dropping to her knees and pulling down Percy's pant. She giggled as soon as she saw his erect member. She immediately started sucking on it and Percy gasped in pleasure. He gathered all her hair in his hand and gripped her head, furiously thrusting into her throat. She gagged but let him continue. He thoroughly abused her throat. When he was done, she smiled and got onto all fours and quickly pulled off the last of her clothes. Percy gripped her lovely round ass, carefully squeezing and enjoying the tender soft flesh. She giggled and slapped her ass." Come on little brother. This big sisters ass is waiting to sample you!"

Percy bent forward, gripping her shoulders as he thrust into her, his cock slid into her ass, snugly fitting into the soft flesh. They moaned in unison as he started moving , thrusting rhythmically into her. He reached around her and gripped her breasts, squeezing and kneading them as he slammed into her with full force.

He used them as handholds, pulling himself forward, going faster and deeper, clenching his teeth to control his moans as her silken soft insides wrapped all around him, snuggly clenching and pulsing around his member. Each time he drew back, her ass clenched hard and sucked him in with full force, dragging him deep into her core.

Drew threw her head back moaning enchantingly." Uhhh yes Percy! Go deep into my depths and savour every inch of my body! Pound me harder and deeper!" she gasped as he thrust hard into her. her body shook and trembled uncontrollably before she collapsed onto the ground, moaning and gasping with pleasure as Percy continued to pound her ass from behind.

Tears filled her eyes then trickled out as he savagely thrust into her, hands gripping and squeezing her ass. He raised his hand up and slapped her ass. There was a sharp crack and she moaned with pleasure. Her ass clenched his member, sucking him in even deeper with each thrust, drawing him deeper to her core.

Percy groaned as her warmth seeped into him. He slapped her ass again, then spanked her in earnest, not stopping till her ass was an even shade of red all over.

She was gasping and panting desperately by the time he was done. Soon his balls squeezed and then flooded her soft insides with his thick cum. Drew panted heavily as she felt his essence pour into her. Then she turned around and embraced Percy, running her tongue across his neck and down his chest.

She pulled his head down and ran her tongue across his cheek." What delightful dual cultivation! Such strong yang!" she giggled." Are you sure artemis didn't secretly screw you while you were asleep? You're the perfect cultivation incubator!" she laughed lightly then disappeared.

Percy quickly pulled his clothes on. He stood just as the door opened and piper stepped in. she didn't seem surprised to see him." You knew I was here?" he asked her. she blushed and nodded." Aphrodite told me she saw you going this way." Percy smiled and rubbed his jaw a bit tiredly." You needed me for something?"

She suddenly stepped forward and pushed Percy back into the wall and started kissing him. Her eyes were wet with tears as she kissed, him embracing his neck." Percy, this time… I want you…" she whispered softly against his lips as she hid her face in his chest. Percy bent and kissed her neck and she moaned desperately pressing herself into him, as if she was trying to meld into him.

She reached up unhesitatingly and her shoulder straps fell, dropping the dress she wore to the ground, revealing her perfect jade body. She blushed deeply then turned away and hid her face against the wall." Percy.. please… I'm already yours…" Percy didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. This was a dream come true, but also a nightmare unfolding.

He embraced her from behind, lightly covering her back with kisses, breathing in her fresh scent. The heady intoxicating feeling made him discard all his doubts. Screw it, this was a dream come true.

He quickly got rid of his own clothes then slipped her panty to one side before ramming into her with his member. She gasped as he pressed her into the wall and her fingers scrabbled against the wall as he rammed into her from behind with all his force.

Her delicate moans filled the room, and echoed out into the hallways as he crushed her between himself and the wall. Her delicate breasts were entirely squashed nearly flat against the wall as he savagely thrust into her. she gripped his hip with one hand, head thrown back as she gasped with pleasure, tears tracking marks across her face.

 _-that night-_

Percy had hardly closed his eyes when the door suddenly swung open and calypso, Aphrodite and piper stepped in and all jumped on top of him, panting and moaning as they ground themselves into him. Percy was more than a little confused as he was drowned under the three of them. Then suddenly another figure jumped into the fray and Percy immediately recognized the intoxicating aphrodisiac perfume." Drew!?" Percy shouted out loud as she started kissing his chest, while calypso grabbed his pants and Aphrodite and piper fought to kiss him. She saw his horrified expression and giggled." Don't worry! I kissed them with my aphrodisiac lipstick! They won't remember a thing!"she flicked a finger and the door swung shut, sealing all the sounds of moaning and panting that were coming from within.

Percy didn't get any sleep that night.

A.N.: hope you enjoyed the smut. I wrote it cuz of the complaints about the quality and quantity of smut being low. Plus you wanted a drew x Percy smut. But in the end Percy got dominated quite badly.

And yeah I wrote it for the sake of writing it so it's not so great, so I put in a lot of time skips. Also a small misunderstanding to be cleared. Percy's super power boost came from riptide. So usually he's even weaker than Aphrodite and calypso when it comes to actual battle. Because: 1) Aphrodite has more experience and a higher cultivation.

2) calypso is a descendant of three god beasts so her growth is really fast. Of course Percy overtakes her bust she's still in the lead.

And yeah guys I found a lot of ideas and I think I maybe onto some good ones. So for now I have something to write about. Credits go to Bleach for being an epic anime. That's cuz I love AMV's and GMV's.

Also I started reading Greek Gods and Greek Heroes to gather some ideas. Will take me some time to process and write down so regular updates aren't possible. Ciao.


	38. Training Under a New Master

**Fifth Arc: Training under a New Master**

Percy's life should have been stress free and happy. After defeating Luke, hope city's greatest threat, the shadow association was almost disbanded. Luke's clones had been the heads of all three branches and the overall association. With all four heads dead at the same time, they collapsed.

The monster king was dead as well, and so humanity was at last free to expand outwards. Within a few centuries, the work of spreading out and slowly rebuilding the human empire would soon begin.

Calypso spent nearly all her time by his side, constantly keeping an eye on him. Aphrodite, Nico and piper dropped by often as well. Piper and Aphrodite were in charge of their respective societies and were getting more responsibilities as time passed. Calypso was the direct Young Mistress of her family, but she had officially given up her position and opted to stay with Percy all the time.

Percy appreciated their efforts, but these six months passed in a daze for him. He would be meditating, and then he would suddenly pop a question to artemis, and get silence as his only response. It was more painful than being tortured.

The two of them had spent nearly six years together, which was the most time they had ever spent with anyone. Every second, he had completely memorized her presence, and now it felt like someone had come and cut away a piece of his heart and left.

He smiled but he knew that every time he smiled for the rest of his life would remind him of her laugh. And her words of farewell, when she cut off their bond of blood the day drew appeared still haunted his dreams." Given your innate potential, perhaps you will indeed have the strength to go to the Realm of the Gods in a few hundred or even thousand years. But even though you will be able to enter the Realm of the Gods, you will definitely not be able to find me. Covering all the possibilities, even if the most unexpected thing does happen and you are truly able to find me… I will also definitely not meet you!"

Percy clenched his teeth as he lay back on his bed, his thoughts still haunted by the girl in silver. Then he suddenly remembered something she had told him. She had left him a memory fragment the day drew had appeared. He would have checked it, but then he had been almost killed by Drew's hair. Then he had been 'forced' to dual cultivate for three months. And right after he had, had his grand battle with Luke. And it had entirely slipped from his mind. He closed his eyes and sank into his consciousness. Immediately he found the small bundle of silver floating in his mind. He drew a sharp breath. He could hear her voice again, one last time.

He touched it with his mind and it slowly cracked open. Then artemis's voice rang out.

"Percy. If you're hearing this, then I've been forced to leave because of being discovered. I already sensed her approaching. She probably appeared as soon as my battle with the monster king ended. So it is inevitable for me to leave. But then I am not of this world. My name is no longer even artemis." Her voice was cold and emotionless, but Percy could almost see her as she spoke. He smiled just a hint. No matter what to him, she would always be Artemis.

" I kept this because of a few sensitive things I couldn't risk saying aloud in front of her. first of all, the devil core. Its incomparably vicious and even though I've sealed it, it will still erupt with power. During these times you have to seal it with your own power. The power of a devil can only be used by a devil, so to you it is poison. Never try using it. secondly stay away from the forbidden sword. It seals a devil sword god within and he is capable of using the devil orb within you. if you use the sword, be extremely cautious. He can use the devil orb against you. and one last thing that I am completely insistent on. You will not come to the Realm of gods, or you will die. You are simply too weak, and carry too many attractive secrets. Here, a legend realm warrior is nothing more than a piece of trash. Kids break through legend realm in their teens here. You are no match to them. Therefore you are forbidden from coming here. We met by accident, and so I will forget this meeting now. You are just a stranger who I travelled alongside. Treat me the same way. This is goodbye." Percy smiled slightly." Artemis…. What would you say if you knew, I was also a Legend rank warrior… and I reached it at the start of my teens. Did you recognize my level of power when I fought Luke..?"

He closed his eyes as he felt a peaceful sensation overcome him after nearly half a year.

"how can I sit here like this… you said it was goodbye… but I never got to say goodbye…" Percy felt tears spill from his eyes and he suddenly felt her absence more acutely than ever. He clenched his teeth and sat up." I refuse. Even if you don't wish to see me, I will become a powerhouse level character, then come to the realm of gods. In a hundred years, I will be so strong, I will force you to see me, so I can bid you goodbye properly!"

He suddenly heard laughter from riptide. Low mocking laughter, as if he was laughing at an idiot." A hundred years! hehehehe! How hilarious!" Percy's eyes narrowed." What is it?" riptide's laugh slowed down into a chuckle" maybe five six years? If you're lucky. Hehehe" Percy felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he heard him. He had a foreboding feeling suddenly." What do you mean!?" riptide materialized before Percy." After five or six years… you can't see her." riptide's voice drifted as he wondered how much he should tell to Percy. If he knew the truth about why he couldn't see her…. he hesitated then continued." She has a job, so after five or so years, she can't see you even if she wanted to."

Percy's eyes widened and he felt as if he was struck by lightning." F-five or six years? What job!?" riptide would have frowned if he had a face." She's one of the highest level beings in the god realm. Whatever her job is, it's beyond your understanding." Percy sat still for a moment, as if frozen.

Suddenly the Azure Dragon Phantom appeared behind him, standing tall as it spread its wings, erupting with a Roar that shook the Mountains themselves. Riptide backed off immediately. Right now a frightful intense aura was emanating from Percy and he was radiating the power of a Late Stage Legend Realm Warrior!

Riptide huffed with anger." Why show your anger with me. Do what you can with your pathetic power. You increased your cultivation so fast, dual cultivating with drew, calypso, Aphrodite and piper almost every day for months. But it hardly matters. Drew is done cultivating with you and probably left back to the realm of gods. And now even if you dual cultivated like a madman everyday for five years, you might reach peak of demigod or maybe initial stage minor god. You would still be a gnat before the true elite in the realm of gods. And your artemis sits at the top of those elite."

Percy shook his head." I have to go see her one last time! I can't let her leave without saying goodbye." Riptide was silent. Then he sighed and disappeared. The door smashed open and calypso stumbled in." Percy! What's wrong!" she looked around wildly, fire dancing on her fingers as she scanned the wrecked room. Then she saw the look in Percy's eyes. She dropped both hands and strode over to him and then pulled his head into her chest." It's artemis isn't it…?" she asked softly as she smoothed his hair. Percy stayed silent. She drew back and touched his cheek." Oh Percy… what do you want to do…? You know… I'll support any decision of yours." Percy lowered his eyes. Piper and Aphrodite walked in together, arms crossed." He needs to go see her." piper said softly. Aphrodite nodded in agreement.

Calypso sighed and looked back at Percy and ruffled his head once more." But how…?"

Percy stood suddenly and shook his head once, hard. Then a familiar glint entered his eyes. A smile touched his lips." I need to reach the Divine realm. Once I do that, I can travel from here to the realm of the gods." He grinned and stretched.

Then a voice suddenly echoed across the room." That isn't necessary. You just need to pass the gatekeepers tests, and I'll let you through." All four of them spun and faced Percy's door. Space began to twist and distort and suddenly it shredded apart entirely and out walked a seemingly middle aged man.

All four of them immediately tensed. Not because of the spatial tear. More importantly they couldn't sense him. That meant he was either very good at hiding his aura…. Or he was so powerful, he simply exceeded the limits of their senses. And it was clearly option two in his case.

He thinning brown hair and a kindly pair of eyes. His beard was scraggly and he was dressed in the simple clothes of a peasant. He smiled slightly as he saw all of them." At ease kids. I have no intention of acting in any unfavorable manner."

Percy stepped forward, covering calypso." You… just who are you…?" the man smiled as if the question was very interesting." Who I am eh…? That's tricky to explain." He motioned at the floor." May I sit down?" Percy nodded cautiously. He chuckled and sat down cross-legged." I suppose you could call me the gate keeper to the Realm of gods. I allow people who are worthy to pass through."

Percy's eyes widened and he immediately stepped forward."' You can allow me to pass?" he nodded. Percy almost jumped with joy, but Aphrodite suddenly stepped forward, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back." Where's the 'But' in this method of yours…?"

The gatekeeper chuckled softly." Smart girl. I can allow you three to pass." He pointed at calypso, Aphrodite and Percy. Piper gasped" w-wait, why not me?"." You have the cultivation of a normal half step Legend realm Warrior(Peak of Level Nine). You still haven't even entered the legend realm and you want to tag along?" he shook his head softly. Aphrodite patted her head sympathetically." So we three can go… 'But'?"

The gatekeeper burst into laughter." Alright, alright! To pass you need to pass my test. And its simple." His eyes flashed as he looked at Percy." You have to knock my hat off my head." He flipped his hand and suddenly he held a simple straw hat in one hand. He placed it onto his head then tore space open again." This passage will be open for one day. Say you're goodbye's and then come through. I will train you until you are capable of knocking this hat off." He chuckled and started going through the passage." Wait!" Percy suddenly shouted. The gate keeper frowned and then turned with a small smile." So you finally remembered eh..?"

Percy coughed awkwardly."ahahaha…. I forgot to ask senior's name." he chuckled." I am called Chiron, gatekeeper and trainer of heroes! Does that answer your question young hero?" Percy nodded and Chiron turned and left.

The room fell silent. Piper looked at Percy with a desperate glance. Percy gave a small smile and hugged her. she buried her head in his shoulder and let out a whimper. Percy stroked her head, feeling her tears run into his shirt. Calypso and Aphrodite sighed and joined the hug. The four young heroes stood silently as they memorized this moment.

 _-later that day-_

Percy was seated with his parents in their room. The three of them chatted for hours recounting the past and all the treasured memories they had shared. James still had a proud smile on his face as he viewed his son. He was their biggest pride and source of joy.

Trisha started tearing up as they spoke, and soon she was silently crying, patting Percy's head. Percy was still receiving vague memories from riptide ever since the day he had pulled it out. First he received the memories of Luke begging for the dagger. It had been the most vivid flashback. Others were far more weaker and were mixed into his dreams. He saw a dark pit and laughter that chilled his bones. He saw a man wearing wraparound shades while he used a spear to gore entire armies while he sat astride a chariot.

He saw Aphrodite, more beautiful than ever, but with vague features. But most of all he saw Artemis, Drawing a silver bow as she shot across the night sky in a flying chariot. And of course that nameless girl with short curly blonde hair, stormy grey eyes glinting as she saved his life, taking a blow just like artemis had, or sometimes glaring at him with killing intent.

But one thing he was clear about was that these were memories of a different life. But different life or not, in this life he was the son of Trisha and James. He bowed low in front of his parents." This child is unfilial and he must leave his parents at an age when he should be taking care of them. I hope you can forgive me." Trisha smiled through her tears." Oh you silly boy. Wherever you go, you will always be our son. And you have completed all your duties towards us."

Percy bent even lower." Yes, this child will never forget his roots. Come what may, the blood in my veins and the breath in my lips comes from my parents and my root will always lie in the jackson family. This child will make you proud mother and father!"

James and Trisha smiled and embraced him one last time." you have already made us proud!"

Percy felt his eyes fill with hot tears. This might be the last time he saw his parents for years. He grit his teeth and blinked away his tears. Calypso and Aphrodite walked in." done saying goodbye?" he asked while he brushed his eyes with his sleeve.

Calypso's eyes were puffy and red and she nodded softly. Aphrodite smiled naughtily." Oh come on~ it's every girls dream to leave with her husband and sail into the unknown." Calypso's lips trembled. Piper scowled and banged Aphrodite's head with the hilt of her sword." Don't trouble my calypso!" she growled. Aphrodite held her head and pouted at piper." Uuuu! I was just trying to lighten the mood." Piper hit her again, whapping her butt with the flat side of her sword, making her yelp and jump up." Uuuuuu! What's that for!" she stomped her foot and lightly rubbed her sore skin. Piper grinned." For memories. Every time you sit down, you'll remember me."

Aphrodite paused then leapt forward and bit her nose. Percy didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. They were leaving for who knows how long, and this is what they decided to do?

Piper scowled and rubbed her nose." What's that for." Aphrodite wrapped her arms around her neck and drew dangerously close to pipers lips. Their bust mashed together and Percy had to pinch his nose as he watched their ample cleavage fight for dominance. Aphrodite overwhelmed with sheer size, but hers were much softer and sank in deeper than piper's firmer tits.

Suddenly Percy realized is thoughts were swerving in a very dangerous direction and quickly calmed his breathing. The last thing he needed was a raging boner during whatever test they were going to be having.

Aphrodite leaned close to piper then whispered in a seductively sweet voice." Of course I bit your nose, so you remember me every time you breathe~! Chu~" she leaned forward and kissed piper. Piper went strawberry red while Percy's parents looked like they were witnessing the worlds biggest scandal coming to life right in front of their eyes.

Everyone knew that Aphrodite was one of the coldest and severe people in hope city. Or so they thought. After all, her naughty side popped out only around Percy. And more recently around calypso and piper.

Percy sighed and covered his face with a hand. He was really wondering if bringing Aphrodite along was such a good idea. Then she straightened and peeled her arms from around piper's neck." That kiss is so you remember me every time you think of Percy and all your fun nights together!" she giggled and Percy had the distinct feeling that Grandholme and his parents were staring at him with more than just sorrow right now. Especially Grandholme. Percy gulped and tugged at his collar with a finger before giving an awkward laugh and heading towards the portal." I think we should leave before the portal closes" Percy mumbled while he grabbed calypso's hand. She giggled and the two of them stepped into the spatial tear.

They were instantly transported miles away, twisting and bending around profound laws of space. Percy's eyes widened as he realized this was another extension of his own law of Waves. ' Profound Law of Space: Spatial ripples!' Percy closed his eyes and sank into a trance as he tried understanding the law. Poseidon's blood granted him a ladder with which he could quickly sense other laws, but learning them needed him to focus with his perception. However as artemis had seen, his perception exceeded that of normal people!

They flashed and appeared in a sunlit meadow, that stretched as far as they could see. However Percy was busy in his meditation. Calypso smiled and stepped away as she looked a round. Suddenly Aphrodite appeared from behind them. She immediately rested her chest on Percy's head." Aww little brother is busy already!?" there was a small chuckle and they turned. Chiron stood there along with a small dark haired kid." Nico!?" the two girls exclaimed at the same time." What planning on leaving me behind?" he asked impishly.

Calypso laughed and ruffled his head." Of course not scary big brother." Nico chuckled softly. Chiron looked at Percy." Such an extreme talent… I hope he can save her…" he whispered softly. Nico heard him, but kept his silence.

Then Chiron turned to then with his smile." I'll explain the test as simply and clearly as possible." Calypso and Aphrodite nodded.

" Percy can train with the three of you. at the end of each training session, he must duel with me, and he must knock my hat off in order to win! I will dodge and block most of the time, since even a casual attack would be enough to kill him." Percy opened his eyes with a confident smile." Is that it?" Chiron nodded." What rank are you?" Percy asked. Chiron smiled and his eyes flashed." Peak Minor God." Calypso and Aphrodite felt their hearts freeze. Even knocking his hat off was almost impossible. He was a god level character! He was just one realm below Artemis and Drew!

Percy smiled and his fighting spirit surged." Let me try a practice bout." Chiron chuckled then nodded." Alright. Come show me what you've got!" he steadied his hat with one hand then took a fighting stance.

Percy closed his eyes and then fell still.

Everyone slowly backed away and watched with bated breath. Percy's aura slowed and then fell still completely. He was like a calm lake, without a ripple or wave. Entirely still, like a mirror.

On the other side stood Chiron, who they couldn't even sense. He was like another patch of air, or just an illusion. Percy's aura grew softer and weaker as he stood still.

Chiron's eyes narrowed. Suddenly Percy's aura completely disappeared. He had an astonished look on his face. Suddenly a blue green glow emanated from him and a Glowing trident appeared over his head. Still no aura however. Chiron was beyond astonished." This damned kid… how is he doing this…?"

Suddenly Percy's eyes opened, slowly sliding open, so slowly, it was barely noticeable until they were completely open.

'Profound Laws of Water and Space Fused! Spatial Ripple!'

Percy silently appeared behind Chiron. He reached out with maximum speed, planning to grab the hat. Chiron's eyes widened with horror as he realized Percy was right behind him. He spun, his speed far beyond Percy's and ducked under his arm. He smiled thinly." Failed!" Percy stood still for a second and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted.

Chiron stood, feeling cold sweat cover his neck as he saw the youngsters rush towards Percy." Is this boy even human…? He learnt the profound law of space within minutes and then fused it with another law before creating an attack. He didn't even use half an hour! And that attack's stealth surpassed the level of most Demigod Realm Warriors!" he thought with a tinge of fear.

Then a smile touched his lips." Lady Hestia will be pleased." He murmured as he pulled his hat off.

He smiled at Nico." I trained you for the past six months. Don't embarrass me by losing too fast." Nico chuckled, then sat down cross-legged next to Percy.

Percy woke almost two hours later. Obviously executing that attack had drained him. He sat up slowly and yawned. He looked around and saw Nico, calypso and Aphrodite meditating quietly by his side. Chiron was nowhere to be seen.

Nico sensed him and opened his eyes and smiled at Percy." Up so soon?" Percy laughed." I recover fast." Nico stood and stretched." I'm your first match. Chiron said he'll turn up after you're done training." Percy stood as well. Calypso and Aphrodite opened their eyes, but remained seated. They smiled encouragingly at Percy.

Nico stepped away from them and took up a fighting stance." Come on Percy. I spent these last six months training under Chiron. So I'm far more powerful now!"

Percy closed his eyes. Immediately he was covered with phoenix flames. His foot touched the ground and he exploded forward.

Nico smiled thinly and tilted impossibly, dodging. His hand flew up and slammed into Percy's chest. He skidded backwards and tumbled to a stop almost fifty metres away.

Percy coughed and stood. He gestured at Nico." Can you show me your transformation?" Nico nodded." I can, but on one condition.". Percy tilted his head." What is it?" Nico scratched his awkwardly." I was curious about what bloodline you have. I feel it resonating with mine, like you have a similar bloodline, but that is impossible. Hades's bloodline is unique and unmatched. It is the greatest treasure of the ancient necropolis that once stood in the heart of the Pontus empire. I was given this blood, because the empire was being destroyed and I was blessed with the death god's physique. I was meant to e humanity's last hope. But your bloodline seems to resonate with mine. Which bloodline could match a divine bloodline?"

Percy rubbed his nose. Aphrodite seemed curious as well. Calypso stayed silent, since she already knew. Percy hesitated. He trusted Nico and Aphrodite, but artemis had told him that no one could recognize his bloodline, but if word got out he had absorbed the indestructible blood of Poseidon, then even the most powerful beings in the realm of gods would come in search of him.

Nico caught his hesitation and laughed." It's alright, I was just curious. I didn't expect any bloodline to be on my level, but I suppose another god could have also left behind a similar bloodline." Percy laughed as well. However he knew that Nico possessed the normal blood of Hades, which despite not being common, was not very rare either. After all, a god had a lot of blood, and could produce more even if they lost some.

However, he had Poseidon's lifeblood, which was every living things most precious blood. Artemis told him that even a god might have only 3 to 5 drops of life blood. And the life blood he had was condensed from these few drops. Thus it could be said he had all of Poseidon's life potential. This one drop was a treasure that was unmatched, since the other gods hadn't left behind any lifeblood. On top of that, Poseidon was one of the top three most powerful gods.

Percy was aware that even telling calypso was a needless risk and could even prove fatal. However he trusted artemis and calypso without restraint.

Nico flipped his head up and his hair stirred and blew in a nonexistent breeze as his bloodline activated. The more powerful a bloodline, the more power needed to control it. hence, Nico's weaker bloodline, matched with his death god's physique, meant he could activate it whenever necessary and without a great cost. However Percy's more powerful bloodline, even when he became a legend, still overloaded his body after only thirty seconds. Even activating twice in a row was dangerous.

A helmet floated above Nico's head. He reached up and grabbed it and pulled it over his head. Immediately, his aura spiked, turning berserk. It shot up crazily, and its chaotic nature reminded Percy of Luke's darkness aura. Nico faded and disappeared. Percy felt his slip out of this dimension entirely. Turning into a shadow, 'Intangible Shadow!'

Percy's eyes narrowed as he traced the laws behind the change.

There was a flicker of wind and then he stood behind him. Percy's eyes widened. He hadn't even felt him, despite expecting and concentrating on his movements.

Nico laughed and slapped Percy's shoulder. Percy grinned and looked up." Artemis, wait for me! When I come for you, I'll be so strong, you'll never even believe how strong I am!" he thought as he clenched his fist. Then he heard a soft voice echo from his inner world." Master! Hong'er is bored! Come play with her!" Percy sat down and closed his eyes.

His vision went into his inner world and his soul appeared there. Hong'er was rubbing her stomach as she sighed with satisfaction. The thousands of swords Percy had bought for her were all eaten.

"Master! Hong'er was feeling bored so she ate all the swords!" she exclaimed and smiled as if she wanted praise. Percy chuckled then rubbed her head. Suddenly he remembered Luke's sword. It was ancient sword used by a devil god of ancient times. Without doubt, it was a priceless treasure. It was a sword on the level of riptide. He flipped up his palm and his spatial ring flashed as the sword appeared. He'd searched and taken it a few days after his battle with Luke.

Hong'er's eyes gleamed as she saw the sword. She started drooling." OOOOOOH! MASTER THAT SMELLS DELICIOUS!" she jumped at his, arms outstretched. Percy's own eyes widened and he dodged." No! hong'er this isn't for you!" hong'er stamped her foot." Uuuuuu! Master gimme gimme!" she tried circling around Percy, but he didn't let her anywhere near his right arm. He still remembered how fast she was when she wanted to be.

Hong'er was drooling uncontrollably as she eyed his sword. Suddenly she seemed to remember something she spit into her hand and held it out." Master, big sis artemis left this for you!" Percy looked at her skeptically then his eyes nearly popped out as he saw the glowing silver ball in her hand. That aura was undoubtedly artemis's. He jumped forward but hong'er pulled her small hand back." Give me the sword first master! I'm hungry!" Percy thought about the small mountain of swords he'd stored in here. Then thought about the small girl in front of him. He felt like vomiting blood as he imagined fitting that mountain into her tiny stomach. Even if you beat someone to death, they wouldn't believe this girl's stomach could fit one sword, let alone a mountain of them.

He sighed and held out his sword. Hong'er grabbed it and her saliva overflowed, covering the sword as she licked her lips with her small tongue. She tossed Percy the small silver ball, then sat down with the sword. Percy watched fascinated as the sword that he could bend into a crescent shape without it snapping turned into a fragile snack under her pearly white teeth.

She bit down and her teeth sank into it like a chocolate. Percy didn't know whether to laugh or to cry as the indestructible ancient devil sword was eaten in small bites. Hong'er savored every bite and even finished the hilt. Then she curled up like a cat, pulling artemis's blanket around herself before falling to sleep.

Percy then turned his attention to the silver ball in his hand. Suddenly he remembered, she'd told his that she had left him a gift. Her voice once again rang in his head." I've left you something to repay you. it won't increase your cultivation by much, but it will increase your lifespan by thousand of years."

Percy removed the protection around the ball, then his eyes widened as he realized what exactly he held in his hand. It was sparkling and perfectly round. It radiated a terrifying level of power and emanated a strong life aura. An incomparably familiar life aura. He looked at the red gem in his hand and felt his eyes blur with tears as he realized what it was.

It was artemis's life blood. A single drop of her lifeblood, bearing her potent lifeline and her powerful bloodline in it.

Percy closed his eyes and it sank into his skin and assimilated into him. He felt her rich aura spread through out him and he felt her presence for an instant before fading away. Earlier, when he was just eight years old, he had once fought a gang of thieves. However he had been overwhelmed by the leader who was a rank higher than him. That day artemis had interfered and saved him. However she had still punished him and called him weak.

Artemis had started berating him over his weakness. "what an utterly pathetic display! If you can't even jump a single rank while fighting against trash, then you yourself are trash! And there is no way I'll teach trash. So stop being trash! No sleep for you today!"

Artemis started berating him over his weakness. "what an utterly pathetic display! If you can't even jump a single rank while fighting against trash, then you yourself are trash! And there is no way I'll teach trash. So stop being trash! No sleep for you today!"

He looked up." Don't worry artemis. I won't lose." His eyes flashed silver.

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Fourteen  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm/ Berserk Darkness  
Current status: Dragon-Phoenix Bond with Calypso  
Current Cultivation: Late Stage Legend Realm  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive), Circular Softness( Combined), Hurricane Spiral(Defensive)/Bloodline Of The Azure Dragon/Bloodline of the Royal Phoenix/ Bloodline of the Divine Golden Crow/ Celestial Moon God's Blood(special Power: Oracle's eye)  
Divine Transformations: Divine Sea Gods Transformation/ Devil God Sword Transformation/celestial Moon God's Transformation.  
Weapon: Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword/ Riptide

Nico DiAngelo(Profile)

Name: Nico DiAngelo  
Age: ?  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Death  
Current status: Successor of Hades  
Current Cultivation: Late Legend Realm(?)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline Of Erebus(special power: Phantom Wraith, Call Dead, )/(?)  
Divine Transformations: Death God's Divine Transformation: intangible Shadow,(?)  
Weapon: Death Dragon Spear.

Aphrodite Alhart(Profile)

Name: Aphrodite Alhart  
Age: Twenty Four  
Race: Human  
Attribute: Love  
Current Status: Director of Alchemist Association/ infatuated with Percy.  
Current Cultivation: Peak Legend Realm  
Monster Bloodline:Nil  
Divine Transformation: Nil  
Beast Contract: Alpine Snow Fairy.  
Beastly Transformation: Angel Of Lustful Charm  
Weapon: Heavy Heart Soul Scythe

Calypso Thundre(Profile)

Name:Calypso Thundre  
Age: Seventeen  
Race: Divine God Beast  
Attribute: ThunderFire  
Current Status: Daughter of Phoenix, Divine Golden Crow, Thunder Dragon/ Dragon-Phoenix Bond with Percy  
Current Cultivation: Peak Legend Realm  
Monster Bloodlines: Royal Phoenix Bloodline(Phoenix Trueform), Golden Crows Bloodline( Nirvana of destruction), Thunder Dragon's Bloodline Bloodline(special Power: Thunder Dragon's Roar)  
Divine Transformation: Phoenix Trueform/ Dragonification  
Weapon: Dragon Empress's Whip

A.N.: and so begins the intense training! Also Percy going a bit OP for making up his weakness. Next chapter will be battle grande! Review ideas for moves for Nico, Aphrodite and calypso. If any special moves catch my eye I'll use it!


	39. Battle Grande

**Note:** late updates because of Botchy wifi. Also I'm planning each chapter out now, to prevent myself from running out of ideas.

 **Fifth Arc: Battle Grande**

Percy trained for hours, testing out the laws he'd perceived from watching Nico's transformation. He heard riptide urging him to use his power. And Percy felt that if he did use riptide's power he'd have no problem knocking off Chiron's hat. But he still remembered that feeling of helplessness that came when riptide's bloodlust took over him. And he was determined that until it was absolutely necessary he would never use riptide's power as the risk of using it was simply too risky.

Furthermore, this test was to make sure he was strong enough to survive in the divine realm. But if he needed riptide to pass, then clearly he couldn't survive. He trained, testing out every single idea, trying to progress. And then he realized the change in his aura. With the help of artemis's lifeblood, he had reached the peak of Legend Realm. Of course, that hardly meant he had any big advantage against Chiron right now. After all, he was still far weaker than Chiron.

Then suddenly Aphrodite stood up with a smile." enough of this training and meditating. Come on my cute little Percy. Lets fight!" she flashed him a smile and walked to the center of the field.

Percy's curiosity was piqued. He'd never seen Aphrodite fight before. He'd only heard rumors of her combat prowess. Back when she was a level nine warrior she was said to be one of the few Ninth rank combatants, capable of surviving the attack of an early stage Legend. Now that she was a legend, that meant she was stronger than ordinary legends. Of course Percy was stronger than ordinary legends as well. But it was curious to imagine how strong his flirty partner really was.

Aphrodite smiled when she saw the look on his face." Wondering how strong I really am?" Percy blushed." Ummm…" she giggled." Oh Percy. Don't think I'll go easy on you." she twisted her wrist and with a purple flash her entire body began emanating a purple aura that was the same color as her hair. She grinned and spun, raising her arms over her head. The glow brightened and then she flashed a bright purple and her entire attire changed.

Percy's jaw dropped open, and despite having seen her nude numerous times, he still had to pinch his nose as he felt blood rush to his nose. His eyes were wide as saucers, and that was because, Aphrodite was unbelievably hot right now.

Dressed in tight Black Leather that hugged every single curve and seemed like it was doing a bad job of both covering her up and protecting her. shiny leather covered her entire left leg, but cut off at the start of her thigh on the right leg. Zipped up only halfway up her front, it struggled to contain her luscious and tender breasts.

She spun, and snapped her palm out and a purple black scythe flashed into existence in her hand. The handle of the scythe was taller than Aphrodite herself, and extended for nearly eight feet. It was ridged and twisted, and a pure ebony black. The blade was split into two, the main blade extending nearly five feet long, and one foot thick at its thickest. It narrowed to a sharp point that twinkled in the bright light. The secondary blade was around only three feet long and not even half a foot thick, and seemed for all purposes ornamental.

Aphrodite smirked and spun her scythe, turning it into an arc of destruction. Percy felt an overwhelmingly suffocating aura erupt as soon as the scythe moved, and he had no doubt that the scythe was as deadly as it looked. The blade left a purple after image every time it moved, making it seem like it had more than two blades.

She smirked lightly at Percy." Don't underestimate me kiddo. i wasn't the greatest talent of hope city for no reason!" Percy felt his own lips curve into a smile and he extended his own hand." Hong'er!" he called and she appeared in her great sword form and fell into his grip. Percy's face twisted and he almost dropped the sword when the entire weight settled.

He grabbed it with both hands and took up a firm stance. The sword dragged his arms down and Percy sent all his battle qi into his arms and forcefully stabilized himself. He gulped nervously as he tried estimating Hong'er's weight. The sword still looked exactly the same, but rather than the one million kilograms he had used when fighting Luke, it was now almost fifty million kilograms, or perhaps even more!

Percy suddenly remembered the Ancient Devil Sword he had given her to eat, in exchange for artemis's blood. He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Just that one sword had increased her weight by more than fifty times!

He grit his teeth and used all his strength to raise it. Aphrodite looked amused." What's wrong? You were swinging that sword like it was weightless a few months back. How come you suddenly seem to have difficulty lifting it?". but how could Percy explain to her the reality. No one knew about Hong'er and thus no one would believe a sword could increase in weight.

Percy scowled." Just come at me!" she smirked and took a step back. Her voice rang out, soft and lilting." Oh dear little brother, that sword seems awfully heavy, why don't you put it down?" her voice washed over him like a sedative. Even Drew's soul suppression hadn't been so effective. Of course that was because she hadn't used it in an attack, it was just her natural voice.

Percy struggled to resist, but his arms were already trembling, now under the effect of her voice, they almost gave way. It took all his willpower to resist. She took a single step forward and suddenly blurred, appearing before him, her hand cupping his chin." Awwwww, little brother is ignoring me?" she pouted and then pushed him lightly with one hand. Percy's eyes popped out as he felt like a hammer had smashed into his chest and lifted him off his feet. He dropped the heaven smiting devil slayer sword and smashed into the ground. He staggered back to his feet and glanced at Aphrodite with more than a little apprehension. He had never expected such an overwhelming difference in power. In the face of her strength, he was powerless to even try and resist.

She appeared behind Percy, wrapping her arms around Percy. She bit his ear and softly murmured." Oh little Percy… come on, lie down~" Percy's entire body relaxed and he almost collapsed, if not for her holding him up. She giggled and just like that, her spell broke and suddenly all the strength returned to Percy's body.

She released him and stepped back." So Percy.." she smirked." Convinced by my power?" Percy took a deep breath as he tried calming down his racing heart. He thought about what artemis would have told him, tried to understand, how she would have told him to counter this. He sighed and faced Aphrodite." Again please." She laughed and suddenly launched forward. He scythe swung towards him and suddenly all the strength in Percy's body seemed to drain away as her eyes bored into his, pulling at his soul, and promising naughty pleasures.

Percy's eyes dimmed, then suddenly flashed silver. Artemis's blood burned in his veins and erupted with power, driving off the soul suppression. Percy grit his teeth and dodged the scythe. Aphrodite's smile widened and she spun, turning her scythe into a tornado of destruction that chased him.

He turned into a silver blur, and his speed rocketed to the maximum as he dodged all her attacks and weaved around her, trying to get past her defense. Her scythe seemed to predict every move and before long she struck him, the blunt end of the scythe slamming into his head and knocking him to the ground like a sack of stones. Percy groaned and cradled his head. Aphrodite snapped her palm against the scythe and her transformation shattered into fine motes of purple crystals.

She sighed softly and rubbed her temple." This transformation is really tiring. That's the only problem."

Percy sighed and rolled onto his back, trying to get his splitting headache under control. Calypso stood up with a mischievous smile." My turn now!" and he sighed.

Calypso didn't use phoenix trueform. But even so, he was clearly outmatched. Her whip moved in a zig zag pattern nearly indiscernible by the naked eye. Percy tried using Hong'er, but her extra weight simply bogged him down, and he ended up fighting hand to hand against calypso's whip, and he failed miserably.

He couldn't even figure out how to improve. Then Chiron turned up, for their duel. Percy sighed in his heart. How could he possibly win?

Even with his divine sea transformation, he was far from being even calypso's match, let alone Chiron, who utterly outclassed him. Chiron smiled when he saw his indecision." Remember what your master told you. trust her and let your souls connect. You don't need to be in a life or death situation for you to need her help."

Percy stiffened when he heard his words. Chiron's smile said everything. He nodded encouragingly. Percy's consciousness went into his inner world. Hong'er was seated there, humming to herself. She was out of swords, but the Devil sword seemed to have filled her up. She smiled when she saw Percy.

"Uuuuu master! Hong'er was waiting for you! will you play with Hong'er now?" she leapt to her feet. Percy reached out a hand and touched her forehead, right where he had previously imprinted the contract seal." Hong'er, can you hear me?" he thought softly.

Hong'er tilted her head as if confused. Then she giggled." Of course I can hear you master! Hong'er isn't deaf!" she said while twirling a strand of her red hair in her fingers.

Percy was astonished, then suddenly, his mind flooded with information. He was suddenly able to sense Hong'er. For the first time, he managed to sense her presence. Even artemis was unable to sense Hong'er, and she seemed like a dead person, without any vital signs.

But now, he could feel her presence, linked to his own soul. He could sense her curiosity, her excitement and her adoration for him. Their souls were clearly connected and exchanging information. Previously, only Hong'er was using this connection, safeguarding him from riptide's power. But now, he was finally able to access it as well.

"Hong'er, master wants your help!" he said suddenly. Hong'er smiled." Uuuuu, master, Anything for Hong'er's master!"

Percy's eyes opened and he smiled at Chiron. He extended his hand with a red flash, Hong'er appeared, settling into his hand. The blade was still as heavy as before, but now the weight melted through Percy.

The sword became an extension of him, and he an extension of her. Hong'er was standing in the pearl embedded in the Pearl in the hilt of the sword. She smiled and their souls drew closer, fusing into one.

Percy erupted with a vermillion aura. Chiron's eyes widened as he felt the laws twist and distort. The vermillion aura twisted and mixed with greenish blue. The natural laws of the heavens descended.

Poseidon's blood awoke with furious intensity. Godly power surged and rose." T-this…. This cannot be…" Chiron moved, flipping his palm, a sword appearing in his hand right as Percy swung. Behind Percy, the Phantom of the God Poseidon appeared, wielding his divine trident. The world seemed to shrink around Chiron, forcefully locking him in place and leaving him unable to dodge. He forced himself to raise his sword to meet Percy's tyrannical slash." This aura! It's not a legend!"

Percy's sword slash smashed into Chiron as he swung his own sword. Both swords clashed and the entirety of space twisted and shattered. Chiron's hat stirred, then slowly lifted up in the breeze, and floated away.

Chiron stared at percy with shock. His aura was wild and surging, an unrestrained ocean that swirled in a storm of destruction. This aura flooded into Aphrodite and calypso and they were enclosed into a cocoon of light. Chiron stared at Percy. He smirked and lifted his sword." I moved your hat." Chiron shook his head." Not only that. You just became a demigod." Percy froze." Demigod?" he looked at his hand." I'm now a demigod?". Chiron shook his head." Not only did you break through, you passed your power to both your friends and they are breaking through as well."

Percy spun. Calypso and Aphrodite were half floating in the air as heavenly laws bathed them." Once that girl reaches the demigod level, her power will multiply immensely. After all she has a divine bloodline." Chiron sighed as he looked at calypso.

Percy's interest was piqued." Wait so a divine bloodline increases in power after you reach the divine realm?" Nico appeared beside Percy." Yes indeed." He smiled at Percy." Congrats on reaching the divine realm by the way." Percy smiled back and closed his eyes, feeling Hong'er's presence within the sword." Hong'er. Thank you for helping me."

Hong'er giggled." Hihihi. Anything for Hong'er's master!". He started to turn towards Nico, storing Hong'er back into his inner world. But suddenly the world before his eyes blurred and then he collapsed.(A.N.: just how many times has Percy fainted in this FanFic?)

When he opened his eyes, he stood in a world of black. There was no one around. But he could feel a heavy presence surrounding him. Then it spoke out." So…. This is my successor?" Percy stiffened in fear. The power contained in his voice was unmatched. Even artemis seemed nothing but a child compared to the pure strength that lay beneath it. it was vast and boundless, spreading out and covering the entirety of creation. There was no doubt in Percy's mind who the owner of this voice was.

"Poseidon…." Percy whispered. The voice chuckled." I wanted hope for the world. But this was not something I expected. The fates never cease to amaze me. My brothers gave their lives to seal the calamity and I gave mine to leave behind a power capable of opposing the calamity. But I never expected that I would burden you….. again…" Percy frowned." Burden me…. Again…?"

Poseidon sighed." You cannot escape a prophecy, nor can you fight it. even in death, it holds true…" then the voice hardened and strengthened again." Perseus jackson, son of humanity, you are my successor, and inheritor of my lifeblood! This is not a blessing, but rather a curse! You are granted this power to fulfill your destiny, or die trying….. again…" Percy's eyes flashed." Regardless of my destiny, I have my goal! If I require power to achieve my goals and protect my friends, then I shall scale the heavens!"

Suddenly his body was flooded with power, and in this power, he sensed the presence of Poseidon." Ahahaha! That is the spirit a successor of the sea must have!"

The power of the oceans surged through his veins and permeated his bones and every pore of his body." The last remnant of my divine soul was contained in my lifeblood! Since you are my successor, I grant you this final gift! As long as you never lose your ideals, you will be unstoppable!"

The space distorted and suddenly filled with a number of monsters. Percy's heart trembled as he realized they were all Demigods." Summon the power of the seas, and see for yourself, what power the oceans hide!"

Percy took a fighting stance.' Divine Sea Transformation!' he erupted with a Blue Green Glow, and for the first time, it didn't place any pressure on him. His aura began climbing. His power rose from initial level of Demigod, to the peak Demigod realm. Percy clenched his fists and grinned. He slammed out a single fist. The power of the oceans roared behind him and swirled in a crescendo before erupting in a tsunami." Thousand Layered Waves: Final Wave Tsunami!" a ripple exploded from his fist and gently flowed over all the surrounding monsters. They froze and began trembling. Then they exploded, shattering into pieces of flesh and blood.

More monsters arose, and now their aura's were even stronger. Percy extended his hand and a Trident appeared. He laughed out loud and plunged forward, a god of death descending upon the battlefield, weapon in hand. All the monsters exploded as soon as he swept by, trident tearing apart the void.

Percy laughed maniacally as he swept through the armies, testing out every facet of his power. He was finally able to maintain his Transformation for as long as he needed, and the feeling of power was unbelievable!

When he was done, he was covered in blood, and all his enemies had been torn apart. Poseidon laughed." Truly we have a chance of surviving the calamity now! I can finally rest in peace, and leave the rest to our descendants….." Percy looked up in surprise." Senior?" he called out.

But Poseidon's presence had already faded away, and as it did, even the reality he stood in began disappearing as his soul returned to its body.

Percy gasped and sat up straight. He looked at both his hands, but they were clean and blood free. Calypso and the rest were looking at him worriedly." Percy…. Are you ok..?" she asked timidly. Percy laughed and stood up, sweeping her into his arms and hugging her. she gave a strangled squeak and then hugged him back.

Percy turned to Chiron." So I can go through now right?" Chiron sighed." Even if you go through, do you have even the faintest idea of where to look?" Percy laughed deprecatingly." I have no idea, but that hardly means I can give up right?" Chiron nodded." Since you passed my test, naturally, you get a prize."

Percy looked up with a degree of surprise." What is it?" Chiron flung out his arm, and three tokens flew out, reaching Percy, calypso and Aphrodite." The Realm of Gods has many sects and societies, but only three Divine Sects. These three are the Divine Asura Demon Sect, The Divine Wisdom Warrior Sect, and The Flame seed sect. in Terms of combat Prowess, the Asura sect and Wisdom sect are toe to toe, and can be said to be unmatched. Their sect leaders are the War God Ares and the War Goddess Athena Respectively.(A.N: no they are not actual gods. They are humans, but they are excellent at battle,so they've been given the title of war god and war goddess.) they are both Olympian Level Warriors, and can be said to be the two strongest humans alive! The Flame seed sect, is weaker and smaller. Their sect leader is Hestia, who is also an Olympian Level Warrior."

Percy was listening with rapt attention. When he mentioned Ares, his memory stirred." Artemis… she said… Ares.. once captured a woman with a Great Rhea Physique, and used her to bear his children for 600 years." Chiron nodded." Indeed. Ares can be said to be one of the more brutal warriors. He only desires power. And cares little for morals. And standing opposite to him is Athena, who opposes his every move. The two are like water and fire, but rarely fight. Such a fight would be useless as they both are too strong. To defeat the other would simply waste strength and would be meaningless. Meanwhile Hestia usually stays out of conflicts and avoids their challenges. And I belong to her Flame seed sect. the tokens you hold are the tokens for becoming disciples of the Flame Seed sect. and the one you seek…" Chiron looked at Percy with a touch of sadness." She is in the Asura sect. and anyone who joins the asura or wisdom sect, stays there for their life. Leaving is rarely an option….. and is usually very expensive. It is more than just honor. It can be described as… a bond of life and death…. But I don't have any more details."

Percy looked that the plain token in his hand. It was so simple and unadorned. It held few decorations and the only thing of note was the simple fire symbol etched into the center. Somehow, this simple symbol seemed very profound and mysterious to Percy. He stored it away into his inner world and faced Chiron." So what else do I need to know?"

Chiron shook his head." After joining, you must stay in the sect and serve as an outer court disciple for two years. After that, you may leave, or can be promoted." Percy nodded. Chiron grabbed space and tore it open." Well if you have any more questions, I'll answer them on the way. We have a long way to go."

A.N.: finally reaching the demigod level! And finally going to the realm of gods! Pertemis! Here we come!

Also some explanations.: Percy's bloodline allows him to increase his power level. It rises from initial level Demigod Realm to Peak Level Demigod realm. But his true cultivation is initial level demigod realm.

Also I decided to shorten the fight scenes because of all the complaints on them being too long. It's a pain writing long ones anyway. Also the reason calypso and Aphrodite grow faster in power than Percy, is because he has the Dragon God Physique and Poseidon Bloodline. These two make him a great dual cultivation partner. So he gives great benefits even to overpowered girls like drew. So obviously the boost to weaker girls will be immense. Bt he himself gets a smaller boost as his power increases.

And finally, the reborn characters appear. And can anyone guess who I based Aphrodite's transformation from? ciao


	40. Realm of Gods

**Fifth Arc: Realm of Gods.**

The first and most obvious difference Percy found when he exited the long spatial tunnel, was the energy. The Heaven and Earth energy, the Qi that circulated everywhere, was dense and heavy, and so chaotic, it was almost unbearably tyrannical. Any warrior below the Divine realm wo wasn't used to this Qi would have great difficulty training here. Percy sighed in amazement." What abundant energy. No wonder the realm of Gods is a place filled with experts. The energy back in the Pontus Realm was so weak and thin. If someone grew up in this environment, and was used to this energy, their power would naturally be much greater."

Calypso and Aphrodite nodded in agreement, taking deep breaths of the Heavenly energy, and letting it permeate through them. Training here would be twice as fast with half the effort! Chiron gave an ironic bow and tipped his straw hat." Take care, young heroes. In this divine realm of gods, you are the weakest of existences. Cultivate diligently and try not to search for trouble." He looked at Percy pointedly. Percy didn't know whether to laugh or to cry." Why are you looking at me?". Chiron winked and waved a hand." Nico will join you in a few decades. Stay alive till then!" he ducked back into the tunnel and it shut behind him.

However he didn't head back home. He quickly snuck through space and headed into the sect.

He tore open space and stepped out, before kneeling. His heart trembled slightly as he waited for her to appear. She already knew he was here, so he kept calm and let her come when she pleased. Suddenly space trembled and a girl stepped out. There was no tear, no ripple. She simply seemed to step out of thin air. Chiron felt no aura from her and wouldn't know of her if he hadn't heard her shoes squeak on the floor.

He kept his head lowered, respectfully kneeling, till the girl spoke. In a soft sigh of a whisper, a frail voice brushed past him." He has come…?" Chiron raised his head up. Before him stood a girl who seemed no more than twelve, with straight black hair and fiery red eyes. Her childish face still had remnants of immaturity in it, but still seemed aged, filled with the years it had seen. She was clad in a simple gray robe, the attire of a mourner, and Chiron felt like sighing as well. Her beauty was dulled by these robes, but she had worn them for years, mourning her great loss.

The young flower of a girl had been stifled into forced maturity before her years, and it had left a deep scar, that despite all his efforts, Chiron had never managed to fill." Yes little miss." Chiron sighed." The boy has arrived. And you will be pleased to hear that he is a talent beyond belief, a Divinity in his early teens and able to fuse and use Laws that otherwise require decades or centuries of study and meditation to master."

She gave no response except for a slight nod of her head, as if all was within her expectations, and she could care less about it. Chiron hesitated, then spoke." Little miss… forgive me for asking… but do you truly believe he can save her? despite his talent, he has no time to grow sufficiently. You believe he can do what even Apollo could not?" her eyes flashed and a cold killing intent touched the air for a moment. This killing intent was cold enough to freeze the flames of hell, and fatal enough to stop a Legend's heart. However, Chiron was not the least bit intimidated. He looked at her, and her killing intent faded away. If it was a hundred years back, she would never have shown such killing intent, especially towards him, and in the off chance she did, her guilt would drown her till she ended up apologizing. But now, she just withdrew her killing intent and then spoke in a soft whisper." Something Apollo could not do? It is something even I cannot do! But he is all I have to depend on! I must save her! Apollo spent his life protecting her!" she lowered her head and shook it softly." Master… you have been like a second father to me. So you should know, I have no choice. Apollo' Struggle would be in vain! I cannot let her die, and the boy may be the only one who can save her."

Chiron shook his head gently." But-"." No But's! I must save Zoë's life! Since perseus is the only person who may be able to stop Artemis from killing Zoë, if I must use him, I will!" Chiron bowed his head." May the gods guide your hand." He whispered, then rose, turning to leave." Take care Hestia. Hate is not something that suits you. you cannot wield your flames for hatred's sake." Hestia didn't answer, watching silently as he left.

She stood in place, like a silent statue that might stand there for centuries.

Percy and his group headed into the sect, which was a small plot of land, maybe twice or thrice the size of the entire mountain range in which Hope city was located.

Percy could hardly believe there were enough people to occupy the entire area. But as it turned out, there were. In fact, the sect was crowded! Percy stared openmouthed as people bustled about, engrossed in daily life. Besides him, calypso and Aphrodite were similarly openmouthed.

They were met by a guide, who explained the regulations once again, then gave an outline of the important details, sketching out the basic design of the sect. he then led them to the living area of the outer court disciples. In terms of ranking, the outer court disciple's were the lowest, followed by the Inner court Disciples, then the Core disciples, with the highest being Direct Disciples. Direct Disciples were the successors of the sect leaders and were hence peerless talents who could be said to be the favored children of heaven.

Percy was mostly overwhelmed by the sheer number of girls. The gender ratio in the sect seemed insane, with the entire sect filled with girls and barely any guys around. Soon the guide began explaining it to him." Apparently, during dual cultivation, a female has the ability to store the male's essence and refine it within herself. However, the male loses his essence and vitality. Hence usually, once you reach the legend realm, it is very difficult for males to break through." She glanced at Percy and her electrifying gaze seemed to sweep over every nook and cranny of his body. She smiled and her tongue touched the corner of her lips." In fact men who manage to break through are always in short supply and high in demand. Apparently, their essence is extremely beneficial for us."

Her eyes were roaming all over him with barely concealed hunger and Percy began wondering if she realized how strongly her 'hidden' message was coming out. Calypso was still smiling, but her small hand was pinching his palm repeatedly, as if reminding him she was right there.

Soon, the guide dropped them off at the outer court. She seemed surprised at Percy's lack of action, attention or interaction. She gave a last try, flashing him a smile as her hands clenched at the front of her skirt, letting her boobs stand out far better." If you ever need me for 'anything' don't hesitate to drop by" she smiled at him suggestively. Calypso's fingernails dug into his skin, on the verge of drawing blood. Percy struggled to control his urge to yelp and push her hand away. He pulled her closer, locking her into his arms and resting his chin on her shoulder. Aphrodite grabbed his shoulder and leaned aginst him, as if making it clear, she had as much right over Percy as calypso." Thanks for the offer." Percy smiled politely.

The girl nodded mutely, then headed away. Clearly, Percy was making it obvious he was with these two. That was the equivalent for him saying no to the offer of every girl in the sect.

Of course there would always be the pushy ones and the naughty ones who wouldn't give up so easily. And after years of experience, all the single girls in the sect were both Pushy and naughty. Hence, it could be said to be a trial of impossible difficulty for someone gifted with the dragon God Body physique that gave him near inexhaustible stamina and the Poseidon Godly Bloodline that made him naturally sensitive towards even the smallest stimulations.

And so two years passed by in the sect. Percy was unable to entirely resist his urges at times, and each time, the benefits the girl harvested were so huge as well as the addictive nature of Percy's Dual Cultivation, most girls were desperate to climb back into his bed, and even more girls became desperate to try him out at least once. Thousands of girls begging to be screwed was nearly impossible to resist.

But Percy controlled himself most of the time and focused on cultivating. After two years of painstaking cultivation, he rose from initial Demigod, to Middle stage demigod. In reality, such a growth rate was heaven defying, but to Percy, it was far too slow. However, there was nothing to be done. As his power grew, his cultivation would slow down, as the energy needed to breakthrough would increase with each Level.

Calypso and Aphrodite were obviously benefitting greatly from continuously dual cultivating with him everyday. After all, his Poseidon's bloodline was a True Creation God Level Yang Bloodline! The benefits to him may be small, but to his partners, it was a clear growth. Calypso was at the peak of Middle stage Demigod realm. One more step, and she would become a Late stage demigod.

However, after nearly two years of relentless cultivation, the trio were dying to go out and stretch their legs. They headed out of the sect and into the market. It was a grand and messy place, filled with medicine ingredients, array materials.

However, with the fates keeping an eye on him, trouble eventually found him.

It was first the boy. An initial Minor God cultivation boy was kicking a young girl. Percy enquired around, and soon the story surfaced. This girl was an outer court disciple of Hestia's Flame Seed sect. the boy was a Inner court disciple of the Asura Sect. he had asked the girl to dual cultivate with him, but she refused. Apparently, he practices demonic arts and that helps him suck out girl's yin energy.

This can destroy their talent cripple them as well. She refused the boy, and even slapped him when he kept pursuing her. he lost his temper, as a girl with initial demigod cultivation dared slap him, a Minor god level character!

No one seemed interested in interfering or stopping them. After all it had little to do it with someone's mistake.

However Percy was hardly going to stand and watch. He stepped out of the crowd and into the empty space left behind by the crowd to let them fight. Calypso's eyes widened and she grabbed his arm." Idiot!" she hissed." We have enough problems. Don't drag in new ones." The asura sect disciple glanced up." Ehhh? Wanna be the knight in shining armor and charm her eh?" he smirked as he looked at Percy and sneered at his cultivation.

Then his gaze shifted towards calypso and Aphrodite, both who were holding Percy back.

"Heehehehehe. Such hot girls! If you are willing to become my cultivation ovens, I might we willing to spare your boyfriends life! Ehehehehehe" he snickered and licked his lips and drooled at Aphrodite's curves.

Calypso and Aphrodite exchanged looks, then simultaneously released their hold on Percy." Beat the hell out of him, till he regrets it!" calypso growled." Go get him, my tiger!"Aphrodite purred softly into his ear.

Percy didn't waste time on words and launched himself forward. A blue green glow covered him and a trident materialized within his hands and he moved with it as one, thrusting it out, with the force of the oceans.' Divine Sea Transformation!' his aura rose again, rising rapidly till it reached the absolute peak of Demigod level. Then it broke through and he emanated the fierce aura of an Initial Minor God.

The other boy's eyes widened dramatically as Percy's aura shot up till it was the same as his. He hastily pulled his sword out. It was a sturdy, thick and short blade, made of tempered divine iron. It was infused with his godly power, raising it's power dramatically yet again.

However, when he clashed against Percy's trident, the sword trembled briefly, then bubbled and bent, and then burst apart. Percy's trident continued on and came to a stop right before his heart.

He dropped the lower part of sword and staggered back in shock." Y-you… who are you!?" he cried out fearfully. Percy shook his arm and the trident faded away. His aura once again dropped back to the middle demigod realm.

He smirked and ran a hand through his hair." I'm an outer Sect disciple of the flame Seed sect. any problems?" the boy gulped nervously and backed away slowly." Of course not… why would I have any issues?' he turned tail and ran.

Percy laughed lightly and turned away. The girl stared at him with gratitude in her eyes. Percy gave her a hand and pulled her up. She tried throwing her arms around Percy, but he neatly ducked under her embrace and swiftly escaped the applauding crowd.

He grabbed a hold of both calypso and Aphrodite and ran for it, quickly throwing off the throng of pursuers.

They slowed and started browsing through the shops. Though they weren't rich, the sect did give them a yearly allowance so they could buy items. Originally, it had seemed absurd to Percy that they had a yearly allowance. However considering the long life span of a demigod, nearly ten thousand years, as well as the lifespan of a minor god, reaching nearly twenty to fifty thousand years., it seemed obvious, they didn't have much value for years.

But Percy had lived for only sixteen years and hence each year was incomparably precious and a very long wait.

Percy was busy examining a scroll of Laws, when the street vendor screamed and ran for it. he had an impressive cultivation of Level nine, but here that was trash. Percy spun in surprise, jumping backwards instinctively. His jaw dropped open when he saw exactly what had surprised the street vendor.

An army of demons and skeletons were crawling up the now empty streets. They clutched swords and maces, Axes and spears, striking anything that came in their way.

Percy felt his throat close up in fear. Each one of these monsters was a peerless warrior and Percy had no doubt he was no match for even a single one of them, let alone an entire army numbering in the tens of thousands or perhaps even millions!

Each monster emanated a terrifying bloodthirsty killing intent and a solid feeling of hatred. It was almost enough to choke someone as powerful, and mentally stable as Percy. Beside him, both calypso and Aphrodite grew pale and bloodless as the army approached. Percy was about to grab the two of them and run like hell, when suddenly, he sensed another, even more powerful aura approaching from the opposite direction.

Percy felt his heart freeze in terror the second his perception sensed that power. It was vast and endless, like an eternal abyss that stretched out into infinity. Percy almost kneeled down with reverence, then realized everyone except for him had already knelt. Some of the weaker people were lying prostrate on the ground, rubbing their sobbing faces into the dirt.

Calypso and Aphrodite, despite having overwhelming willpower, were still forced down to one knee. The pressure of this presence was over a million times over the strongest presence he had ever sensed from Artemis. For someone to be so overwhelmingly powerful… Percy looked up and to his astonishment he spotted an angel, calmly walking over through the sky.

Dressed in ornamental gold and silver armor, her upper body and forearms covered entirely by armor. Her enormous wings lay folded against her back, but they were maybe even larger than calypso's trueform wings. Her w ings were pure bright white, and each step she took seemed to drain all the power and momentum the monstrous army had built up.

She continued past the point where Percy stood, continuing on until she reached the army itself. She coolly continued over the heads of the warriors, walking just out of their reach and the reach of their weapons..

She walked over the army, till she reached the very heart, the very center of the army. Everyone who had been kneeling all began standing up as she diverted all her power away from suppression and onto gathering in her hands.

She lifted both glowing hands upwards and into the heavens. The heavy clouds following the army suddenly broke apart in the very center of the covering.

Divine light seemed to descend from the skies, descending from the heavens to bathe and clothe the woman standing in the middle of the demonic army.

Her wings began unfurling, slowly opening before spreading open entirely. The light descending also widened in radius, then suddenly exploded open, bathing the entire army!

The monsters roared and screamed in pain and agony as they began steaming and melting under the divine light. Just like that, an army of tens of thousands that seemed to extend beyond the limits of imagination, was entirely engulfed in a matter of mere seconds. Before long, every monster was either incinerated, or had only left behind the most formidable part of their body, their skeleton.

Percy watched astonished as the fearsome lady destroyed the entire army with just a raise of her hands.

She was beyond terrifying. Then suddenly laughter boomed, so loudly, Percy's head rang and he began seeing double. Calypso and Aphrodite were unable to handle the pressure and both collapsed. However to Percy, this laugh was nothing, at least compared to Poseidon's earthshaking laughter.

Suddenly the remaining demonic aura began twisting and congealing before the angel. It blurred and took the form of a hefty, tall and broad shouldered man, who wore a helmet that covered his face. He had a huge sword around twice the size of Dragon fault strapped to his back. This meant, the heavy sword he used was almost 50% longer than the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

Percy couldn't even begin to imagine how heavy it might be, and the destructive power it would yield. The demonic man smiled at the Angel." Ahhhh… Athena…. Do you have to kill my vanguard every time we meet?' the angel snorted." Hardly. I never bring along an honor guard, even though we've met so many times!" she sighed and shook her head." Really Ares, will you ever learn?"

Ares boomed with laughter again and suddenly two lovely girls stood right next to Ares on either side. Both had wings like Athena, only hers were white, but the other two girls had Black wings. Also, their fashion was provocative and seductive to the very extreme.

They were both dresses in similar black cloth, that was semi transparent and hugged their breasts loosely. Then two thin strips of cloth led down to her waist and wrapped around, before extending halfway down the thigh of one leg. The other leg was entirely bare.

The girl on Ares's right was olive skinned, with haunting dark eyes that seemed to pull at the souls of all who saw her. the other one on Ares's right was Dark skinned, with curly Brown hair. Her eyes were pure gold, and sparkled with mischief as she regarded Athena. The level of soul suppression they emitted wasn't any less than Drew.

The dark aura on Ares's side grew stronger and seemed to push on Athena. She snorted and raised one hand. Two plants sprouted on either side of her. they grew, turning into large trees, whose trunks split open, and let two young woman step out. Both were dressed similarly, in green and brown robes. One had black hair and young features that were filled with naughtiness. The other one had wheatish hair and piercing eyes, with stern features that seemed ironed into place.

The two teams stood against each other, but their auras seemed equally matched, with neither side gaining an advantage. Ares chuckled and waved a hand towards the bystanders." All unnecessary people. Die!" a wave of deadly power flew at them, and Percy had no doubt it was enough to kill him a thousand times.

He closed his eyes and pushed both calypso and Aphrodite behind him. The fatal wave kept hurtling towards them, unstoppable. Athena looked away as if she couldn't care less. Her two assistants seemed unworried as well.

Percy grit his teeth, unwilling. His bloodline blazed and the trident appeared in his hands. He summoned Hong'er, and the trident and sword fused into the same time he tapped into riptide's power, summoning the forbidden power of the devil God Sword.

He roared and slashed. The wave from Ares's wave and his sword collided. Both seemed equal in ferocity and intensity, but Percy could feel his energy draining. Even a single second seemed to take forever. Calypso's eyes widened and she started to step forward, but the wave from the collision blew both her and Aphrodite away, sending them flying.

Percy roared and pressed forward, desperately holding back the attack. Then he felt his powers run out, felt his transformation struggle and flicker. His heart went cold as he realized calypso and Aphrodite would perish in the attack as well. At that moment, the soul of Poseidon awoke within him, and he was flooded with power. He knew exactly what was going on. Back when he had fought in the dragon god's trial, when he and piper were on the brink of death, something similar had happened. He had squeezed out power from his life force, and resisted. However, now, even with this additional power, it just gave him a few more seconds.

Just as his grip failed and he was about to be crushed, there was a bang, and a figure appeared between him and Ares, smashing apart the attack.

Percy's vision blurred and he started to fall, but the man caught him, and helped him sit down. Calypso and Aphrodite rushed over, and pulled out a medicinal pill, helping him swallow it.

The man rubbed Percy's shoulder." Brave Boy. Trying to stop Ares's attack. That was very brave. You saved many lives." He stood and faced Ares and Athena." Athena! Ares! This sect is not going to be bullied by you! we protect this area, and your actions are blatantly insulting us! We will not be quite if you try harming our disciples!"

Athena ignored him. Ares smirked and lifted a hand and suddenly more demons crawled out of the ground. He pointed at the man." Hephaestus. Watch your words. I am the war god. Don't annoy me." The demons darted forward, moving like blurs as they struck. Hephaestus moved at the same time. He was wearing a long overcoat, but it suddenly tore apart.

Percy widened his eyes as he saw an energy beam smash apart first row of monsters. The beam had shot out of his hand. His entire arm was…" machine?!" Percy shouted as he saw an array or missiles suddenly blast out, shredding the entire troop of demons.

Hephaestus grinned at Percy." Machines are my expertise." Then he turned back to Ares." Don't make this worse. Get out! You too Athena. Go act self righteous somewhere else. Your not fooling anyone here!" her assistant scowled and stepped forward." Persephone! Lets show Hephaestus how to respect his elders shall we?" the brunette with naughty eyes nodded." Of course sister Demeter."

The two ran in opposite directions, moving in to pincer Hephaestus. Just then Athena raised a hand." Enough." The two froze and turned." But mistress!" they protested." Hephaestus is one of hestia's personal disciples. If you make an enemy of Hestia, I will be unable to save you." the two glared at Hephaestus, then spun and disappeared. Athena nodded at Ares." Let us discuss the plan somewhere else." Ares laughed." Fine by me!" he turned to the two dark angels behind him." Come hazel, Bianca, we must get going." The four of them blurred and disappeared.

Hephaestus sighed and turned around to Percy." What's your name young man." Percy rose to his feet and bowed." Senior, this junior is a disciple of the flame seed sect. I am called perseus jackson."

Hephaestus looked at him with curiosity." You're an outer court disciple?" he asked surprised. Percy looked up and nodded. Hephaestus burst into laughter." That is hilarious. To have enough power to resist Ares's attack, you can be classified as a core disciple! Actually, you can be classified as a direct disciple of Hestia, seeing your young age and high cultivation! A cultivation of Demigod, yet so strong!" he slapped Percy's shoulder." Come with me. I'd like you to meet some of my friends. We're the direct disciples of Hestia. I'm sure they'll be curious to see you as well." He looked at calypso and Aphrodite." Your friends eh? Bring them along as well. Talents like yours will be wasted if you stay in the outer court!"

A.N.: yup more and more people showing up, and the story begins to pick up speed! Lets keep watching!

Sorry bro's my wifi is messed up. And this arc of the story needs lot's of planning. I have ideas, but they're all jumbled up. So daily updates are difficult. Also daily updates tire me out. And I'm busy in my holidays. So I'll see what I can do.

And for the Annabeth fans. She's going to make an appearance im serious. But sorry, no Annabeth x Percy. Or maybe I can put a smut in here somewhere… doesn't seem likely.


	41. Acquaintances from an old Life

**Fifth Arc: Acquaintances from an old Life**

Hephaestus turned out to be a much better and jovial person than Percy had expected. He was loud and laughed a lot, but Percy felt that twinkle in his eye and smile he always had on were enough proof of his kind hearted nature.

It turns out he was a cyborg. He had rebuilt most of his body with machines, though he hadn't told them what had forced him to rebuild himself. He quickly led them deep into the sect, into the heart of the Training areas.

Here, there stood a simple, low lying building. It was barely taller than Percy, and it had only a single door. It had no windows or any other exits. Hephaestus smiled as he led the way in, then beckoned for Percy and the rest to follow.

When they entered they were all stunned. The room they entered had no adornments or decorations. It was plain and simple. However, what stood out was the grand array drawn into the floor. Hephaestus walked into this array and it suddenly lit up. Percy, understood the laws of space, and realized that it was shunting him through space.

Space twisted and suddenly they were standing somewhere else entirely. Percy blinked in surprise and looked around. There were exclamations as people saw them suddenly appear out of nowhere. Hephaestus's voice rang out and everyone cooled down.

Percy glanced around and saw three people seated around the room. Two of them were girls and the last was a guy. Percy examined them curiously. One of the girls was a redhead, dressed in simple white robes. She looked no more than sixteen, but Percy knew that looks in the realm of gods were deceiving. With long lifespans, even someone a hundred years old could look like a child. Percy himself looked no more than fourteen. Even Aphrodite had seemed to grow younger after becoming a divinity, and she looked as young as both calypso and Percy now.

The girl smiled at him, green eyes flashing with curiosity. With a start, Percy realized she had the same eyes as he did. She stood and extended a slim hand towards him." Hello. I'm Rachel. Direct disciple of Hestia. Pleased to meet you." Percy shook her hand, feeling self conscious under her piercing gaze. It seemed to drill through him and peer through all his secrets.

The other girl seemed even younger, not even in her teens yet, and Percy was astonished by the talent required to become a divinity at such a young age. Truly, the divine realm had many more resources and many better teachers. She smiled shyly at calypso and shifted on the couch she was seated on. Her dark hair was hanging freely and even when she was so young, Percy could feel her regal bearing as if she was trained on discipline from birth." Hello…. My name…. is Zoë." She whispered softly.

Percy's mind stirred in recognition. He directly recalled what Drew had told Artemis. Someone had inherited the Celestial Sun God's power. When she had asked drew who it was, she had told artemis." Princess Zoë." Percy couldn't help but wonder, was this the mysterious person who inherited the celestial sun god's power?

He was about to enquire more, but just then the man swiveled and looked at them. He had ruddy cheeks and curly black hair. He was actually quite lean, but his face seamed pudgy and fleshy. He had bloodshot brown eyes and was dressed in simple clothes, unlike the rest." We're introducing ourselves. But shouldn't little kids like you be more respectful and go first?" he asked in a harsh voice. Hephaestus chuckled and walked over and slapped his arm." Chill Dionysus. They're kids. Don't be so harsh with them!" Dionysus snorted and turned away.

Calypso blushed awkwardly and glanced at Percy and Aphrodite." Well… umm… my name is calypso, and I'm an outer court disciple." Aphrodite nodded." I'm Aphrodite. An outer court disciple."

Percy started to introduce himself. But Hephaestus beat him to it." this is perseus jackson, a teen demigod, capable of stalling Ares's attack!" at his words even Zoë and Dionysus looked up with surprise. Rachel's mouth dropped open and she stared at him as if he was an alien lifeform." Capable of stalling Ares's attack? Is that even possible for a demigod?" She tilted her head and stared at Percy as if he was hiding his cultivation.

Percy blushed and scratched his head." I just held back his attack for a few seconds." Rachel didn't seem convinced. She glared at Percy and her eyes glowed pure green." A skeletal age of sixteen, with a cultivation of middle stage demigod. Contains an extreme Yang Bloodline, possibly a Divine Bloodline like a God beast or Even a god type bloodline." She summarized in a single breath.

Dionysus stood and crossed his arms." Well you've got my attention kid." He grinned and slapped Hephaestus on the back." So basically he's another extreme talent that you picked up for master to train? You're good at this boy."

Zoë peered at Percy timidly." Big brother. Are you really a demigod?' Percy didn't know how to explain it to them without revealing a whole lot of secrets. Rachel peered at calypso." Hmmm? A true descendant of a God Beast? That's a miracle! Hey boy, she's you're dual cultivation partner? You really are a pair of miracles matched in heaven." she grabbed calypso and Aphrodite's hands." Come on girls. I wanna know all about you." she dragged them away, directly heading for a door and pulling it closed. The door had a simple sign hanging on it saying." Rachels' room. If you try peeping in or trespassing, I will set fire to your hair."

Calypso threw Percy a desperate look asking for help as she dragged her away, but Percy could only shrug helplessly. Hephaestus and Dionysus grabbed him and pulled him onto a couch and the two of them launched into stories. Meanwhile Zoë sat on the other side of the room, staring at Percy curiously.

Some time later, they started telling him exactly how they had ended up here." So I was previously a disciple in the Asura sect" Hephaestus told Percy, his jovial expression gone." But it turns out I was born with a special physique, the rage god physique, that made me extraordinarily powerful and gave me high healing powers. Ares found out, and then he wanted to experiment with me and see how he could gain such a physique. he tortured me for seven years, stripping my skin, my muscles, grinding my bones, all so he could figure out my powers. I probably would have died in that purgatory, but Master Hestia saved me…. She exchanged invaluable Medicines and precious treasures in exchange for my freedom. Then she gave me all the materials needed for my recovery. I combined all my knowledge of machines, with my inhuman healing powers and made myself into a cyborg. Thus i am a powerful warrior and still retain all my healing abilities despite being part machine. So despite not being able to cultivate efficiently, I have the combat capabilities of a full god!"

Percy's eyes widened in surprise." Truly impressive. Such power is fearsome indeed." Hephaestus laughed." But I can't cultivate so my power can only increase if I improve my machinery and upgrade myself." Then he looked at Dionysus." Your turn." Dionysus chuckled." Im a thief." He said directly. Percy waited. He smirked." What? No comment?" Percy smirked back." That's not all is it?" Dionysus shook his head." No. my ancestors once stole something from the Wisdom Sect. and so they have hunted down my family, killing them all. For thousands of years, they have pursued us in revenge. And now I am the last one left. I would have died as well, but artemis gave me shelter and trained me. Now a peak full god, unless Athena herself interferes, it won't be easy for them to get rid of me."

Zoë suddenly joined the conversation." Big sis Hestia saved me and big sis Rachel as well. She took us in as orphans and trained us. Otherwise big sis Rachel would probably be working in a brothel in the streets and i… I would… be in the asura sect." she whispered softly. Percy looked up in surprise." Then Hestia must be really kind. She has saved all of you and taken care of all of you. truly.. that was so kind of her." Hephaestus and Dionysus looked at him like he was crazy. Zoë yelped and burrowed under the cushions.

Hephaestus pulled at his collar nervously." Mistress Hestia… is quite…. Scary…" he gulped and looked around as if worried she might pop out from under the couches at any moment. Dionysus was decidedly paler now. All the redness from his cheeks was completely gone and he looked completely bloodless. Percy was amused by their extreme reactions." What's so scary about her? you all look like you've seen ghosts." Percy had seen Hephaestus face down Ares and Athena, two of the biggest powerhouses in the entire world, without even flinching, but just talking about Hestia seemed to scare him witless.

Hephaestus coughed awkwardly and glanced at his arm." Oh look at the time! I have some work to do. Goodbye guys!" Dionysus stood up." Yes! I remember I had some work to do with you! let's go!" the two of them blurred and disappeared before Percy could react. He glanced at Zoë." What's wrong with them?" Zoë blushed." Master Hestia is very strict and scary looking. She is very old, but ever since the death of her brother she has never let anyone become close to her."

Percy immediately imagined a scary old witch, with claws for hands and bony arms along with stringy gray hair. That really seemed scary. Then he remembered he'd wanted to ask Zoë, if she knew artemis." Senior sister Zoë, you said, master Hestia saved you from the asura sect. were you once a disciple?" Zoë nodded cautiously." I was a disciple. But Ares… he was curious about my powers… so big brother… he protected me… but now, he's not there in the asura sect anymore. So master Hestia attacked the asura sect. she fought Ares until he accepted defeat and escaped with me. She says my big sister is under his control, so I need to be protected till the grand games." She quieted then burrowed back under the cushions.

Percy sat silently for sometime." Artemis." He said finally. Zoë shot out from under the cushions and stared at Percy." Your… big sister…. Is artemis right?" he asked. Zoë's eyes were growing wider by the second." How…?" she asked finally. Percy sighed." Your big sister…. She ended up on my planet. She took me as her disciple." Zoë opened her mouth, then closed it. she seemed confused." That's not possible. I know her. if she took you as a disciple, you can't be alive right now. My big sis… she would have killed you when she left." Percy's heart turned cold. He recalled how artemis had warned him many times when he had risked his life to heal her, that she would kill him when she left. He had always thought she was joking, but now… he could hardly believe his own ears.

Zoë shook her head." So it's not possible for you to be her disciple." Percy thought, then slowly lifted his hand. It began glowing softly with silver light. Percy's eyes turned silver and the faint image of the moon appeared behind him. Artemis's aura faintly spread through the room. Zoë froze with surprise." Big…big…sis…?" suddenly she shot forward until her nose was touching Percy's. he yelped and almost fell backwards." You saw my big sis? Is she okay? How is she? Did she tell you anything about me? Did she say anything about how Ares is controlling her?" Percy shook his head." I met artemis, and she's fine now. She didn't tell me much about her life here, so I don't know anything else."

Zoë sat back with a soft." Oh". She seemed stunned. She suddenly looked up and waved her hand." I need to discuss something's with Master Hestia. Your friends will be safe with Rachel. So now shoo" a wind caught him and he was flung out of the room before he could even protest.

Zoë turned towards another array in the wall and started operating it." master… did you hide anything from me?" she muttered as the array began to glow.

Percy was thrown out and had no idea where he was. After all they had teleported here through an array. He had no idea where the array had brought him. He could see that he was most certainly not in the sect however, or perhaps not even in the same city anymore. He was extremely confused and thus decided the best course of action would be to directly head out of the city.

He calmly closed his eyes and activated the divine transformation. His cultivation jumped to Initial minor god, and he flexed his legs before streaking away at top speed. Percy felt the exhilarating rush of speed course through him and grinned as he shot by as a blur too fast for most people to see. Only powerful minor gods and full gods would be able to see him, but even in the realm of gods, minor gods were usually very powerful warriors and full gods were considered elites. Therefore most people around were demigods or legends who barely saw a blur as Percy swept by.

He zoomed out of the city until it was nearly evening. at that time he slowed and stopped. He could feel a very familiar aura and curiously headed in its direction. At that time he realized it was the aura of the Divine Flames. He quickly headed there and saw a small pond filled with cool spring water. But surprisingly, this cool spring water radiated the hot aura of the Divine flames. Percy wondered what might have caused such a strange phenomenon, when he suddenly felt a suffocatingly powerful aura approaching him at high speed. He instinctively reacted, quickly diving into the bushes and rolling away. He restrained his aura and silently hid there, waiting silently. He had drawn all his aura into his body. When he had been a legend, he could already hide his presence while standing in front of a peak minor god like Chiron. Now, as he could raise his cultivation to initial minor god, so even if a full god was staring at him, it would be nearly impossible for him to sense Percy while he hid his aura. Even a powerhouse like Ares or Athena would have difficulty sensing his presence if they didn't know he was around. So Percy was sure he was safe from whoever this person was.

Suddenly a girl descended from the skies. She was dressed in gray robes that seemed thick and heavy. She had long black hair and soft features. She was emitting boundless pressure that seemed to suppress her surroundings and twist the laws of space around her. she landed beside the pond, then suddenly her clothes caught fire, burning to ashes in mere seconds.

Percy froze, eyes wide. Her clear jade like skin glinted in the moonlight as she slowly headed to the cool pond and slid into the water. Percy was frozen stiff, not moving even an inch. There was no way to run without alerting her, so he quietly settled down to enjoy the show. Her body was still developing and her moist skin seemed to catch the moonlight in a mesmerizing manner, glinting seductively off her curves. Her chest was still quite flat and her waist was not much more developed. Percy could only judge her physique to be around twelve to thirteen.

She cupped a handful of water and poured it onto her head, then completely submerged herself. The water started boiling, softly at first, then intensely, giving off copious steam and bubbling furiously. Her skin turned a tender red as she rose out of the water. She stepped out and steamed for a second. As the steam lifted, it unveiled her perfect figure and Percy couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

The sound was minute, and barely discernible, but her head snapped up and her pure red eyes bored into his. Percy suddenly felt like he had been thrust into the depths of a volcano, feeling as if the flames of hell were roasting him. He felt thin trails of sweat mark their way along his back. Her eyes were the most terrifying things he had ever seen. He managed to open his mouth." Ah… senior… well… I was here first… and you suddenly turned up and I didn't know how to react after you burnt your clothes…" she regarded him with those terrifying eyes and raised her hand. Percy's eyes widened and he spun and dashed with top speed, turning into a silver blur as he raced away from her. The girl didn't react. Suddenly a destructive fire erupted and decimated everything around her in a five mile radius.

The girl was suddenly clothed in gray robes and she glanced around at the burnt wasteland she had created. Everything was completely destroyed and covered in flames. She watched at the spot the pesky boy had been standing for a few moments, trying to see if his corpse was burning or not, then turned and flew away.

A few seconds later, Percy popped out from underneath the ashes, gasping and panting. He looked around to make sure the crazy girl was gone, then stood up. If it wasn't for the blood of Poseidon making him almost impossible to burn, he had no doubt he would have been roasted.

"seriously? What is wrong with that lady? She needs to get a grip on that temper of hers." Percy sighed and shook his head." Well at least that explains the aura of the divine flames coming from that pond. She bathes there huh. So her aura has seeped into the water and the land around it. such a powerful aura and such powerful flames. They were divine flames, but they weren't flames of the Pure Crimson Phoenix or the Raging Golden Crow. That means she must have the flames of the Holy Vermillion Bird… I remember that artemis once told me that the vermillion birds flames were ranked first, with the Phoenix flames coming second and the golden crows flames coming third." He sighed in remembrance, then slid down into the water. It was boiling, but he barely felt the heat.

He closed his eyes and began circulating his battle qi as he quietly sucked in the remaining aura. His eyes opened and he squinted as he gazed at the boiling water." This much aura… it's almost like she forcefully expelled all the aura from her body into the water… but why would she do that. Unless of course her powers were too much for her body to bear." He wondered curiously. Then suddenly riptide spoke up." The Golden Crows Blood and the Vermillion Bird's Blood is Yang attributed. A Female with powerful Yin will eventually face rejection. She clearly has a pure bloodline, but her body is rejecting it. she must be a virgin as well. So all her Yin gathers in her body, but her Blood accumulates Yang. The two clash and release great deal of power. If this were to continue she will eventually die. So to relieve her pain she probably comes here and expels all her accumulated aura into this pond. You may have not noticed, but this pond contains Yin attribute blood, probably of many yin attribute beasts. So she's prepared to prolong her life for a few more years."

Percy was surprised by riptide's detailed explanation." So she's suffering quite badly?" riptide snickered." Yep. No wonder she's so cranky she tried killing you. she probably is suffering hell right now." Percy sighed and got out of the pond, having finished absorbing all the aura.

He was entirely dry, having used Poseidon's blood to prevent any water from touching him. He blinked as a strong wind blew up all the surrounding ashes into the air.

He shook the ashes out of his head, then glanced up as he felt another powerful presence drift down. His eyes widened and he took a step forward instinctively. There was no doubt about it. he was absolutely certain. She gave a hesitant smile as she floated down to him, standing within arms reach. She had huge white wings that folded behind her as soon as she landed. She nervously swept her blonde hair behind her ears, stormy grey eyes flashing as she regarded him." Perseus jackson….. am I right?"

Percy's jaw dropped open and the soul seal on his memories trembled for a moment, letting a single word slip out." Annabeth..?"

A.N.: I wanted a longer chapter, but a cliffhanger seems much more fun and romantic. Also you guys, don't expect Annabeth to be what you think her to be. I'll leave you with that confusing cryptic hint. Keep guessing what I mean!

Also percabeth fans gonna be so disappointed. But sorry, this is a Pertemis.

Review, Pm and stuff. ciao


	42. Betrayal

**Fifth Arc: Betrayal**

Note: Percabeth fans, prepare yourselves. And please leave all weapons outside.

Percy's eyes were wide and he couldn't help but feel astonished as he stared at the girl in front of him. Her face was incomparably familiar and his very soul was trembling as the memory seal, for the first time ever, threatened to collapse. It cracked open, and through this crack, many memories seeped through. He saw her, dressed in bronze armor, holding a short dagger, grey eyes glinting as she stared at him. He saw her covered in dust and dressed in torn clothes as she fought an army by his side.

There were more memories, coming faster now. She was lying down, pale. She was wounded severely and Percy instinctively felt that she had saved his life. Then she was kissing him, while they stood in the heart of a volcano. She wore a cap and faded from view.

Then as soon as the memories had started, they stopped and shattered, half fading from his mind, like vague dreams he had to struggle to recall. But one thing remained incomparably engraved in his mind, her face, and her name." Annabeth chase…" Percy whispered softly as he looked at her with astonishment.

Annabeth was stunned." Do you know me? Did Hephaestus mention me to you?" Percy snapped out of his daze and hurriedly shook his head." Ah well, not exactly… it was just a feeling." Annabeth gave him a weird look." A feeling?"

Percy laughed lightly." Well… anyway, you're right, I am perseus jackson. How may I help you?" Annabeth regarded him curiously then sighed and smiled at him." This place isn't the best place for us to talk. Why don't we go somewhere more hospitable? This place is a wasteland after all." Percy nodded and they rose into the air. She led the way, moving slowly as they headed away from the city." How did you know where to find me?" Percy asked curiously. After all they were quite a distance from the city he had been in some time back, so how could he have been found so easily? Unless of course Hephaestus or one of the others had told her where to find him.

Annabeth glanced backwards." Oh that? Well Master Athena told me to find you. she was quite intrigued by you and wanted me to meet you once and introduce myself. I was planning to turn up later, but then I sensed a destructive divine flame aura nearby, so I came to investigate. i didn't expect to find you here, but you matched my masters description, so I came down to ask you. why were you here anyway?" she asked back curiously. Percy had no idea how he could explain the whole event with that mysterious girl and his accidental peeping on her while she bathed.

" um… well…." He stammered slightly as he spoke." Well… I was nearby,… and sensed a curious aura… but when I got close, everything erupted in flames and I had to escape. Then later I came to check out if there was anything left behind." He lied. Annabeth seemed surprised." You managed to survive that fire?!" Percy shook his head." Well I wasn't close to the heart of the fire and I ran as soon as it started."

Annabeth shook her own head." I am speechless. No wonder you could manage to resist that scoundrel Ares's attack." Percy's eyes narrowed." Oh yeah, your Athena's disciple?" Annabeth glanced at him and for just a second, the air seemed filled with terrifyingly cold killing intent. But before Percy could even be sure it was real, the killing intent was gone, leaving him wondering exactly what the feeling was and whether he had imagined it in the first place.

Annabeth smiled and nodded." Yes, I am one master Athena's core disciple." Percy frowned." Wait… so you're a full god?" Annabeth chuckled." Indeed, I am one. I'm one step away from becoming a peak full god!" she suddenly descended and Percy followed suit. she seemed to be heading for a small lake in the middle of the desolate landscape. Percy frowned and speeded up. When he drew near the lake, he realized it wasn't a lake, but rather a giant mirror!

Annabeth beckoned and softly landed on the mirror and sank into it. Percy hesitated, then sank into the mirror as well. The second he emerged on the other side, he was stunned into silence. The other side of the mirror was like a different world all together. It was filled with lush trees and the air was filled with scents of ripe fruits. The sky sparkled with stars and the ground was blanketed with fallen flowers, it all basically seemed like heaven. percy was shocked into a daze for a few seconds as he drank in the beauty of the place. He could hardly believe this place could exist in a mortal plane. It truly seemed like heaven.

He glanced around and saw Annabeth standing to one side, smiling softly at his reaction. The place seemed to enhance her beauty as well, and made her seem like an unparalleled Angel. She smiled and beckoned to Percy, sitting down on the ground among the flowers. Percy felt like he was falling into a daze as he moved to her side and sat down beside her. she lay down, picking up a flower and examining it curiously. Percy examined one as well, to stop himself from staring at her. they seemed incredibly fragile and just as he expected, the petals crumbled and released their fragrance as soon as he applied the slightest pressure on them.

Annabeth glanced at him." Percy… you have extraordinary talent… and at such a young age… but such talent attracts danger.." she propped herself up on her elbows and glanced at him. Her entire demeanor changed and she quietly covered their surroundings with her divine sense, isolating all sound and sensation." Percy did you know… your soul has a special attribute. Ordinary people might not notice it but people who excel in the aspect of the soul, such as me and my master Athena, we can sense it. you have a styx soul, don't you?"

Percy snapped out of the daze and looked at Annabeth cautiously. Artemis had called his soul a heavenly treasure. It was something mentioned in ancient legends and myths. But till now it had never been seen or found in the realm of gods. She had told Percy it was almost impossible to detect and anyone on the Gaia plane would be unable to sense it hence, he needn't worry about hiding it. but Athena was a top powerhouse of the realm of gods, so it made sense she could sense it. however artemis had also told him that unless someone personally offered their soul it couldn't be stolen. Percy hoped this held true in the case of Annabeth and Athena as well. Otherwise, with how rare and precious his soul was, there was no way he could leave here alive.

Annabeth shook her head." No one can steal your soul so don't worry about it. it's just that master Athena wanted to make you her disciple as she is the biggest expert in souls and she wants to develop your powers." Percy remembered the fate of Hephaestus who had a special physique and shivered slightly." Well…. Hephaestus has already taken me to meet Hestia and become her direct disciple. So I'm afraid I must refuse." Even though that was a small lie, Percy hoped the fact that he might be hestia's direct disciple would stop Athena from trying any tricks. After all it seemed she had enough strength to stand on par with Athena and Ares.

Annabeth shook her head." Its best if you don't become a disciple of Athena. Both she and Ares have unreliable personalities. The same goes for Hestia as well however." She sat up and looked at Percy earnestly." Percy, I want you to come with me. We can leave all these battles of the three great Olympians here and escape. We can leave all this and develop our strengths. I'm planning to go into hiding for twelve thousand years, and I can guarantee we can break through beyond even the limit of Olympian level. The two of us can become extreme characters, beyond the level of these ordinary people. If you stay here, you will forever be stuck at a limit of full god. You will never become an Olympian. But if we leave, our future possibilities are endless."

Annabeth's eyes were gleaming as she spoke and a small smile was dancing on the edges of her lips. She looked so eager and it was a s if she believed he would agree with her without hesitation. A subtle charm rose from her and spread out, making her and her words seem irresistible. Percy felt like her eyes were mesmerizing him. He kept leaning forward towards her and just when he was going to agree with her, artemis's voice rang out in his mind." Idiot disciple!"

His eyes widened and turned silver for a moment as the spell on him seemed to break." Wait! I have something to do for these four or five years" Annabeth frowned." What?" Percy shook his head to clear it." I have to find someone. If I don't do it quickly, then I might never meet them again.!" Percy started feeling agitated. He had almost given up on artemis just to go somewhere with this girl. he started to stand, but Annabeth caught his arm." Wait! If you give this up, you'll lose this opportunity. I'm planning to run! But if you try to join me a few years later, you'll have already lost your chance!" Percy shook his arm out of her grasp." It doesn't matter! The only reason I came to the realm of the gods was to find this person! If not, I don't mind being a legend back in my home plane." Annabeth frowned and then stood as well. She started speaking, her voice urgent." Percy, listen to me. This is your only chance to escape a dangerous situation. Within four years, we will have the grand championship…. And that is a very dangerous event."

Percy's eyes widened as he immediately associated it with artemis. Was this why she would be unable to see him after four more years?" what is the grand championship?!" Annabeth shook her head." There is little time, and I can't explain any further." Percy frowned." I'm sorry, but this is something I need to do, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't leave with you." Annabeth's face grew cold, and suddenly her charm and warm demeanor changed back into her regal bearing and cold aura.

"well, if that's what your determined to do, then there's little I can do to change your mind huh…?" she turned away from Percy and started walking away. She withdrew the divine sense isolating them. Percy frowned slightly as she disappeared into the trees. He glanced around, but there was nothing but trees surrounding him." How am I supposed to go back?"he wondered, then ran after her.

He ran through the copse of trees, but as soon as he crossed it, he stopped in amazement. He had stepped into a large glade, and it was entirely empty, except for a single tree in the center. This tree was smaller than the rest and had no leaves, only flowers and was laden with fruits. Each fruit was small enough to fit into the palm of his hand and was entirely purple all over. They emitted a fragrant, delicate scent. Percy drew forward and plucked one of the fruits. They were filled with unbelieveable amounts of energy and without a doubt, Percy knew that they were extreme treasures. He lifted it to his mouth and bit down on it. usually eating a powerful spirit herb or such a fruit would cause your body to explode with overflowing energy, but this fruit released an incomparably gentle energy.

Percy couldn't help himself as he took another bite. It was almost irresistible. Soon he had finished the entire fruit. He dropped core of the fruit and flexed his fingers. What was that fruit? Suddenly the energy within him began boiling, twisting and surging. Percy felt heady and lightheaded, as if he was drunk. He felt like slapping himself for eating an unknown fruit. But even now, the strange scent kept compelling him to take another bite, and enjoy the fruits delicate taste.

Surges of warmth spread all over his body, making him feel numb and weak. Then suddenly Annabeth stepped out from the other side." I told you to come with me." She whispered softly, her eyes filled with sorrow. Percy felt like he had been jolted with electricity." What's going on? What was that fruit?"

Annabeth shook her head." You should have listened to me. Now…." Her voice trailed off, then she stepped forward and embraced Percy. He instinctively tried struggling and pushed her away. Annabeth glanced up with surprise." You have strong will. But the demonic Qi in that fruit is something even an Olympian cannot resist." Percy's heart froze." Demonic Qi?" Annabeth ran her hand along his abdomen and snuck it under his shirt, sliding it along his skin. The warmth in his body seemed to intensify and gather along his waist. Percy's eyes widened." An aphrodisiac?" Annabeth nodded softly." Demonic Qi is not something the Styx Soul cleanses. It only acts against poisons." She embraced Percy again, and despite all his efforts, he was unable to control his body. He started embracing her as well. Running his hands along her back, cupping her ass as he pulled her into himself. The two stood like that for a few moments, then Annabeth drew back, plucking a fruit as well, then quietly nibbling at it, till she had finished eating it as well. Then she fell down onto the bed of flowers covering the ground and pulled off her delicate robes and uncovered her body.

Despite having seen many beautiful girls in his time, Annabeth seemed to have a strange effect on him, seemingly because of the relation they had shared in their past life. Her figure was elegant and so was her bearing. She quietly stripped away the top of her robes, revealing slender shoulders and firm c cups, her stomach was entirely smooth and unmarked. She continued pulling down her robes, uncovering her wide hips and her luscious thighs that hid her womanhood between them. Her feet were tiny and smooth, each nail like sparkling crystals. Her grey eyes were wide and filled with lust and longing for him, and she was exuding infinite charm and an unbearable level of soul suppression.

Even under normal circumstances it would have been nearly impossible for Percy to resist her beauty and charm. And now under the effect of such a powerful aphrodisiac, had no chance. He fell onto her, biting her soft skin, nibbling at her neck as he grasped her soft breasts. She moaned softly and placed an arm against his chest. His clothes shimmered and turned into dust.

She stroked his hair , pulling him down to her chest. He bit down and started sucking on her delicate breasts. She bucked against him, grinding her wetness against him." Yes.. Percy…" she whimpered as he bit down savagely on her nipples. He went lower, hands gripping her waist and lifting her up as he bent down his head, dragging his tongue along her quivering pussy.

She groaned and grabbed the back of his head, pushing him down deeper. He slipped his tongue into her pink and moist folds and she shivered as he tasted untouched parts of her body. Her grey eyes widened as he slid a finger into her and started scraping her out. Her hips jerked upwards as Percy started thrusting his finger in and out of her. his mouth closed around her clit, twirling his tongue around her clit.

Her insides clenched around his finger, squeezing and spurting her love juices with each motion. His mouth was locked onto her clit, gently nibbling and sucking. Her hip jerked crazily against him but he held his place, riding out all her jerks until she finally screamed out loud with pleasure, her legs scrabbling against the ground, raising her hip up in the air against him until she was almost bent in half. She held that position for a few seconds as her pleasure peaked and her hips jerked and shivered and her love juices spurted out in jets. Percy drank in each drop with relish, then pushed her down, digging his fingers into her hips as he held her and rubbed his member in between the folds of her dripping and quivering pussy.

Annabeth was wide eyed, gasping and panting as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down to her tender lips, locking them around his, sucking on his tongue.

Percy groaned into their kiss as he thrust his cock against her , rubbing it between the petals of her virgin flower. The heat that had been filling every part of his body seemed to intensify with each motion until they were both dripping with sweat. Soon, neither of them could bear to wait and Annabeth grabbed his waist, guiding his cock into her.

She gave a deep groan as he parted her soft flesh, slowly sliding into her. he slid into her at a steady pace, tearing past her final barrier without hesitation. Annabeth whimpered softly as her purity was stolen from her and her primordial Yin began gently leaking from her body into his body. He gave one final thrust, driving himself into her core, burying all 8 inches of himself into her.

Her fingers twisted and grabbed at the flowers lying on the ground, crushing and grinding them to shreds as her hip rose and pressed her into him. She was gasping and panting heavily, both their eyes clouded by lust as they pressed into each others bodies, desperately seeking release.

Percy gripped her waist, holding her in place as he rammed into her with fluid strokes, slamming deep into her core with each thrust. Her body shuddered and twitched with each thrust leaving her moaning and gasping as he bent down and bit her nipples, twisting and nibbling the hard flesh until her screams were rising to a crescendo.

Her pussy clenched around him, gripping his member with all its force as her love juices sprayed out. She collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, her chest heaving and trembling with each breath. Percy twisted her, pushing her onto her hands and knees before wrapping her hair into his fingers and thrusting himself into her.

Her head shot up and she whimpered as he pounded her from behind. He pulled her head back, tugging it back with all his force as his thrusts speeded up, ramming into her with all his force. Her hand lifted off the ground as he pulled her back, grabbing both arms and holding her against him as he thrust upwards into her. she grit her teeth as he pulled her arms. Under the influence of the aphrodisiac and the pleasure she was barely able to use any power at all, so she was unable to block the pain of having her arms pulled till tearing point.

Suddenly Percy let go of her arms and she collapsed onto the ground, crushing all the delicate flowers under her tits as he continued pounding her from behind while she scrabbled helplessly against the ground, drowning under pleasure.

With Percy's stamina, he outclassed almost all ordinary humans. After all very few bloodlines or physiques could extend a humans stamina till his level. Now under the control of this powerful aphrodisiac, he vented all his energy onto Annabeth's delicate form, ravaging her and savagely claiming her. her mind teetered on the edge of insanity, and if she hadn't taken the aphrodisiac herself, she might've broken under the strain.

Athena's form was hidden just a small distance away and she watched the two of them with a small smile on her face." Really, I told that girl there was no need to go through all that trouble, but she just had to insist. Well as long as he doesn't permanently break her, it doesn't matter how much he uses and abuses her." she smirked and turned to her two handmaidens." Persephone, Demeter, I hope you have the container ready, despite his unusual physique, I sense he's reaching his limit. Soon I'll have what I need! Then let me see how Ares tries to compete with me." She smirked at the ingenuity of her own plan.

A soul was impossible to steal. That was a simple fact. It was the very basis of a persons existence, so stealing it was equal to stealing their entire life and essence. Even with Athena's unmatched power and knowledge of souls, this rule held true. However, a soul could be given. Even if it cannot be stolen, if the person gives it off their own free will, then no laws are violated. However it wasn't likely Percy would just hand over his soul, for obvious reasons. But under the aphrodisiac, in the moment of peak pleasure, while he was in complete union with Annabeth, in body, mind and soul, he would be offering his entire being to Annabeth, when it would be far too easy to simply pluck out his soul.

And this was the simple trick to stealing his heavenly styx soul.

Annabeth gasped as she slammed herself down onto Percy, moaning into his chest as he fondled her breasts. Her pussy wrapped around him, melding her entire being to him. Her eyes widened as he slammed himself into the back of her womb, scraping every nook and cranny. He held the position for a few moments, body shuddering. His balls clenched and his thick seed flooded into her. her eyes turned pure grey and she sucked out every drop of his seed, sucking out every drop of his essence. She poured her soul into him, drawing out his life force from every nook and cranny of his body.

He gasped as she suddenly withdrew her soul, sucking out his styx soul in one clean motion.

She closed her eyes, pulling his soul out and wrapping it into her own body. Percy shuddered and collapsed. She bent and stoked the side of Percy's face. Her lips trembled and she kissed him softly." Forgive me for doing this Percy. There are many things you don't understand. I warned you, and I tried making you understand. If we both had run, we could have both escaped… but you stubborn foolish boy had to insist. And I had no choice but to follow Athena's orders. And even though I regret it…. I have stolen your styx soul." She blinked her eyes and a single tear dropped onto his face." We did know each other, didn't we? In a past life perhaps…. Right seaweed brain?" she kissed Percy's forehead and slid off him, dressing herself in her robes. Percy tilted his head slightly, struggling to look at her.

"So…. That… was… your… plan...? steal… my…styx…soul…then…split…it…fifty…fifty…with…your… master …" Percy whispered in a breathless voice. His fires of life were flickering lower with each passing moment. She had stolen away almost his entire soul, his source of life. There was no cure, no coming back from that. Even if she returned his soul to him now, he would still die after sometime. She shook her head and looked at him. Her eyes were filled with deep sadness." I wish I could tell you… but it would be better if you died without knowing… died while hating me…. Rather than know the truth."

She flickered and disappeared. Percy struggled to raise his head, unwilling. He still had so many things he had to do. He still hadn't seen artemis and told her goodbye. He had to go back home with calypso and Aphrodite… he had promised piper he would come back home to see her.

He felt his heartbeat slowdown, the flow of blood slowdown, his fires of life flicker down to embers. Then the light from his eyes faded as he closed them, collapsing to the ground, his struggles dying away.

Annabeth and Athena stood high up in the air as they looked down at his corpse. Athena shook her head." Really now, you gave your primordial yin, which you have accumulated for thousands of years to him. That is wasting a great and precious treasure on garbage. after all, now that he's dead, he gets no benefit from it. if you had just done it my way. But you were so desperate to give him your virginity." She snorted softly. Annabeth remained silent. She knew what method Athena was talking about. Though technically, Athena couldn't steal Percy's soul from him, she still had her own methods.

Athena was a master of illusions. She could twist reality and bend people to her will without any effort. If needed, she could even use an illusion to twist around Percy's reality and make him offer her his soul without hesitation. Demeter sighed softly." That really was a waste of your virginity junior sister. But alas what's done is done." Persephone curiously bit her finger and tilted her head." So sisyer, how was the experience? Did you enjoy it? it seemed like you enjoyed every second of it, even when you were crying. Annabeth blushed. Athena laughed then grew serious." Very well then, give me the soul Annabeth." Annabeth grit her teeth and then unclenched her fist, releasing the blue green ball of light. It pulsed softly as it floated over to Athena. She grasped it into her hand, then directly pressed it into her forehead.

She sealed it into her body then opened her eyes with a self satisfied smile. Absorbing and fusing the soul was an incomparably long and delicate process. However well accomplished she may have been in the aspect of souls, Athena couldn't fuse with another soul quickly. After all a soul was a fragile thing, and she might even hurt herself and her own soul by trying to hasten the process. But as an Olympian rank character, she had a long life and had enough time to experiment and try out her plan.

Athena smiled at her three disciples." Styx soul, the eternal everlasting soul. With this, eternal life is not a dream anymore!" she giggled then disappeared. Her voice rang out from thin air." Come on girls. We have to get going. Annabeth glanced at Percy's corpse and felt her lips tremble. Such a great talent, but now dead. She waved her hand and a barrier appeared around him, preserving his corpse. Athena's voice rang out." Why waste energy preserving a corpse? Are you feeling sentimental as he's your first time?" she laughed mockingly. Annabeth ignored her and disappeared as well. Demeter and Persephone both followed suit and faded away, leaving behind the soulless corpse.

Annabeth spent the next week in meditation. Silently recalling that single moment when she had fused with his soul and felt his essence. She quietly focused on that single instant, cultivating that moment into eternity.

"Drawing past and present together. Divine the fates and spread the truth. Illuminate my path. Three Lives Pupil!" her eyes snapped open, and they held three grey pupils each. She tore through the mist and directly peered into the past life, her present life and his future life. Using his memories as her foundation, she directly realized everything that was going on.

"Rebirth…the fates… Kronos!" her eyes shut, then opened again, turning back normal." Kronos! That is what was missing in this puzzle. He has been banished, but he will sense Percy and come back to kill him!" she chewed her lip as she thought quickly.

Then finally her thoughts slowed as she realized what the answer was." So… this is the price to my betrayal…. All I can hope is you realize why I did what I did… and you someday find out the sacrifices I made for you… my dearest Percy…" her lips trembled and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears." Then let this be my final act, to save you… one last time…"

Her form blurred and faded away from that reality.

She suddenly appeared in a different part of space time, a different dimension entirely. Her eyes remained shut as a soft blue green glow spread from her. Percy's aura radiated over the entire stretch of space. There was utter silence for a long moment. Then suddenly space rumbled and shook and the void trembled as an incomparably heavy presence shifted it's gaze towards her.

A sharp grating voice rang out." I have seen the mysteries of time, for I am the titan of time. And as I peered through the intricate weaving of eternity, I saw that I would sense my greatest rival, when he broke through and became a full god. That would be my only chance to kill him easily, for later he would grow and develop to become my rival. So I decided to kill him the day I sensed his aura as a full god. And finally, here you are, perseus jackson!" Annabeth smiled lightly, eyes still closed, expression calm.

"Come then Kronos, strike your blow!" she said softly. Hs laughter boomed and suddenly the presence turned into a humanoid form." Yes perseus! I will get rid of you today! And thus will end the fates last gamble to save themselves and the rest of the gods and humanity!" Kronos raised his hand and a scythe appeared. He laughed and swung. Annabeth's tears finally fell as the scythe tore through her. pain tore apart her consciousness, then her world went numb and dark as she faded away into oblivion." Percy…."

A.N.: well…. I'm speechless. I didn't think it would be this emotional when I first planned it. inspired by nie lie's teachers sacrifice as well as sheng mei's betrayal from tales of demons and gods and martial world.

Also yeah sorry Percabeth fans. But well, it seemed fitting for Percy's love to sacrifice herself for him. And at least she didn't end up as a villain. And I hope you enjoyed her brief appearance.

Also yeah Percy died. So how's the story going to continue? I don't know, you tell me. Review and PM guys! Ciao.


	43. Nirvana Samsara

**Sixth Arc: Grand Championship, Battle for Freedom**

 **Nirvana Samsara**

Note: For those who didn't understand how Annabeth figured out all that stuff about Kronos, here's a hint from the author. Keep reading till the secrets are revealed(Duh). And no his entire soul wasn't stolen. That would basically be removing Percy from his body, and his body would die immediately. Annabeth only removed the Styx Inner World. P.S.: Samsara is the concept of rebirth. And nirvana is rebirth from ashes.

Percy could feel the cold touch of death, the hand of thanatos gently caressing his forehead, his soft breath brushing his hair. Percy didn't fear death. After all, death was an old friend. The soothing sensation of numbness spread throughout his body as his life slowly ebbed out of him.

He didn't know how long it had been but he could faintly hear the cries and sobbing of all those he had left behind. Aphrodite, piper, his parents, calypso… they were all crying for him… but… how did it matter anymore? This coldness was consuming him, and pushing away the world of the living.

But one spot didn't seem to cool down. On his cheek, a small spot of heat remained, fighting back the numbness that coaxed him to sleep, to close his eyes and rest. Percy struggled to raise a hand and brushed that spot of heat, wanting to push it away and fall away from all this pain and struggle.

Just as he touched it, it spread over his finger tips and onto his cheek. The warm wetness made him realize what it was. The single tear that Annabeth had shed, containing a small part of her own life. The warmth spread through him, momentarily pushing away the cold embrace of death. The warmth spread throughout him, but it was still unable to save his life. After all, it just gave him a small boost and momentarily revived his flames of life. But as this warmth spread through him, Percy felt it meld into his core and suddenly the cry of a phoenix rang out through him.

Black flames erupted from his body, burning high. The heat of the flames enclosed him, cocooning him. He immediately realized what this flame was. The same black flames he had shared with calypso twice before. The flame of rebirth, Nirvana! The flames of the phoenix raged, burning eternally as they fought the grasp of death, paving a new path for those about to die.

The flames surrounded the foundation of his soul, then burnt it down. Life from the ashes, and so his body was engulfed in familiar pain. The pain of the Styx, as his soul rebuilt itself.

Percy struggled to sit up and sat cross-legged. The flames of the phoenix weren't his. So even if they protected him for the time being, they would not be able to save his life. After all, these flames belonged to calypso. But he still clung to this chance, this fight." I have seen death enough times, but I'll be damned if I give up in my struggle without even trying!" Percy roared and the flames roared with him, rising to the heavens.

The phantom of the phoenix appeared behind him, spreading its wings with a clarion cry. His eyes turned red with flames as he burnt the blood of the phoenix running through his veins. The fearsome power surged through him. The golden crow phantom appeared as well, screeching as his flames turned golden. The flames burnt him, roasting his body and blackening his skin. It cracked, then peeled away, revealing new skin underneath. The azure Dragon Roared and his body crumbled under the flames, burning to ash and being reborn, his very bones being reforged by the flames. Under normal circumstances, undergoing a phoenix nirvana with the golden crows destructive fire would kill the person. But Percy's bones were reinforced by the Blood of Poseidon and the bone marrow of a Dragon God. They were nearly indestructible!

A Golden Pagoda appeared over Percy's head and began revolving. A spring burst to life under him and bubbled upwards, covering his and freezing around the flames surging around him.

Percy stayed motionless as he drew all his vitality into the core of his body, then exploded with life. His entire body regenerated, all imperfections and weaknesses being discarded." Life from the sea, and for all of eternity." Percy opened his eyes and they flashed with silver light. The blood of Poseidon burned and seethed with power and his aura erupted like a volcano, rising upwards, radiating power. Percy stood and the icy prison around him shattered.

His soul twisted and spread throughout him, now completely developed and perfect.

The flames still burning around him twisted and were sucked back into him. He raised hand and looked at his fingers. The aura of life and vitality almost exploded out from him, and it seemed impossible that sometime back he had been on the verge of death. Percy sat down again, calmly meditating on the principles he had gathered from that moment of life and death.

The golden pagoda revolving over his head trembled and shattered, turning into six avatars. The avatar of ghosts melded into Percy's soul and his soul force welled back to life. The avatar of beasts sank into his muscles, fusing and enhancing his strength. The avatar of the Witch slave burrowed through him and into his magic and bloodlines, awakening all their potential.

Then the Devil Phantom twisted and was sucked into his devil orb, while the phantom of the Buddha was sucked into the Blood of Poseidon. The final Phantom of the Asura raised his sword, then fused with Percy, melting into his being. A revolving disk appeared behind Percy, reflecting his past life within it, before sinking into him, fusing with the seal on his memories.

Percy stood and riptide appeared in his grasp. He lifted the sword, then gently swung. Immediately, the wind howled and space twisted. It cracked and tore and a roaring wave of power swung out. The illusion world Athena had created, filled with lush tress and beauty, shattered, turning into small fragments. All that remained was the wasteland left behind by the flames, and that single tree that held those demonic fruits.

He waved a hand and all those fruits were received into his inner world. After all a treasure was a treasure. And this was a treasure even Olympians couldn't resist.

Percy closed his eyes sending his consciousness into his inner world. Artemis had always commented on how developed his inner world was, possibly due to the styx soul. Now it had changed entirely. Earlier it was simply an empty space that was entirely blue green. However, now the entire place was a lush world. It was a plain, that stretched for as far as the eye could see with lovely green grass, with mountains in the distance, and small lakes dotting the landscape. There stood a single large tree, in the center of the glade, bearing multicoloured leaves. Percy looked at it curiously. It had leaves shaped like Fire, leaves shaped like forks of lightning, leaves shaped like drops of water. One leaf of fire had a phoenix curled up in the middle. Another had a golden crow. The leaves of water had either a trident, embossed in gold, or a Dragon spreading its wings. The lightning leaves were the fewest, and each one had a small lightning dragon in the center.

There were even a few flowers, each petal shaped like snowflakes. Percy instinctively knew they were from pipers bloodline. The entire tree seemed to symbolize all his powers and it contained infinite mysteries. This could be called Percy's personal tree of enlightenment, a compendium of all his experiences as well as all the laws and concepts and powers his bloodlines and his transformations contained. Just examining the leaves seemed to fill Percy with knowledge of all his powers. Percy sat under it, closing his eyes as he soaked in the knowledge and experiences the tree carried. And so, more than a year passed ever since Percy's mysterious disappearance.

Calypso and Aphrodite were inconsolable, and Hephaestus personally scanned the entire area, searching for him. Rachel's mystical divination art also proved ineffective. All she could sense was death. It seemed obvious Percy had died, though no one seemed to know how or who had been the culprit.

Then attention shifted from him as the three grand societies began preparing for the Championship that was rapidly approaching. Calypso and Aphrodite were reluctantly pulled in to help as well. Calypso had been accepted as a core disciple, owing to her natural talent and her Divine body. Rachel spent a lot of her time with her and Aphrodite, helping them cope with the sudden loss of Percy.

One day, while they were busy selecting disciples to participate in the grand games, calypso asked Rachel about a few things she had been confused about." So the grand games are a competition between the three grand sects?" she asked curiously. Rachel nodded." Yeah, the three sects hold this competition and compete to see who is the strongest. The prizes for the games are given by the Overgods." Calypso frowned." Overgods?" Rachel nodded." Overgods are beings beyond the level of humans. They can be classified as the next level of power after Olympians. However, they are far more powerful than humans, and I suppose you can say they are created by nature."." created by nature?" Rachel brushed a strand of hair behind her ear." let's see…. They aren't humans. At least we don't think they are. They've existed for as long as eternity and they uphold the laws of nature and prevent them from being broken. And they are also the reason we have only three Olympians. That's because every person who has to cross from demigod to minor god needs to face divine punishment of thunder and lightning. Then someone who has to cross from minor god to full god must face a trial of Fire and Water. But someone who has to cross from Full god to Olympian, they must face trial of all nine elements, each one administered personally by the Overgods. And so to cross it is nearly impossible."

Calypso shivered." Then there are nine Overgods?" Rachel shook her head." I've only heard of three Overgods. The Overgod of life, the Overgod of death and the Overgod of Fate. These three Overgods are the pinnacle of existence and can be said to be unmatched.". calypso nodded absentmindedly." So what are the prizes? After all they must be very precious." Rachel laughed." The winner gets to take the nine trials of the elements." Calypso froze." What?! Why would that be the prize? Unless you want to die?" Rachel shook her head." It's a great opportunity as it only occurs once in every few thousand years. We have a chance to break into Olympian realm!" then her eyes darkened." Of course Ares and Athena don't exactly use it like that." Calypso tilted her head with confusion." Huh?" Rachel looked up solemnly." When their disciples undergo the trial, if they die, they at least deserve a decent burial, right? But they… they refine their disciples corpses, as they have great potential, having reached the peak of full god and absorbed the trials of the elements. They refine them and use them to increase their own power."

Calypso stiffened with horror." But… their own disciples… how…?" Rachel shook her head." It is horrific. But the Overgods do not disallow it, and who else can stop them? But of course, it's not all so simple". She smiled creepily. Calypso frowned at her smile." What is it?". Rachel twirled a strand of hair around her finger." Last time a disciple failed the trial, just as expected. However he didn't die. He instead condensed all his power into a single crystal and hid it all away." Calypso stared at her in shock." Why did he do that?" Rachel smirked." He was a disciple of Ares. He would have been in for hell if he had his power. So to avoid it, he hid all his power, so that Ares would never get his hands on it. and after thousands of years, a boy found that power. That boy was the Celestial Sun God Disciple, Apollo!"

Before she could continue any further, a messenger ran in. he stood politely and bowed." Mistress, we have a report from the gate guards, reporting the return of a disciple." Rachel waved her hand." Why are you bothering me with such trivial information? Just go enter the details in the logs." The messenger hesitated, then spoke up again." The returned disciple is the one the Core disciples were searching for. The one called Percy jackson."

Rachel's head shot up. Calypso froze with surprise. The two girls rounded on the messenger." What! Are you sure!" calypso grabbed the messenger by his collar and began shaking him. The man nodded hurriedly." Yes, yes! He just turned up."

Calypso and Rachel exchanged looks and ran towards the gate together. Calypso could hardly believe it as she saw Percy standing by the gate, looking just as he had the last time she had seen him. Her eyes filled with tears as she ran towards him. Percy caught sight of her and his own face split into a grin as he turned to her. but right before they reached other, a heavy presence covered them, completely suppressing everyone. Everyone immediately dropped to their knees, the pressure overwhelming them.

Percy struggled to raise his head and caught sight of a dimunitive girl slowly floating down from the sky. His throat clenched as he recognized the same mysterious girl he had 'accidentally' seen while bathing. She was dressed in the same grey robes and her face still had the same icy expression as she regarded all of them." So where is the returned disciple?" she asked coldly. Rachel stood and bowed." Master, that is Perseus." She gestured at Percy.

She looked at him, and Percy felt like he was being roasted to death in the flames of hell. Her eyes widened slightly and Percy's own eyes widened. He felt like cursing his luck. There was no doubt. This girl in grey was the superpower who stood at the top of the realm of gods, the grand sect master Hestia!

The girl raised her hand and beckoned with a single finger. Percy was immediately dragged forward against his will before her on his knees." So….. it is you…" her words felt like a death sentence to Percy." I wonder how you're still alive… blocking Ares's attack is one thing, but surviving my attack is something else entirely. Even a full god should have died." Her eyebrows scrunched together then her eyes grew narrow." Well then, I'll let you live, if you can pass a simple test of mine."

Calypso looked up." What!? Wait what's going on?!" Rachel looked horrified and she grabbed her arm." Shush, don't interrupt madam Hestia!" calypso shrugged her off and stood and stared at Hestia." Why are you condemning Percy to death!?" Hestia gave her a cold stare." You hold no right to question me." Calypso glared back." I hold every right, especially if you dare to condemn my Percy!" hestia's eyes narrowed with anger." Is that so…?"Percy glanced back at calypso." Calypso stay out of this! There is something you don't know! this punishment-" Hestia cut him off with a wave of her hand. The wind buffeted him and threw him back." Your punishment will be to participate in the Grand games. If you die in any of the events or trials, it is because you are incompetent." She turned away from him." You should be grateful that I'm showing you any leniency at all!"

Percy smirked." Leniency? You say that after you tried killing me." Hestia turned and gave him a cold look." Is that so…?" her aura suddenly erupted and everyone under the level of full god felt a terrifying suppressive power lock onto them as if something were holding their throats. A phantom a raging inferno appeared in the skies as Hestia poured her aura onto Percy." A mere peak demigod! And you dare to be so cocky!" Percy grit his teeth and the blood of Poseidon and roared to life. His aura shot upwards, directly breaking through Minor God and reaching the late stages of Minor God.

He forcefully stabilized himself and resisted her pressure. Hestia's eyes narrowed and the pressure rose even further. Percy's bones emitted cracking and popping sounds as the power of the Azure Dragon awoke, creating a phantom of The Azure Dragon God behind him, roaring as it defied the heavens. He continued staring at Hestia and her eyes slowly grew wide with shock. Then she gave a small snort and withdrew her aura." Alright, you don't need to participate in the grand games." She started to turn away, but just then Percy stepped forward." I want to participate."

Calypso's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open but Hestia beat her to it." are you insane? Or do you just have a death wish?" she asked him, half surprised. Percy shook his head." There's someone I need to meet, and that's probably the only chance I'll get."

Hestia narrowed her eyes." Everyone who isn't necessary, Scram!" a gust of wind exploded from her, expelling everyone from around them. Only Rachel and calypso were spared." You wish to find artemis, right?" she asked him directly. Percy wasn't surprised she already knew. He nodded. She sighed then shook her head." Artemis is well known in the realm of gods". She turned towards Rachel, who grew white." Artemis is known as the Asura Goddess, the one who killed billions of people when she was merely a child. In fact, if she had continued, I would have been forced to intervene and kill her. " Percy started to speak but she cut him off." I know, you think you know her better. And perhaps you do. But the girl who was your master in the lower realm and the Murderer that the entire Realm of Gods fears are one and the same. And if you expect to see a warm welcome when you meet her, you're in for a disappointment. She's Ares's disciple and the Asura Goddess. That reputation is not there for no reason."

Percy shook his head." If you truly think she's like that then since I had such a close connection with her and she taught me so many of her techniques, shouldn't she have killed me when she left?" Hestia shook her head." That was back in the lower planes. But here, she is under the direct supervision of Ares." She looked around cautiously, then sealed the entire place with her powers." Have not thought about how Athena and Ares have so many disciples, despite being so brutal?" Percy shook his head." I never figured that out. Every time I asked someone they simply told me that after joining a sect, it is very difficult to leave."

Hestia shook her head." It isn't so simple. They both have separate techniques, but both demand complete obedience from their disciples. The first is the Ares's Asura Intent. This is a special domain or spiritual link, via which he can use his disciples bloodlust and killing intent to force them to obey. After all, the more powerful a disciple, the more they would have battled and killed, and the more killing intent and bloodlust they will have. So using that he can easily control even full god level disciples." Percy was incomparably astonished." He can control them?" Hestia nodded." Not perfect control perhaps, but he can activate their bloodlust and even drive them mad with bloodlust. This seal control is buried in their bloodline, and erasing it nearly impossible unless Ares himself does so." Percy fell silent. He could hardly believe that the strict and icy master who had spent nearly six years with him was actually under the control of someone else. It seemed impossible that someone as free spirited and strong willed like her could ever submit to being controlled.

Hestia's eyes softened." It must be horrible finding all this out from me. But don't fall for the self righteous illusion Athena puts out. She is just as cruel and even more cunning than Ares. And her methods of control are even more accurate and powerful. She is an expert of the soul after all, so she can directly use slave seals on weaker disciples, and for stronger disciples such as full gods, she can dominate them through soul suppression. And there is nearly no way to forcefully remove a slave seal on someone's soul without damaging it. and the only way to remove her domination is to personally dominate the victims under her suppression and that is also quite difficult."

Percy snorted. Even if Hestia hadn't warned him, he would never trust her so easily, what with how she had stolen his soul. If not for Annabeth's sacrifice he probably would have died. He sighed." No matter what, I must see her. if this championship is the only chance I have to see her, then I have to take it!" Hestia sighed." The championship has only full gods. Even peak minor gods are rare. So for a demigod, even a peak demigod to join is almost suicide. But you have the strength to backup your suicidal plans I suppose."

Calypso shook her head." But Percy… this championship…" Percy shook his head." I came here for only the sole reason of having a chance of seeing artemis. I have enough belief in my strength. I will participate in the championship!"

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Seventeen  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm/ThunderFire Berserk Darkness  
Current status: Dragon-Phoenix Bond with Calypso/ Soul Bond with Hong'er  
Current Cultivation: Peak Demigod Realm( can reach Late stage Minor God with Poseidon Bloodline)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive), Circular Softness( Combined), Hurricane Spiral(Defensive)/Bloodline Of The Azure Dragon/Bloodline of the Royal Phoenix/ Bloodline of the Divine Golden Crow/ Celestial Moon God's Blood(special Power: Oracle's eye)  
Divine Transformations: Divine Sea Gods Transformation/ Devil God Sword Transformation/celestial Moon God's Transformation/ Asura Phantom Rebirth  
Weapon: Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword/ Riptide

Well that's Percy's new status. Check it out. It has important information.

A.N.: let's all support Percy on his suicidal ventures! Also stop asking how Annabeth knew all that. And stop cribbing about how I shouldn't add romantic moments other than Pertemis. It's a harem. He can't ignore the others.

Sorry for the short chapter. I was worried I would be flooded by "how could you kill Percy" reviews. Plus my wifi is botchy. So whenever it works I need to upload as quickly as possible.

Again sorry for slow updates, I have hols so im out a lot.


	44. Preparing for the Grand Championship

**Sixth Arc: Preparing for the Grand Championship.**

Under the guidance of Hestia, Percy began cultivating diligently for the championship. Her experiences far outstripped even those of Artemis and her deep insights helped him overcome any confusion's he had. After all, only the best of the best would take part in the championship. From the Flame Seed sect, Hestia was sending Zoë, Dionysus and Hephaestus along with Percy. Originally Rachel was supposed to go in place of Percy, but since her aptitude as a fighter wasn't as high, she had been exempted. Hestia wasn't one hundred percent sure who from the Asura sect and wisdom sect would turn up, but obviously the strongest disciples were most likely to end up being selected. So she began explaining and training Percy on each disciple most likely to be sent as well as their basic strengths and weaknesses. And during this time she had absolutely forbidden anyone from meeting with Percy, so as to entirely focus his attention. The two of them were sealed into the sacred hall of the flame seed sect all alone.

" My direct Disciple is Zoë, and her combat power is extremely high." Percy found it weird the cute little girl who seemed frightened of her own shadow could have even higher combat power than someone as combat based as Hephaestus." But the other two's direct disciples are equally ferocious. The wisdom sect has their grand warrior goddess Thalia, and the Asura sect, their Deadly Asura Goddess, the Demoness Artemis. Both are personally trained in every single aspect by their respective teachers, and their combat prowess infinitely nears the limit a full god can reach. It can be said, that except for Olympian level warriors, the three direct disciples are unmatched in combat. In addition, each direct disciple has their own trump cards so it is impossible to judge who is stronger. Of course, I have full confidence Zoë can hold her own against thalia. But artemis is a wild card that I am unable to judge."

Percy realized that taking part in this competition probably meant he would end up fighting her if he got the chance to make it that far. Just the thought gave him a weird feeling. He couldn't help but recall the time she had stabbed him when riptide had possessed him. Though it wasn't a true fight, it was the closest he'd ever gotten to fighting with her. Percy shook his head and returned his attention to Hestia.

" Zoë uses a flame based fighting style. This is due to her inheriting the celestial Sun god's power(Apollo). Thalia on the other hand is a Thunder attribute warrior, and I believe she is the successor to the Celestial Chief God(Zeus). Artemis is as you must already know, the inheritor of the celestial Moon Gods Power(Artemis). After the direct disciples, there are the second successors, who have the same potential as the direct disciple. In my case, that is Dionysus. He is the Inheritor of the Celestial God of Madness(Dionysus). He specializes, as the title suggests in mindbreaking and madness. Athena's Second Successor would be Annabeth. She is Athena's adopted daughter, and one of the most powerful warriors in the entire sect. she is only a late stage Full God, but is still one of the most powerful Full Gods, more than even most Peak Full Gods! But she absolutely resents her master, and even ran away once. She came and joined my sect and even studied here for a few hundred years. Then Athena forcefully used the Soul Seal and Bloodline imprint to bring her back."

Percy was silent. Annabeth was a sore point, and even now he failed to understand half the things that had happened when he had met her. he hadn't told anyone what had happened, not even calypso or Aphrodite, as he himself was still confused. But now Hestia's explanation cleared up some mysteries. He finally understood why she had seemed so conflicted about killing him and why she had secretly left behind a portion of her life force. Though truthfully speaking, if anyone else was in Percy's place the life force would never be enough to save their life, but Percy was a unique phenomenon after all. He had survived by a variety of coincidences, which included Calypso's Nirvana Power, His Understanding of the Great way of the Buddha and his Healing power of the Oceans. But it was impossible for Annabeth to know he had all this so her leaving behind her life force was just damaging to herself and it seemed meaningless. But now he saw that she was trying to help him, in any way possible.

" what did she learn while she was here?" Percy asked curiously. Hestia half smiled." She learnt the same profound art Rachel uses, the Three Lives Pupils which allow her to peer at the strings of fate and divine the future as well as the past. In fact, each person has a unique way of using the art. Rachel focuses on seeing the future, as well as perfectly reading a persons essence. Annabeth however was obsessed with seeing the past. She was plagued with nightmares and she thought they showed her some secrets of her past life. So she focused especially on seeing her past life. In fact she could use another person's essence to specifically see how they had interacted in their past lives." Percy blinked in surprise." Past lives…?" it couldn't be an accident that the girl who most haunted his memories of his past lives somehow also was haunted by her past life. Clearly, they both had some connection in their past life. If he ever encountered Annabeth during the competition, he would absolutely have to ask her about it.

Hestia shook her hand." Anyway, the second successor for the wisdom sect is supposed to be Annabeth, however, due to her rebellious nature, Athena also has another second successor. She is Amphitrite, the successor of the Celestial God of the seas." Percy's mind shook." Celestial god of the seas? Master, do you mean Poseidon?" Hestia nodded." Of course." Percy chewed his lip, unsure of how to phrase his question." What exactly does it mean to inherit a Celestial God's Power, or to be their successor?" Hestia tilted her head." It means your body, mind , soul and essence are in perfect sync with that gods power and you match it's attributes perfectly. Then you can fuse with the God Crystal the god has left behind after their death. This god crystal makes half of your blood into ordinary God Blood. It also awakens all your potential. And it directly raises a person's cultivation to the Full god realm. You master all the god's powers and attributes perfectly." Percy was speechless. He had poseidon's LifeBlood, but if he also fused with his God crystal, the benefits would be unimaginable.

" Master what happens to the god crystal after fusion?" he asked eagerly." It remains with the inheritor until they die, and cannot be removed by any means necessary." Hestia said directly. Percy felt his spirits drop. He had been extremely curious of how much of a boost poseidon's god crystal would give him, but alas it remained a dream. Hestia tilted her head to the other side." Do you want poseidon's God Crystal? I wonder… are you a match for it…? if you want, Your master will go kill Amphitrite and get her crystal for you." Hestia said coolly.

Percy almost fainted." W-what?! Master! Isn't she an important disciple of Athena's! and a God Crystal must be very important for a sect right?" Hestia snorted." So what? When I went and snatched Zoë from the Asura sect, even that blusterhead Ares knew where to back down. So what if I go and kill Athena's disciple? What matters to your master is raising your strength." Percy didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Of course it was nice having a master who worried about him and was willing to do so much for him. And he did have a measure of enmity with Athena so he wouldn't mind hurting her. but still, Amphitrite was innocent! He couldn't imagine killing her just to rob her crystal. That would entirely go against his morals and be something on the level of what Luke did. Killing someone and stealing their power, especially someone innocent who had no enmity with him, was something Percy would never do.

Hestia looked at him like he was an idiot." So your master will go get the Celestial Sea God's Crystal, when she does that, you can test to see if you are compatible. If you're not then I'll simply go return it. after all, why bother keeping it if it's useless." Percy shook his head." No, No! master it won't be right for me to kill someone and steal their Powers simply for my own use!" She snorted." What do you mean? You're simply too weak right now. If you're compatible with that god crystal, you will reach full god stage. In that case, you will have no threat to your life in the competition. After all you are one of my direct disciples. Your life is worth more than even Dionysus and Hephaestus." Percy didn't know how to respond." Percy, when I began this training, I did so to improve your strength in the shortest possible time. So you must promise me, no matter what, you will obey my orders. This is all in order to raise your strength, and so sacrifice is too big. And you're right. The chances of you being compatible with a god crystal is almost zero. After all you are from a lower plane, so the chances of your physique being sufficient is impossible. You'll need at least another decade in the wild and rough energy of the god realm before your body is ready to absorb the crystal." Her eyes glinted craftily." So it looks like I need some other method to raise your strength."

Percy nodded hesitantly. No wonder everyone was scared of Hestia. She was so decisive in all her actions and seemed to regard everyone else as foolish servants. But he couldn't understand why she would place such great importance on him. Even if she had suddenly taken him as her direct disciple, she still had Zoë as a direct disciple as well. And he was just a new disciple as well.

Hestia stared at him coldly." Your master's decisions are final. That is in all situations. Am I clear?" Percy nodded again, this time more firmly. Her cold gaze didn't change as she continued her lecture." Ares's second Successor is the Moonflower of Hell, Drew. She is the inheritor of the celestial God of Love and Lust(Aphrodite), but she has a bloodline of the God of Madness(Dionysus) as well. Furthermore, she Possesses the Physique of the Death God(Hades), so she can be said to be Literally the most Powerful Second Successor. She far outclasses normal Full god warriors and is infinitely close to Direct disciples in power. In fact, she is so strong, unless it wasn't for the fact that artemis was an abnormal freak and was extraordinarily powerful, Drew would have been Ares's Direct Disciple for sure. The number of people she has killed is less than artemis, but in terms of brutality, she is infinitely more creative. She is sadistic and twisted and her personality is crazed. Once she killed ten full god level warriors to save a small, normal boy who was being bullied. Then she dual cultivated with that boy till he went insane with lust. And then she went and threw him into the mourning area where the wives, sisters and other female relatives of the ten warriors she had killed were all sitting and mourning them. You can probably imagine what happened. In the end the boy was brutally hacked apart. in terms of madness, she should be inferior to Dionysus, but her Power of Lust compliments her Power of madness."

Percy shuddered. Luke had suffered a similar fate, and then drew had gotten fixated on him as well. Thankfully he had the dragon god soul as well as the styx soul, so he had resisted her mental domination. If not, he was certain he would have suffered a terrible fate as well. That sweet seductive face and that naughty smile hid such a disturbed and warped personality. Percy could hardly imagine that anyone could be that crazy. But he had seen a lot in his time. He'd seen crazy girls who burnt off their clothes without warning, then tried killing people who saw them he had seen a tiny girl who could not weigh more than forty kilograms and had difficulty biting a biscuit, chew and swallow nearly unbreakable swords that weighed thousand or even millions of kilograms, without her stomach bloating in the slightest. So why not a seductive demonic enchantress who had a fetish for driving her lovers insane? After all, anything goes in the many, many thousands of worlds that exist.

Hestia narrowed her eyes." Anyone, man or woman is vulnerable to Drew's charm. However, her extreme yin body is naturally attracted to males with powerful yang. Hephaestus is cyborg. Dionysus's power is of yin Attribute. The only other male participating is you." Percy stared at her, dumbfounded." Master, you think…" hestia waved a hand." It doesn't matter what I think. What matters are the facts. So let me tell you a few. As you may have seen in the sect, very few males become Divine warriors, due to natural leakage of energy from your body. You Yang energy is too strong so it constantly escapees the body. It is even more difficult for someone with a powerful yang attribute to become a demigod. Therefore a boy with a Demigod cultivation and a Yang attribute is more than a thousand times better for cultivation purposes than a boy in the legend realm. Therefore Drew will hardly let an opportunity like you slip past her. you have a powerful cultivation, young age and high vitality, a powerful physique and an impossibly pure yang attribute. If she gave up such a chance, even I would call her an idiot. Therefore, if you fall for her charms, it is decided you will be driven insane by her to use as her cultivation oven. Am I clear?" Hestia asked in a snappy voice. Percy immediately nodded.

Hestia shook her head." You need more than determination, you need a powerful cultivation and more experience." Percy clasped his hand to his chest." Disciple will not disappoint you master." Hestia sighed." If you do, you will regret it dearly." Her eyes flashed with warning and Percy gulped.

"The next set of people you need to worry about are the Twin sisters, Demeter and Persephone. Alone, they are as deadly as any other core disciple, but when they fight together, they can easily crush any other opponent. No one, perhaps not even the direct disciples are any match for them. They inherited the Celestial God of Nature's power(Demeter) and they share the power of the crystal with each other. You can call them a miracle I suppose." Hestia's eyes flashed." But Ares has his own miracle twins, Hazel and Bianca. Both are not from this world. They are a different species, like Athena, only they are Dark Angels. They both have a special Physique of both Dark Angels and the Death God, as well as Inherited the Power of the Death god(Hades). Technically the death god(Hades) was not a celestial god(Olympian) but his power was equal to both The Celestial Chief of Lightning(Zeus) and The Celestial god of the seas( Poseidon). So you can imagine how terrifying they can be in terms of combat prowess." Percy shivered. Every single one of them were high class monsters who's strength was on par with the person he admired most; Artemis.

Percy grit his teeth." How can I pass through this championship, and manage to meet artemis, if I'm scared of my competitors just by hearing about them." Hestia shook her head." You're ccultivation level is far too inferior. That is currently the biggest problem. The best way to tackle your weakness would be to somehow increase your cultivation to at least initial stage of Full God. You have abnormal power capable of fighting most Minor Gods. But all your opponents are full gods and even among full god's, they are the absolute elite of the elite. They can casually kill any ordinary full god without even breaking a sweat. Even if you managed to reach full god level, fighting with them would still be nearly impossible for you. after all, even if you are a great talent capable of high combat capacity, who among them isn't? they are all as talented as you and they have huge advantages over you, considering they have been cultivating for hundreds or even thousands of years, but you're still just in your mortal youth of around twenty years and you've probably cultivated for only fifteen or so years. Plus they are all inheritors of God Crystals. Even Hephaestus is the inheritor of the celestial God of Fire and Blacksmiths. They have been training under peerless masters for so many Centuries, but you have to just take a crash course from me for only around a year. And they have all been training with great resources of their sects, while you were using the pitiful garbage of the Lower plane's. truly, despite your talent, with sucha low cultivation, you are absolutely outclassed."

Hestia shook her head." If you wish to meet your artemis, it will probably happen in the final trials. However I doubt you will even pass through the elimination trials and the other subsequent trials."

"Follow me." Hestia turned around.

Percy hesitated for a moment and did not comment as he followed her.

However, Hestia abruptly stopped at this moment. "Do you have something to say?"

Percy also stopped. Words swiftly organised themselves in his head as he earnestly said, "Master, this disciple understands that cultivating the profound ways should be done one step at a time and fears obtaining quick results the most. Furthermore, disciple knows that profound arts and skills are at times even more important than profound energy cultivation but…"

"You want to ask if I know a method that will allow you to reach the Full god Realm in less than two years?" Hestia's crescent shaped eyebrows slightly furrowed together.

"Yes!" Percy nodded his head, "Disciple followed Senior Hephaestus to the Become a direct disciple for this reason, Master… should have long known of this. This matter is incomparably important to disciple. If disciple can advance to the Full God Realm before the Grand championship and obtain the right to enter the Final Trial, no matter how many hardships there will be… even if I have to pay a great price, this disciple will accept all of it. I beg Master to grant my wish."

Although the teachings and knowledge she had given him had garnered great interest from him, mastering all the knowledge and experiences was not important to him. Because he belonged to the Blue Pole Star's Gaia continent and not the God Realm. After he obtained his heart's desire, he would leave the God Realm forever and return to the Blue Pole Star… moreover, the thing he longed for the most in the God Realm was to see Artemis.

To see Artemis… what he needed the most was profound strength and not the information on disciples or any other knowledge.

He had forced Hestia to become his master and even restrained his nature. His obedient behavior in front of her was absolutely not because he desired the medicines, arrays, profound arts or the status of being her direct disciple. In this Flame seed sect, if there was someone who could help him advance to the Full god Realm before the Grand Championship… it could only be Hestia.

Hestia slowly turned around, and her Fiery eyes seemed to give off an eternally unchanging Burning red light. "You have merely entered the Demigod Realm, how can it be so easy to breakthrough to the Full God Realm in two years!?"

"..." Hestia's words did not cause Percy to be disappointed. Instead, his mind was shaken.

Because she had said "how can it be so easy", which meant that it was "not impossible"!

This signified that… she might really have some extraordinary method!

"Master, no matter what method it is, as long as there is a tiny chance… I am willing to try it!" Percy did not look away from Hestia's gaze as he decisively declared.

"Is she really so important to you?" Hestia coldly asked.

"Yes." Percy nodded without hesitation.

"...Alright." Hestia suddenly slowly nodded her head, the brilliance in her icy pupils unchanging. "Since you are so anxious, I have no choice but to grant your wish."

While Percy was stunned, crimson light suddenly surfaced in front of Hestia, "Rachel, I permit you to temporarily use the Sacred Hall's teleportation formation. Make sure you arrive at the Sacred Hall to see this master within the span of a hundred breaths! I have decided you are going to dual cultivate with Percy."

Hestia's voice faded together with the crimson light. Percy was rather dazed as he inquired, "Rachel?"

"Unless you can somehow fuse with a god crystal, it will be impossible to cross two great realms of the divine way in a short two years no matter how talented you are and how extreme the training. Although the Flame seed sect has countless miraculous pellets and spiritual herbs, it is impossible to reach the heavens in a single step."

Hestia's tone changed a little. "However, due to the Flame seed sect's many different cultivation methods, our Divine Flame seed Sect can indeed make use of a shortcut!"

"Master, you… you said 'shortcut'... could it… b-be..." Percy started to stutter.

"Do you know why the highest level women in our Divine Flame seed Sect, the Wisdom sect and the Asura Sect with the greatest talent, cultivation, and status are mostly single and will never marry?" Hestia asked." Rachel, Zoë, Annabeth, Demeter, Persephone, Athena, Thalia, Bianca, Hazel are all single and unmarried."

"...Disciple has heard that if the women who cultivate the Secret Divine arts lose their vital yin, their cultivation and profound art progress will become very slow and a far cry from what it had been previously. Additionally, the greater one's talent and cultivation, the more arrogant and cold hearted one will become, thus..."

Percy's reply was very soft. This was what he had heard from Core Disciples. They had been single for thousands of years and Hestia tens of thousands… Cough, moreover, they had said that the even more talented Rachel who cultivated the pure yin attribute Sacred Divine Heart arts of the oracle would likely remain unmarried for her entire life like Hestia.

But now…

"Hmph, so you already know." Iciness that was enough to freeze the azure sea was present on Hestia's peerless face. "However, that is only half of the reason."

"Although some of the profound cultivators of the so-called dignified and upright sects hold contempt for dual cultivation, it is not an evil method. If a couple is able to come to an agreement and complement each other in the exchange of yin and yang, it will be extremely beneficial to the profound strength and profound arts training of both parties. However, the Divine Arts of our Divine Flame seed Sect, The Wisdom Sect and Asura Sect is an extreme yin Attribute, thus the Three sect's Divine arts are all extremely cold profound arts which rejects external yang energy. Hence, the fusion of yin and yang is absolutely impossible. If yin and yang is exchanged, not only would the vital yin be lost, only the male will benefit each time. It is alright for normal disciples who don't practice our Divine arts to dual cultivate. But if someone like Rachel or Zoë, who practice my secret Divine Art try dual cultivation, then they will get absolutely no benefit. That is why unlike the ordinary female disciples who are desperate for male dual cultivation partners, they are virgins."

Percy was speechless.

"It is exactly because of the relation between the Flame seed Divine Arts that the vital yin of Flame seed sect's women greatly exceed that of other women. Moreover, their vital yin contains the purest Flame aura. If it is obtained by a man, it will greatly raise his profound energy cultivation and even strengthen his Divine physique."

"So, do you understand now?"

Percy opened his mouth. After a long time, he said with some difficulty, "Is this what Master meant by… shortcut? Appointing Rachel as disciple's dual cultivation companion, is also… for the sake of…"

"That's right!" Percy's reaction made Hestia frown a little, "To break through to the Full God Realm in a short two years, robbing Flame seed vital yin is the most practical shortcut!"

"With enough… vital yin…" The corners of Percy's mouth faintly twitched as he fell into a daze. One did not know what state of mind he was in as he stupidly asked, "Then… how much Flame seed vital yin is needed to reach the Full God Realm?"

Hestia was silent for a moment, before she replied in an indifferent voice, "Amongst this generation of Flame seed disciples, Rachel possess the highest grade of Flame seed vital yin. If they could all be like Rachel, a thousand would perhaps be enough."

"A… thousand!?" Percy opened and closed his mouth, causing him to almost bite his tongue.

Hestia remained unmoved by Percy's response. "But there is only one Rachel and it is not possible to find any within the young generation that can compare to her. If selected from the Inner court and Core disciples, Flame seed Palace and the various great Flame seed Branch Sects, at least three thousand Flame seed disciples who have retained their vital yin are needed for this to be work. Hmph, although the chances do not even reach ten percent, there is likely no better alternative."

Three… three thousand!?

"~！ #￥%…" Percy's scalp was numb as his legs turned to jelly, "Too… too many…"

After speaking these words, Percy suddenly regained his senses as he used all his might to shake his head, "No, disciple cannot accept… this method."

"Cannot accept?!" Hestia's expression abruptly darkened, "Why not?"

The light in Hestia's eyes fluctuated, causing the atmosphere to suddenly change as a chill immediately swept from the bottom of Percy's feet to the top of his head. Percy never imagined that his rejection would result in such an intense reaction from Hestia. He could only brace himself as he spoke, "To allow so many of my fellow junior and senior sisters to lose their talent… and even sacrifice their purity for the sake of this disciple's profound strength advance, this disciple... cannot allow such a thing."

"Sacrifice? Hmph!" Hestia icily said, "You are my, Hestia's, direct disciple. Being selected is their honor! It is no sacrifice! They would be willing to throw themselves into your bed like lust crazed beasts if you even curled a finger!"

Even in his wildest dreams, Percy would never have imagined that Hestia would propose such a method for the sake of finding the only shortcut for him. Two years... three thousand Flame seed vital yin…

It was impossible to imagine what would happen in those two years…

Let alone the fact that there was not even a ten percent chance of success, even if it really enabled him to advance to the Full God Realm in two years… it would be no different from an incubus plundering vital yin to supplement his yang energy! Forget about what kind of reputation he would have in the Flame Seed sect, if Calypso, Aphrodite, and the rest knew of this…

Moreover, Rachel…

"Out of the question." Percy continued to shake his head, "Disciple cannot do it. Disciple can endure even the most cruel and hardest training but using so many fellow junior and senior sisters, this disciple…"

"Using?" Hestia coldly snorted in a disdainful manner, "Did you not take Chiron's test to use him to come to the God Realm? You were brave enough to stand up to me in front of all the other disciples and did all you could to make me your Master. Was this not for the sake of using me to help you advance to the Full God Realm?"

"..." Percy opened and closed his mouth. He had no response to her words.

"Do you know that even the emperor of a nation would not even dare to touch any of the women in the God Realm who possess Flame seed vital yin? If I allow you to select any of them, absolutely no one will disobey! Not only is this the best chance for you to reach the Full God Realm, it is also a great blessing that no one will ever be able to receive, yet you dare to reject it!?"

"Hmph, do not think that I don't know that you, who have not even reached the age of twenty, already have several Lovers in the lower realms. Chiron has also once told me that you are reckless and never suppress your desires. In the Lower realms you didn't marry the girl who proposed to you, despite having stolen her first time. You then stole another girl's nirvanic Virginity and have even dual cultivated with all three of them at the same time. Yet you now dare to act like a saint in front of me!?"

"！ #￥%..." Percy was flabbergasted... the hell! Why did Chiron tell her all of this…

"Disciple… disciple and them were… both willing parties, moreover…"

At this time, an soft breeze approached and Rachel, dressed in snow white clothes, drifted over.

Her arrival made it seem as if a beautiful Red lotus had suddenly blossomed in the Sacred Hall.

"Rachel greets Sect Master."

She respectfully bowed her body at Hestia's side but did not even take a look at Percy. It was as if he did not exist in this world.

"Rachel, your arrival is timely."

Hestia replied Rachel but her gaze never shifted away from Percy's body. Her voice suddenly slowed at this moment… moreover it became incomparably relaxed, "Percy, this is the first day that I have formally become your master, yet you actually dare to disobey my words."

"You~have~no~choice~in~this~matter!"

A.N.: yup, Hestia is a truly devoted master huh? Also I finally explained all the different powers I needed to. Please don't skip any of their descriptions cause it was a huge headache listing each one so I wouldn't need to explain each one separately when Percy fought them.

No one knows Percy has Poseidon's Lifeblood. Except for artemis. Even calypso just thinks he has his blood, but thinks its normal blood. That is why Hestia isn't insisting on him trying to fuse with the God Crystal. Also another explanation necessary.

Divine Arts are like the top secret Methods of the sect. only the Core and Direct disciples and other special status disciples are allowed to cultivate them. Ordinary disciples aren't allowed to cultivate them. So only these special disciples who cultivate the Divine Arts can't Dual Cultivate(Have sex). Ordinary disciples can Dual Cultivate, which is why so many ordinary disciples wanted to dual cultivate with Percy. I hope I cleared that out.


	45. Forced Dual Cultivation

**Sixth Arc: Forced Dual Cultivation.**

Hestia spoke in a light and slow voice but it was devoid of any emotions; it was evident that she was furious at the moment. Unlike the case when he had spoken back to her and argued with her in front of all the disciples, she was truly angry at Percy, for the first time.

His inability to tell good from bad had really enraged her!

"Disciple apologizes... I've failed Master." Percy felt tense in his heart as he lowered his head unable to meet Hestia's eyes. He knew that she only intended to fulfill his cherished desire. Moreover, the vital yin of three thousand Flame seed sect female disciples... would be an enormous loss to the whole sect but she still didn't hesitate to make the choice for his own good.

Although it was only his first day as her disciple, she had shown extremely great care to him.

He said it himself just a while ago, that so long as he can reach Full god Realm before the Grand championship, he would willingly participate in it and use all means to do so, no matter how faint the hope was. But now, in the blink of an eye, he was straight up refusing her...

Therefore, he truly meant it when he said "I've failed Master."

As his head drooped down, his gaze fell upon Rachel who was still prostrate on the ground. Immediately, he fell into a trance; a devastatingly beautiful and aloof figure like a warrior princess surfaced before his eyes.

Annabeth...

He knew well that Rachel wasn't Annabeth and the girl from his past life who twisted his heart into knots was the one and only in the world. However, despite that, looking at the similarities between them, he still had no way of holding himself back from recalling the Warrior-like figure he would certainly feel apologetic to for the rest of his life. Furthermore, the figure of Annabeth overlapped and merged with Rachel in his line of sight, making it even more difficult for him to stop thinking about her.

She isn't her, not the one I know... Percy shook his head silently.

"You're sorry?" Hestia's brows tightened. "You believe that you have the right to refuse my decision!?"

SNAP!

Hestia stretched out her palm. An extraordinarily rough sound of bubbling and crackling issued from behind Percy. He subconsciously turned a round only to see several layers of thick molten rock bubbling and rising upwards piling up in a criss-cross fashion. In an instant, they built up a granite room less than ten meter square in area.

Hestia flipped over her palm the moment Percy turned around. Soon after, a bizarre bead of blood emitting red light, floated up to the tip of her finger before abruptly shooting forth to his chest.

"Ehh!"

Taken by surprise, Percy could only groan in fright as the red bead drilled into his body in no time with the aid of Hestia's profound energy and fused into his blood.

He had the Poseidon's Divine Body so he wasn't afraid of any sort of fire; even the scorching hot temperature of an erupting volcano wouldn't make him feel uncomfortable in the least. But as soon as the blood bead entered his body, he felt as though flames had erupted around his chest region which then quickly coursed through his body to reach every part within.

Percy turned pale with fear at the unprecedented reaction shown by his body. "Master, what is... this thing?"

"It's the blood of an ancient horned dragon. You must know how different bloodlines have different effects? Well the horned dragon is Drew's favorite pet, because it has a destructive yang bloodline! And I got this after Dionysus exchanged a special treasure of madness for it. in terms of driving people insane with lust, it can be said to be a very powerful treasure." Hestia replied coldly.

"...!" Percy's pupils shrank in shock.

Dragon's were naturally very promiscuous creatures with fearful stamina and extreme Yang Blood. This dragon was drew's pet so it could be imagined how deadly it was. After all, she was the celestial Poison Goddess! As her favorite pet, its breath was extremely poisonous and its blood immensely depraving.

Its breath was so fatally toxic that even minor gods would dread it. And its blood...'

"The blood of the ancient horned dragon has the attribute of extreme yang and as such, it's an utmost depravity-inducing substance. Even though I didn't use more than a drop of it, one at the Full God Realm wouldn't be able to put up any resistance against its effects, much less you who has just entered divine way! I want to see for myself whether your body is as stubborn as your mouth!"

Hestia's words carried along an oddly scalding aura which forced Rachel to turn away her bright eyes. In the short time of a few breaths, Percy's face and his exposed skin had completely turned crimson. As if he had been set afire, his breathing became heavy like a bull; his forehead was dripping with so much perspiration, it was as if torrential rain was pouring down.

"Sss... ah..." His whole blood seemed to have tuned into lava, crazily igniting his lust as it boiled intensely.

His body had Styx Soul Inner World, making him fearless against all poisons under the heavens. However, the thing that has invaded his body wasn't some poison but dragon blood of extreme yang.

He fully understood what Hestia was trying to do at this moment. A horned dragon's blood possessed intense yang energy of a terrifying level. He had seen too many estrus-inducing things. But their potency couldn't come anywhere close to one ten thousandth of the single drop of dragon blood. The only thing more dangerous than this was the fruit that contained demonic qi. But that fruit made him feel a gentle desire to become one with Annabeth. But this blood boiling in his veins was begging him to push Rachel down and tear apart her clothes and ruthlessly and savagely claim her. it was just begging him to go on a rampage hunting down every possible female. It was infinitely more deadly than the fruit of demonic qi.

However, he was already unable to escape from this place even if he wanted. Hestia's palm drew closer and struck lightly on his chest.

BANG!

Percy's body flew backward with an explosion as it fell into a cramped granite room with incomparable precision. Very soon, Rachel was also blown into the room by a scorching wind.

Even her profound strength was completely sealed, leaving her unable to use the slightest bit of it.

CLACK!

A crimson light flashed through the air, instantly melting the opening and causing it to melt and seal the opening which firmly blocked the only exit of the room.

The granite forming the room and the blockade were personally created by Hestia. Consequently, it was simply impossible for Percy and Rachel to break out of it.

The granite making up the room was entirely opaque. Not only did they serve to obstruct others from looking inside, they also had the ability to prevent all sounds from reaching in or coming out.

Immediately, the entire Sacred Hall quieted. Hestia's beautiful brows slightly tightened into a frown. Her cold and absolutely gorgeous face was covered in a thin layer of pallid light, apparently still angry due to Percy's sudden refusal.

In Divine Flame Seed Sect, direct inheritors of the Flame Seed bloodline who possessed Flame Seed vital yin were extremely few. Moreover, all of them had quite a high status and talent in the entire Realm of gods. She was willing to pay an enormous price for Percy. It was certainly the best method she could come up with to make his cultivation reach Full god Realm before the grand championship.

Besides, her plan was basically an absolutely great temptation to any man in the world, to say nothing of Percy who was deemed uninhibited by Chiron. He had constantly told her about his unrestrained behavior.

But despite everything, he was audacious enough to refuse right to her face!

Other than being surprised by his action, how would she not be enraged!?

And since it was a decision made by her, Percy only had the choice to do it willingly or not. He had no qualification to voice his refusal!

Hestia slowly brought her arm down before turning around as her grey robe fluttered in the wind. Her tightened brows gradually relaxed and curved down a bit right after the moment she faced the other side. The exceedingly fiery aura emanating from her disappeared without a trace, like a dying ember.

Her lips that contained endless might of flames, could be seen moving a little bit. Although her lips only curved into an almost indiscernible smile, it seemed as though countless flowers had bloomed all of a sudden, indescribably and inexhaustibly enchanting.

"The brat is such a handful. Doesn't even listen to a thing I say."

She lightly muttered to herself but her voice didn't have the bone-piercing chilliness from before and had instead become quite soft. Her previously burning eyes were shining like a cozy flame reflecting the rays of sun, holding the same languid charm when a beautiful woman would awaken from an erotic dream.

"Rachel is someone with a pure oracular power. Percy, you need to treat her tenderly and take care not to break her."

She let out a lovely laugh, appearing like a witch who had succeeded in her prank. Her dull grey robe fluttered in the air as she disappeared within the thick smoke left behind by the melted rocks, seemingly dissipating into thin air.

But she didn't really leave the Sacred Hall and was actually floating high into the sky. She closed her eyes as she focused her mind. She was far more clear about the intensity of the horned dragon blood's yang attribute. It wasn't the least bit of exaggeration to say that just a drop of its blood was so potent that even profound practitioners of Full God Realm would be unable to keep themselves in check under its effect.

With Percy's current profound strength, he wouldn't be able to hold back for any more than ten breaths, no matter how strong his willpower was. Afterward, he would totally lose his reason and his body would be governed by his lust. And as for Rachel who was in the same room as him, she had personally sealed her profound power and hence, there was no means left to her for resisting the assault of the lust-driven Percy.

Under the influence of extreme yang dragon blood, a man would go crazy even for a whore, to say nothing of the exceptionally beautiful Rachel, whose looks were unmatched in the entire sect.

With the help of Rachel's extremely strong and pure Flame Seed vital yin, he would recover very quickly as well… therefore she planned on waiting for an hour before opening up the room.

After all, she was really worried about Percy losing control and ending up playing with the powerless Rachel to the point of being thoroughly broken. Even if he was her direct disciple, there was no need to let him torture and break down a woman he had already finished claiming, especially a talented one like Rachel.

Time continued to pass by amidst the silent chilliness. After half an hour passed, Hestia slowly opened her eyes as she looked at the sealed room.

She speculated that Percy must have obtained Rachel's vital yin by now. But even she, the Flame seed sect's sect master, would have never expected what had actually happened in the sealed room.

"Ahah... Ugh, ahah... ah!"

Percy was shouting as if he had gone insane. His voice had already become extremely hoarse, giving off the impression that he was suffering from the greatest pain in the world.

His robe was in an utterly miserable state; every torn piece of it was dyed with scarlet bloodstains. His hair were also in a complete mess as he continuously clawed at his body with his own hands. And his head was ruthlessly hitting against the solid walls again and again, producing violent deafening sounds of collision.

The blood coursing through his body was incomparably burning hot and his body was boiling with such momentum as though it would blow up at any moment. The desire to madly ravage Rachel filled up each and every cell of his body, nibbling away at his last bit of reason and soberness.

Rachel quietly stood at the corner of the room without making any sort of sound; like a finely sculpted ice-crystal statue of a young lady. Only her starry eyes could be seen faintly swaying, as unprecedented ripples surfaced in them.

She had heard before about the fearfulness of a horned dragon blood.

She had thought about accepting her fate the moment she entered the Sacred Hall. She had no thoughts of defying it, nor was it possible, as it was an order from the Sect Master.

She knew very well that given her appearance, the men in the sect would always look at her with gazes of shock, infatuation, and stultification; they would even feel themselves inferior to her, not daring to show the expressions of desire in their eyes. In any case, even if she was ugly, she still had Flame Seed vital yin, which was an immensely great temptation in itself to all men.

And right now, the only person who could do anything with her was...

Unexpectedly, roaring to vent his feelings, clawing at himself and knocking his head against the wall with all his might. Despite the fact that half an hour had passed, he hadn't shown any signs of assaulting her helpless self, even though he was being tormented by the blood of the horned dragon.

He had started to lose his voice gradually after howling for such a long period of time, as if his throat had ripped open at several places. Large pools of blood and sweat could be seen at his feet. He had drawn back his body, that appeared to be in utmost pain, to a corner of the room with his back facing her, seemingly doing his best to forget about her existence.

He stubbornly managed to restrain himself so far despite the effect of the blood, something even people in the Full God Realm would find impossible to do. There was just no way to imagine how strong a willpower it required to accomplish such a feat and the fearful extent of pain one had to suffer. Rachel stared blankly at him as such a situation was totally different from what she had expected. She also couldn't understand why he was doing that. It was an order from the Sect Master, she herself was clearly an irresistible, devastatingly beautiful woman, and there was evidently endless benefit to him if he did as said. But why would he still not be willing to touch her even if that meant bearing so much pain?

"Why are... you trying to restrain yourself?"

Her snow-like lips opened lightly as she spoke in a dreamy voice.

She had no idea why she was speaking to her to-be attacker.

Moreover, the words she said were ambiguous enough to be taken as an invitation to defile her.

Perhaps, even Percy didn't know about the thing he was enduring at the moment. It might be due to the shadow of Annabeth left in his mind or the unwillingness to surrender himself before the might of the horned dragon blood. The last time he had given in, he had almost died after losing his Styx soul. He was clear about one thing, and that was he was the master of his own destiny, and he would never bow down to anyone or anything else.

However, the timid and soft feminine voice of Rachel ruined all his efforts to forget her existence in the end. The final defensive line in his mind that was holding him back was routed in the twinkling of an eye...

Percy stopped roaring and his body turned around all of a sudden. With bloodshot eyes, he stared towards Rachel who was standing in a daze...

BANG!

His heart throbbing crazily and his blood surging fiercely, Percy's will was being dominated by the desire to ravage Rachel to his satisfaction. He pounded over to her like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. But as he had currently lost quite a bit of his strength, he lost his balance and fell upon her legs instead, causing her to fall down due to the weight of his body.

RIIIP!

Rachel's lower garment was instantly ripped apart by Percy, who was currently out of his mind. A jade-white, slender, and long leg revealed itself before him which he greedily caressed as he pressed his face against the beautiful bare part of her leg. The soft and smooth sensation of her leg possessed a chilly aura and comforting delicate fragrance, making the fire of lust, that was threatening to split his body into pieces, burn with even more force and intensity.

In contrast to the burning hot aura emanating from Percy, Rachel's body was giving off a pure, cold aura. After being eventually pounced upon by the former, she didn't show any resistance despite the fact that she was going to be defiled by him.

A series of tearing sounds could be heard once again; Rachel's snow-white garments had turned into bits and pieces in no time. Her flawless, jade-like body was immediately exposed to the air, revealing the smooth, dazzling, snow-white skin in front of Percy's bloodshot eyes.

She quietly remained beneath him with her body fully exposed, without struggling to stop the other party or showing any signs of sensuality. She seemed like a Peerless angel, a divine maiden who was born pure, whose beauty would remain pure and holy even if she were to be sullied by a wild beast that had lost its reason. Her green eyes stared into Percy's green eyes. One pair was crystal clear and pure. The other was bloodshot and clouded with lust.

The crimson color of Percy's pupils deepened several fold. He let out an uncontrollable low roar as he pounced forward to firmly grab and knead her jade-white, flawless chest, causing Rachel to tighten her beautiful brows in pain.

She moaned softly as his fingers kneaded her soft flesh, pinching and squeezing her tender nipples. Her breasts were still developing, due to the slowed aging of her godly body, and they were still around B cups, barely filling his hands as he hungrily ravaged her.

Then, Percy impatiently lowered his head to bite directly on her lips. There was barely any distance between the eyes of the two people. His lips locked onto hers and she hesitantly parted them, his tongue carrying the coppery taste of his blood into her mouth. Their tongues intertwined and his saliva poured into her mouth as he sucked at her tongue.

Percy's pupils were blazing like flames, apparently in a state of irritable unrest. Rachel didn't close her eyes and simply looked on with a glazed expression in them; resembling a pond of still water, ice-cold, holy and pure, eliciting deep sorrow and melancholy within others.

She resembled the helpless Piper in the past when her body was pressed down by him at Dragon God trial grounds. A pure and helpless maiden who depended on him for her life.

In an instant, Percy let out a queer cry as though countless lightning bolts had ruthlessly bombarded into eyes and soul. His body flipped away from its position on Rachel all of a sudden. He grabbed his head and rolled about on the ground, howling and crying endlessly.

Blue veins popped out on his forehead, bearing a similarity to desperately struggling earthworms. His reddened eyes had miraculously gained some clarity, despite him totally going out of control just a while ago. After yelling for a long time, he lifted his trembling right arm and stretched wide the five fingers before fiercely smashing down on his chest.

Pftt!

The fingers were imbued with all of his power as they firmly pierced into his chest and dug out five deep bloody holes. Blood immediately gushed out of the holes, bringing about a sharp pain that helped him sober up even more than before. He exerted his whole strength to get as far away from Rachel as possible while rolling and crawling on the ground.

"..." Rachel quietly got up to her feet as she absentmindedly looked at Percy doing his all to get as far from her as he could. He left incomparably scarlet bloodstains on the ground in his wake as he crawled his way to the other corner of the room.

"Knock... me... out..."

Suddenly, he spoke with his body curled up in the corner. He said no more than three words but his voice was so hoarse that it didn't bear any similarities to that of a human's; it sounded more like it was coming from a wild beast in a moment of despair.

"..." Rachel didn't move a muscle, even forgetting to cover up her naked jade-like body. There was a blood-red mark on her cherry lips... left behind by none other than Percy.

Since her profound strength had been completed sealed by Hestia, it was impossible for her to knock him out even if she wanted to do so.

"Hurry up... AHHHH!"

Percy roared in maddening pain. His faintly sobered up mind was telling him that his sanity might get swallowed up again by the instincts of lust at any moment.

I... can't...

I can't!

Percy's eyes abruptly widened to their limits as the image of a dark blue True Dragon at once surfaced on his body." If the heavens shall force me, I shall Destroy the heavens! I am A Dragon God who will never bow down my head! Azure Dragon God's Soul Domain!"

"ROAR!"

With the dragon soul released, his mind became extremely clear. At least, he could channel sufficient power now.

"AHHHHHHH!" Percy straightaway gathered all his power in the right arm before launching a punch to his temple.

BOOM!

There was so much weight behind his punch that it jolted the entire sealed room.

Outside, the meditating Hestia suddenly opened up her eyes.

This is... the aura of a True Dragon!?

Her gaze immediately turned to the room below. Unexpectedly, the aura of a True Dragon was originating from within it!

Hestia's body flashed and instantly arrived before the sealed room. With a stroke of her palm, the firm wall right in front melted away in no time.

She was momentarily stupefied by the scene before her eyes.

Percy was sitting paralyzed with his body curled up in a corner of the room. His whole body was dyed in blood and five bloody holes could be seen on his chest. Although blood had stopped flowing out of them, it was still a ghastly sight to behold.

His eyes were open but they had lost nearly all their luster, and his mental condition had fallen to a semi-conscious state by now. As Rachel's profound strength had been sealed, he could be the only one to turn his body into such a mess.

Rachel was standing in another corner with all her garments torn to pieces. Her bare jade-like body looked so splendid that even Hestia felt admiration for it in her heart. It was just that although there were some ravaging marks left on her, the breath of her vital yin was still pure as before.

There were large bloodstains on the ground between the two people.

"..." Hestia remained silent for a long while, standing in place, before walking over to Percy's side.

Her snow white hand lightly pressed on his chest, sending some of her own energy into his body to quickly dispel the blood of horned dragon that was wreaking havoc within even at this moment.

Rachel had been looking fixedly at Percy all this time. Her eyes had lost their previous cold and calm expression as they got replaced by utter confusion. It was her first time forgetting to bow upon seeing Hestia.

Under the effect of Hestia's Powerful energy, Percy's breathing recovered to normal. His body stopped convulsing and the look of pain on his face disappeared gradually.

"Percy, why are you unwilling to touch Rachel despite the fact that it would only cause you so much suffering?"

Hestia asked in a low voice.

She injected him with the blood of horned dragon and confined him in the sealed room with Rachel due to his disobedience and inability to appreciate her kindness. However, seeing that he didn't want to do anything to Rachel even after being tormented by the blood of the horned dragon for an entire hour and even hurt his entire body in the process, she couldn't bring herself to be angry at him, though she should be further enraged at his actions.

Percy opened his lips to speak. He was almost in a stupor at the moment but still managed to maintain an extremely vague consciousness. "If it's someone else... disciple... will obey Master's words... But disciple... is unable to... do it with her..."

Rachel, "..."

"For what reason?" Hestia asked.

"Because... she... resembles... my...Wise…girl"

Percy's voice came to a halt as he spoke out the two words, "Wise girl." Suddenly, a pained expression appeared on his face, showing no signs of disappearing any time soon.

"Wise girl? Who's she?" The light in Hestia's eyes flickered slightly. She didn't hear this name when Chiron talked about Percy with her.

"She… is… someone… who… betrayed…me…and...tried…killing…me…she's…my.. precious… wise…girl" His consciousness became further indistinct but his voice turned even more pained.

It was natural, as talking about Annabeth was basically coming into contact with the deepest and most painful, regretful and untouchable place of his soul.

Rachel, "..."

"..." Hestia fell silent for a brief moment. She slowly moved her hands away from his chest after driving out all of the horned dragon blood.

"Disciple... requests Master... to rescind the order..." Percy's face turned pale as he closed his eyes and continued, "Or else... Artemis would... loathe me... when she finds out...that… I was… such a…horrible…person…in her…. absence"

His eyelids shut down completely as he truly passed out.

The words he spoke came from the depths of his soul but he wouldn't remember saying anything of it after awakening, due to his consciousness being disassociated from it.

Hestia stood up before quietly turning around to face Rachel.

"Rachel, the previous decision has been cancelled."

Her voice was devoid of any anger or majesty. Even she was surprised by how easily she decided to rescind the order.

Especially considering that it was an order the Sect Master had decided on.

After the prohibition was lifted from her body, Rachel lightly waved her hand before her chest; her naked jade-like body was now covered in new snow-white garments. She bowed slightly without making any sound in response and turned around to leave.

"Wait a moment!" Hestia said all of a sudden. She paused for a bit before continuing, "Have Hephaestus come here. I want to discuss some matter with him."

Rachel lonesomely walked out of the Sacred Hall. Afterwards, she stopped in her tracks to look silently at the pale world around her. But she wasn't unable to stay as quiet as she used to be within her heart.

"Just... what sort of person is he...?"

She lightly murmured to herself.

That Wise girl… is someone who tried killing him... but he still disobeyed the order of Sect Master, willingly suffered such a great torment, and even didn't hesitate from self-mutilation because of her.

Do I truly resemble her that much...?

Earlier, her world was only filled with silence, tranquillity, without the presence of any blemish or dust.

But at some point in time, the figure of the man who chose to suffer devastating pain over touching her, even after receiving the order directly from the Sect Master, had etched deeply into her heart and soul... Perhaps, it was impossible now for her to ever erase it, no matter how hard she tried.

Rachel brushed her red hair out of her face as she turned back, looking in the direction of the man who had unexpectedly made a mark on her heart." Just who are you… Percy…?"

A.N.:' Adding Rachel into the Harem…..bzzzz….Process has begun….adding Hestia into the harem…. Bzzzzz process has begun'

So who expected an actual smut scene in this chapter? It was awesome and romantic, based off from Yun Che and Mu Feixue's erotic moments trapped together. And yeah Annabeth is still playing quite a role even after her death… or is there something special about to happen later on? Hihihi. Yes I'll drop that hint there to torment you.

Also who wants a Hestia and Percy moment in the next chapter? Maybe a little naughty moment~?

And yeah vote in the poll I set up. It'll give me some inspiration.


	46. Seductive Hestia

**Sixth Arc: Seductive Hestia**

Percy awakened after remaining unconscious for an unknown period of time. Having recovered his consciousness, he felt countless streaks of refreshing, cool, and bone-penetrating energy pouring into his body, which made him clear-headed in no time.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw a puddle of still water. In the distance, he also saw a vast number of rare herbs of various magnificent colors. The aura infused in the air entering his nostrils was extremely cold and pure.

He was lying in a large pool, filled with extreme levels of pure energy!

His entire body was soaked in the lake. The injuries on his body had disappeared without a trace and his mind felt incomparably calm and clear.

He quickly recalled the events that happened before him passing out. He released the Dragon Soul which helped him to sober up for a brief moment and used all his power to smash his head. Afterwards...

"Oh? You woke up so soon?"

A delicate and soft voice reminiscent of silk, made the confused Percy feel his body at once go numb and his bones turn limp. He subconsciously turned around to look at Hestia leisurely lying down at the shore of lake at some distance. Her exceedingly beautiful face, that could invoke great admiration in countless beings, seemed to be carried an almost indiscernible faint smile.

She slowly sat up upon seeing Percy wake up. Beneath the soft grey robe, her long and slender legs that were usually hidden under her modest robes, naturally bared themselves as she was sitting in a cross-legged posture. Percy's mind was intoxicated by the orchid fragrance that diffused into the air as the two legs rubbed against each other, making him sink into a trance like state. Her tender skin seemed to sparkle with vitality, seeming to draw his eyes towards them.

"Percy, your body seems to be absorbing the cold energy of the Medicinal lake water. How is it doing this so quickly? And so efficiently too?"

In the Flame Seed Sect, everyone knew about Hestia's stern and heartless nature and hence, no one dared to offend her. Even someone as arrogant and proud as Percy absolutely didn't dare act rashly in front of her. But at this time, the Hestia before him contained a slightly concerned look in her eyes. Her beautiful face was brimming with enchantment and her moving lips gave off an impression similar to a soft Rose petals waving in the wind. Every word that escaped her mouth held softness and warmth.

She didn't seem like the stern master who's eyes were raging inferno's. Now she seemed to sparkle with beauty, her eyes glowing cozily as she sat comfortably with him. Her oppressive aura was entirely gone, and for once, Percy saw the great beauty she was. It was usually impossible to notice such things while her terrifying aura pushed down on you like a Million ton Mountain. But now her tender beauty was open to sight, and even Percy couldn't resist gawking.

Even Percy didn't know how long he spaced out for before coming to his senses. He promptly stood up in the lake, "Mas..."

Halfway through his words, he felt something odd about the refreshing and cool feeling on his body. He subconsciously lowered his head and discovered that he wasn't wearing anything at the moment. And so it was clear what direction his thoughts had been going towards while he had been admiring Hestia. Taken aback by his current state, he immediately jolted back into the Medicinal lake as though he had been electrocuted. His mind was in so much chaos that he even forgot to take out a set of clothes to wear from within the Styx Inner world..

Hestia let out a lovely laugh at his embarrassed look. She giggled and shook her head at him. Her hair hung loose, though she usually had it pulled into a severe bun. Now her hair cascaded over her back and her shoulders, shimmering glossily.

At the moment, Hestia was dressed in a loose and comfortable robe with the pattern of the Flames on it. An extremely special silk seemed to have been used for the pattern as it was particularly dazzling to the eye. Her Black hair, tinted with shimmers of crimson looked natural and gorgeous as it spread on her aromatic shoulder and jade-like back; it was slightly wet as though she had just taken a bath. Unexpectedly, her shoulders were only covered by sleeves that appeared as thin as a cicada's wings, causing the arms that were plump and glossy like a white root of lotus, to be faintly discernible. Even the cloth seemed moist and slightly clung to her skin and Percy immediately wondered if she had been in the pool with him while he was unconscious and…. And… well naked.

"Brat, your body was contaminated by the blood energy of horned dragon but you still refused to touch even a beautiful woman like Rachel. That made me worry about whether you have some sort of illness and so I carefully inspected your body to take care of the issue. However, it seems that you really don't have any concerning ailments." Her tongue softly trailed her Cherry red lips as she looked at him with a naughty gaze." Despite my intense examinations, I didn't find any thing… abnormal. And I can even see now… that your body is …. Perfectly sensitive and responsive. But now that your awake, perhaps I should inspect your body… again?"

'Inspected... my body...'

"~！ #￥%..." Percy once again fell into a daze after having come to his senses just a while ago. His mind uncontrollably thought of all sort of things that shouldn't have happened. In a flurry, he casually grabbed a set of clothes to wear before very carefully surfacing out of the lake. "Disciple... is grateful for Master's... concern... About Rachel, she..."

His memory after knocking himself out was quite fuzzy. He had no idea whether he did something to Rachel in the end.

Besides, even if it was possible to recall the things that happened later, he was still basically unable to do so at present. His thoughts were a complete mess right now and wicked flames seemed to be crazily burning all over his body. The more he tried to suppress them, the more forcefully and intensely they burned. The phenomenon was pretty similar to the time when the blood of horned dragon was fused into his body. His thoughts kept veering back to Hestia's lovely form, which suddenly seemed as enchanting as artemis's peerless beauty.

Hestia possessed an absolute beauty under the heavens but she held an equally supreme and chilling might, which elicited an extreme fear in everyone. In the Realm of the Gods, there wasn't a single person who would dare stop their gaze on her for more than a single breath. This fact was made quite evident when even the other divine sect's sect masters didn't dare meet her eyes or battle with her.

But the Hestia before Percy didn't give off any aura that would induce pressure or intimidation in others. Her umber-black eyebrows were like fog and her beautiful eyes were amorous. The fiery and majestic look in her eyes had become soul-captivating. Although she was in a sitting posture, the curves of her body were suddenly so seductive that they could make a person's blood vessels burst open from the boiling temperature of the blood. Each part of her body and every inch of her skin were emanating a bewitching and magical enticement.

Percy's gaze fell directly on her charming and alluring body. He couldn't turn it away, no matter how hard he tried. The evil fire had started spreading from his lower abdomen to every inch of his body. Even the chilly water started to heat up slightly as Hestia shook her hair over her shoulders and slid down into the pool. Saliva started filling Percy's mouth as her thin robes were soaked with water and began clinging to her curves and slowly turning transparent.

"Oh? So you still have the conscience to be concerned about Rachel, huh." Hestia spoke softly, "You can rest at ease, she hasn't lost her vital yin. It's just that you've seen everything there's to see and felt her all over, so she can't really be called a flawless white jade any more. Shouldn't you be explaining yourself to the other party now? You should take responsibility for your actions you know?" she leaned forward and raised a finger to her lips, gently stroking it, her eyes fixed onto Percy's. she winked at him as the front of her robe slowly swung forward as she leaned.

"..." Hestia's tender and soft voice was soul-shaking and tantalizing but Percy barely heard her words as he kept staring fixedly at Hestia's... chest. When she leaned forward in the leaning posture, the part of the robe around her chest slid down a bit, revealing the two overly ample and soft mounds. As they were pressed from both sides a lustrous valley could be seen in between; the deep ditch that was enough to nibble away at one's restraint and sanity with just a glance at it, was now fully exposed before his eyes. Even if she had the stature of a twelve year old, in terms of her figure, she far outclassed the flatchested artemis, and even left Rachel behind by a good deal. She still had a lot of room for development, but even so, her breasts seemed perfectly captivating right now. Previously Percy would never have focused on such a dangerous area, but now, her lovely breasts were almost swinging free right before his eyes, and the water was comfortably warm now, letting Percy's thoughts wander in many wrong directions.

"Gulp!"

A loud swallowing sound issued from Percy's throat.

It was so loud that it could be heard from even six kilometers away.

Immediately, his whole body quivered, scaring the evil fire to such an extent that a lot of it extinguished. This wasn't the only occasion when he gulped saliva in front of Hestia, but back then it was his first time seeing Hestia and hence, he was unaware of her identity. However, at present, he was quite clear that the person before his eyes was the Olympian Level warrior of Flame Seed Sect, the Sect Master of Flame Seed Sect, as well as his Master!

Percy's mind had been thrown into disorder. The snow white figure standing ahead flashed for a bit after which a fragrant wind hit his face. Hestia's face had come very close to his own and her beautiful eyes seemed to be filled with fog. A jade-like hand lightly pinched on his neckline.

His mouth was wide agape, unable to speak a word.

"I can overlook the fact that you peeped on me back then while I bathed as you hadn't acknowledged me as your master at the time." Hestia spoke in a faint voice and in a soft and intimate tone, "But even now after becoming a disciple, you still dare to harbor deviant thoughts towards your master. You sure are gutsy. I don't know whether I should punish you for your thoughts…" her breath lightly blew past his face as her eyes bored into his.".. or maybe you should be rewarded for your guts… tell me… how would you like your master to reward you?" her eyebrows rose softly along with the corners of her mouth.

"..." Her face got even closer to him, bringing her lips that appeared like delicate flowers to almost make contact with his cheek. Her lips opened a little, emitting an enthralling fragrance. "You were unwilling to do it with Rachel, could it be that... you want Master to be your dual cultivation partner? Don't lie now… I can clearly see evidence of your excitement and I can feel your blood throbbing for me. Tell me… do you want your master…?"

Percy's tongue and mouth turned dry when he heard the dreamlike lovely and frivolous words. The evil fire in his body spread around disorderly, forcing his turmoiled blood vessels close to the point of rupture.

Hestia was so close to him that he could easily look into her loose robe just by lowering his gaze by a bit. The soft light of the moon was illuminating her shoulders, outlining the lustrous half arcs below her collarbone. Looking even further downward, he saw the two dazzling white and erect mounds shaking and jiggling with even the slightest movement of her body due to being too soft and free.

He felt his entire body heat up, even more than when he had been infected with the Demonic Qi fruit, even more than when the Horned Dragon's Blood was active in his veins. And with how close Hestia was, her body pressed into his, she could no doubt feel exactly how excited she was making him. He gulped again as his eyes were inevitably drawn to the soft and gently jiggling breasts clearly seen in her robes.

"That sounds plausible." As though she didn't notice Percy's gaze, Hestia lightly flicked her finger that was placed on his neckline. Her finger seemed to spark a wave of lust, radiating from the point of contact. Her ways of seduction kept switching from one to another as she said in a dreamy and soft voice, "If you were to do it with me… you wouldn't need to wait for two years; only an evening would be enough to directly step into the Minor God Realm, huh. So what about it…? we'll have to spend just one night together… and you'll be infinitely close to becoming a full god.."

An evening to step straight into the Minor God Realm. Such words would have certainly made Percy jump in shock and excitement if he were in a "normal" condition. But his heart, soul, and body were all in a state of disarray due to the evil fire. Although he was listening to her, the thing he was thinking of wanting to do wasn't breaking through to the Minor God Realm but totally something else. The things he was picturing in his mind was the imagery of Hestia's legs wrapped around his waist, as he cupped her ass and bounced her on himself... or the imagery of her gently moaning with her jade like body underneath him...

Every bit of her skin and face were exceedingly beautiful, her every frown and every smile was abound with amorousness… She was a true beauty of the world, so beautiful it was almost terrifying.

While Percy's imagination was running wild, an intense pain suddenly came from his left ear. Hestia's jade hand which was tapping on his collar, flipped, and it was now pulling onto his ear, directly raising him out of the heavenly lake.

Hestia's move was extremely heavy, painful to the point where Percy had instantly gnashed his teeth. His mind was shaken awake from the pain in an instant, as he shouted in a fluster. "Disciple… Disciple doesn't dare… Szz… This disciple… only has respect… for Master… He would definitely… never have such thoughts…"

Hestia however did not have any intentions to release him at all. To be capable of making Percy's face distort in pain, even though he possessed the physique of a dragon, it could be imagined just how punishingly powerful the snowy hand that was pulling Percy's ear was. She smiled cheekily and said, "That's good, I don't mind forgiving…"

While Hestia was speaking, her eyes inadvertently shifted towards Percy's lower body. Her voice instantly halted. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, before slowing narrowing once more. Within her long and narrow eye slits, a dangerous, bewitching glint flashed.

"My sweet little Percy, I have truly underestimated your audacity." Her voice instantly turned even softer and even slower, yet Percy's heart was rapidly pumping from hearing her words. "You actually dare present this… thing before your master's eyes… So audacious~! And despite your situation, you're still so excited? Just how deep does your lust for your master run?!"

Hestia flung out her arm which was pulling Percy's ear and Percy was thrown far off as he screamed, heavily smashing onto the bank of the lake. This throw contained only a bit of Hestia's strength and Percy rolled quite a distance at the lakeside before finally coming to a halt. However, his face was pale from the pain, his throat coarse, and he was unable to stand up even after a long while.

At least a dozen bones were broken.

His imagination had, even more so, been scattered completely.

"Haah, this is truly misfortune for my sect," Hestia softly sighed, completely disregarding the fact that the responsibility laid within every single inch of her own jade body that was emitting out a bewitching aura that no man could ever resist. "You were unwilling to touch Rachel even under the influence of the horned dragon's blood and I had initially wanted to praise your extraordinary self-control. I never expected that you were actually a disgusting disciple who possessed such an insolently lustful heart to even dare think of your master in such a manner!"

"..." Percy was finally able to take up a stable sitting posture. With a lowered head, he did not dare to talk back, nor did he dare to give Hestia another glance.

"Nevermind, it seems I will have to nurture you further in the future."

Hestia seemed to have let out a soft, dispirited sigh. Raising her hand, a jade scroll that was sparkling with green lights landed next to Percy. She then turned her back to him. "This jade scroll is engraved with the complete Three lives Pupil art. With your comprehension ability, you should already be capable of comprehending it on your own. My instructions shouldn't be needed."

"I shall temporarily shut you inside this Medicinal Lake. In a few days, I will return to test your progress on the Three Lives Pupil. If it's passable, I shall not pursue your sin of great disrespect, there might even be a reward. If you, however, disappoint me…" The light in Hestia's eyes slightly stirred as she revealed a faint smile. "The consequences will be dire~"

When these words fell, Hestia left. The barrier of Medicinal Lake was tightly shut as well.

"Craack, craack." A few crackles resounded, as several bones that were misaligned were quickly put back by Percy. As for the few dozen bones that were shattered, he had no choice but to wait for them to slowly recover on their own. Only then did he stand up, gnash his teeth and say, "Not having any reaction… would be even more abnormal, alright!? How am I supposed to stay calm with such a heavenly beauty right in front of me?!"

He had very few embarrassing moments in front of Artemis but in front of Hestia… It seemed like there had not been a single time where he was not embarrassed.

If he hadn't experienced their first encounter at the lake where bathed, Hestia's immense change would have definitely shocked Percy even now. Even if that was the case, from recalling the Hestia of a few moments ago, he was still a little absent-minded. He was unable to connect her with the Olympian Level Warrior Goddess, who was feared by even those who were as strong as her, and who was the mighty Sect leader of the Flame Seed Sect who possessed heavenly might that could silence the masses.

Why was there such a huge disparity in her personality...

Which one was the true her?

Hestia was giggling softly as she flew away from the medicinal lake." Really, that Brat has some great willpower. I was surprised he managed to control himself and not make a move on me." She sighed in amazement, then headed for the sacred Hall where she usually spent all her time.

She quietly floated in and sank down into her favorite chair. Just as she did, Zoë came walking in." Disciple greets master!" she bowed. Hestia sighed and shook her hand." Come here Zoë." Zoë obediently walked over. Hestia sighed again and raised one of her legs, letting the robe part and reveal her snowy leg all the way down to her thigh." Surprisingly, Percy refused to dual cultivate with Rachel."

Zoë's mouth dropped." He refused? Are you sure it wasn't Rachel?" Hestia gave her a dour look." Rachel is such an obedient girl. how would she possibly refuse her master? Plus I had personally sealed away her cultivation. I can't believe it either, but despite being under the influence of the Horned Dragon's Blood, he still fought to control himself." Zoë remained speechless for a few moments." How could any man resist under the influence of the horned dragon's blood?" Hestia shrugged." Maybe Rachel isn't to his taste?" Zoë shook her head." With rachel's peerless looks and beauty, that is impossible."

Hestia tilted her head." If you say so." She looked away and cupped her face as her mouth twitched into a small smile." Still, it's fun accepting a Male Direct Disciple." Zoë frowned." Fun? Huh…. And what are you planning to do about raising his cultivation now?" Hestia looked at Zoë with a solemn expression." There seems to be only one way left to raise his profound strength now." Zoë leaned closer with curiosity." That would be for you to be a kind senior sister and offer your virginity to him." Hestia said with a serious look. Zoë sighed." Please master, don't joke around now."

Hestia pouted, then raised the other leg as well, causing the robe to slide down precariously till it was barely covering the top of her thighs. Her tender skin gleamed in the light." Come on, at least give me a good reaction. Or could it be, you want me to offer him my primordial yin?' Hestia traced her lips with one hand, gently rolling over her plump and full lips.

Zoë shook her head." Master, what did you call me and Hephaestus to discuss about?" Hestia waved her hand vaguely." I wanted t o tell you three to keep an eye on him during the trials. He might be the only one capable of stopping artemis this year, so he must reach the final trial. If not, I'm afraid you might be in a dead end Zoë." Zoë's eyebrows scrunched together." This feels weird relying on him to protect me from artemis. Can't you just trust me to take care of myself?" Hestia gave her a cold glare and stood up, all playfulness gone now. Her terrifying aura surged to life, pressuring even Zoë." In this sect my word is law! And I'm no fool. Sooner or later my power will break down. I can't keep bearing the strain of this Vermillion Bird Bloodline. If this keeps up, I'll either end up dead or crippled in a few years. Then how will you resist Ares? Forget that, artemis as she is now, is probably more than enough to kill you." Zoë clenched her fists." And she will kill him as well. You think Ares's bloodlust will make her kill me, but spare him? You're simply sending him to his death!"

Hestia looked down at her feet." The decision has been made, he is going, and hopefully he can provide at least some aid. The Grand games are nearly open, so arguing now is just a futile exercise." Zoë huffed in anger, then turned and left. Hestia looked to one side." Brother… if you were here today, it would be so different." She sighed sorrowfully." I am trying my best… but I simply cannot get the divine spirit's approval. And if I die, then our sect will be destroyed… all I can hope is that once Zoë matures, her power will at least be strong enough to protect our sect from Ares and Athena… if not, without the protection of an Olympian level warrior, our sect will crumble apart…"

 **IMPORTANT** A.N: which one is the true her? I think we already know the answer. And for those still confused, Percy rebuilt his Styx soul, burning it down and recreating it perfectly. So I suppose you can say he has an even more perfect soul now. Previously, his inner world was just an empty, but very large space. Now however, it has developed into an actual world. Why did this happen? Maybe you should keep reading to find out.

Also for those who haven't figured it out by yourselves. Hestia is dying under the effect of the powerful Yang Bloodline she has. It is the Bloodline of the Vermillion Bird. Previously, riptide explains it to Percy, why she comes and bathes in the small lake. Its because her power is too much for her body to bear, so she comes there to expel it all. So basically her bloodline is yang, but she's a virgin girl, so her body naturally collects Yin. The two clash, and her body is suffering.

And there is still almost a year left for the Grand games, so we'll have a time skip.


	47. Grand Championship, Begins

**Sixth Arc: Grand Championship, Begins!**

A year passed, under hestia's supervision. Percy didn't manage any breakthroughs in his cultivation, despite trying his best, but it was as he expected. After all, he had just broken through from middle stage demigod to the Peak of Demigod. Now he had to break through the bottle neck presented by the barrier between Demigod and Minor God. If he did that, he would undergo trial by lightning, and after enduring the punishment of the heavens he would reach Minor God rank. There were many speculations why this punishment existed, but Hestia held a very plausible theory.

" it is against the laws of the heavens for a mortal to wield powers of a god. Hence, they are made to suffer tribulation and many even die as they cross this barrier. In fact the more talented you are, the more you will suffer as you cross the tribulation." She had said solemnly while explaining the rules to him. Percy frowned." How is that possible that a more talented person will suffer more?" Hestia shook her head." A normal person will suffer one strike of lightning, which isn't easy to survive for even a peak demigod level warrior. However, most people who reach minor god realm are all talented geniuses, for obvious reasons. Ordinary people will usually reach only the legend realm. So usually they have to suffer two or three rounds of tribulation. In the first round, there will only be one lightning strike. The second will have two lightning strikes at the same time. The third will have double, four at the same time. It is common for most people to undergo three or four rounds of lightning. In the fourth round, there will again be double the lightning, eight bolts. Geniuses will have to undergo five rounds, which again have double the amount which is sixteen. Extreme geniuses will be made to undergo six rounds, carrying thirty two bolts of pure power at the same time. The greatest number of lightning rounds ever brought down were Seven rounds, carrying sixty four bolts, all striking at once. However, anyone who underwent this round has always died. It is simply beyond a humans limit to undergo more than six rounds. This is an advantage to the Inheritors of the celestial gods. They directly reach full god, without facing the test of lightning, or the trial of Fire and Water. However, to reach the level of an Olympian, the heavenly tribulation of Nine Elements is compulsory."

Percy nodded. Hestia lifted her palm." We'll be leaving for the championship in a few minutes." A red streak shot out of her palm towards Percy. He caught it and saw it was a spatial ring, filled with many medicinal pills and potions. It had a variety of high level swords and other weapons, as well as a set of armor that was crimson in color. Percy doubted he'd ever wear it, as it would severely restrict his movement, but Armor was always more expensive than weaponry, and this was full body armor. Percy had no doubt it was priceless. He looked up at Hestia." Disciple thanks master for her graciousness." Hestia snorted." Just don't die too quickly and embarrass me." Percy nodded." May I see calypso and the others before leaving master?"

Hestia's eyes flashed and a smile touched her lips." I was always surprised by how much effort you put in to meet artemis." She said, softly shaking her head." So much effort, just because you never said goodbye? Well, you had better survive this competition boy. Because I'm not letting you wish your friends farewell! You can speak to them again only if you survive!" Percy's jaw dropped open, crying out in protest, but before he could say anything, her power wrapped around him and the world before his eyes twisted as they shuttled away.

When he finally reached his destination, a few minutes had already passed. Knowing hestia's fearsome speed, in these few minutes he had no doubt travelled further than he would be able to travel in a few months or maybe even years.

If it had been anyone else, even a full god, Percy would have spun and smacked them. But with Hestia, he could only grind his teeth and step down. Zoë and the rest stood in the room they had appeared in, clearly waiting for them. They bowed." Disciples greet master!" Hestia looked at them coldly then waved her hand." This is your pocket dimension. Within this area, you are perfectly isolated and under my power. Even Ares and Athena will be unable to harm you. however, once you step out of this pocket dimension, you will directly enter the First trial. The grand games are divided into different trials, as you already know. the first trial shall test your cultivation prowess. You will meet an opponent of the same cultivation as yourself inside this trial! But this opponent will be fearfully powerful, and hence you cannot under any circumstances underestimate it. in case of danger, crush your escape talisman and you will be pulled back into this dimension. But doing so equals to failing the test.!" Hestia looked at Percy." The lower your cultivation, the higher the difficulty. So peak full gods will have opponents nearly equal to them in strength. But demigods… will have opponents who are as powerful as minor gods!"

Percy felt like laughing. He was competing against full gods. If he was scared of something a s strong as a minor god, then he may as well give up. Hestia gave a cold snort, then turned away." Don't disappoint me!" and she vanished. The disciples bowed in her direction once more, then one by one stepped out of the pocket dimension. Zoë was the last to leave. She looked at Percy worriedly." Junior brother, you have great talent. Don't push yourself. Even if you fail, you can still try again next time." Percy smiled at her gently." Senior sister is indeed very kind. This junior will keep her words in mind." Zoë seemed dissatisfied, but she walked out as well.

Percy glanced in the direction which Hestia had disappeared." Master… could have at least wished us good luck before leaving…" then he stepped out as well. As soon as he was gone, space untwisted and suddenly Hestia appeared, right where she had previously been." That brat! Hmph, even if I wished him luck, as if it would change his fate. All he can do is struggle and somehow get through the competition. But I can't help but hope he fails this trial…so that he doesn't risk his life in the next ones… especially the final trial." She worriedly glanced at the exit, then sighed softly, before flickering and disappearing like a candle's flame.

- _First Trial Ground: Zoë's Section-_

Zoë stood on a scarred battle field, where the remnants of war lay scattered, from broken swords and destroyed siege weapons, to the piles of corpses rotting on the ground. She coldly viewed the landscape, then looked at her opponent. He was a shriveled figure, dressed in a black robe that covered him entirely. Only his pinched and wrinkled face could be seen beneath the hood, dead eyes gleaming unnaturally.

"Jie Jie Jie Jie jie! such strong vitality! Such a Young and fresh Warrior! Your tender meat will be a fine meal! And your warm blood will be great nourishment." He looked up at her, then raised a hand." Grand God of the underworld, heed my word. Give rise to those who gave their souls! Raise an army, an Army of Ghosts!" the earth trembled softly and suddenly tore open and a skeletal hand grabbed the surface and struggled out. More and more cracks occurred, and more undead crawled out. They struggled to their feet and began forming ranks.

Zoë watched them with an indifferent expression. Soon they were all ready and the man laughed again."I don't know why you wait so coolly for death, but let me grant your wish!" the skeletons were armed as well, and the ones with bows began drawing them and the ones with spears cocked their arms. They struck together, a wave of arrows and spears covering the skies as it fell towards her. she didn't flinch. She simply raised an arm as the skeletons carrying sword began rushing towards her as well. A wall of fire erupted from her palm, burning away the arrows and spears and then rushing towards the army of skeletons. It engulfed them immediately, turning the aged bone to ash.

The necromancer suddenly giggled and made a grabbing motion. A dead body lying beside Zoë suddenly lunged at her. without hesitation, Zoë erupted into flames, turning into a supernova that anhilated everything around her. the necromancer winced in fear, then slowly backed away." No, no, no!" he shook his head." What manner of creature are you!?" Zoë raised her tiny palm." I'm the Goddess of the sun!" she said coldly and flames erupted from under the necromancer, decimating him and completely destroying his ashes as well.

The place he had been standing suddenly turned into space portal gate and Zoë calmly flew into it. the three great Olympians stood watching her. Athena sighed." Such a great talent." Ares chuckled." Hehehe." Hestia didn't reply, turning her attention to another field where a similar fight was going on. Bianca the Dark angel was fighting the same necromancer.

She had him on his knees, kissing the ground as she drained away his death magic. Ares saw her looking and raised an eyebrow." Of course my disciple can't compare to your direct disciple madam Hestia." Ares said with a hint of mockery. Then his eyes shifted towards another battlefield. Where Hestia's direct disciple Percy stood.

The world he stood in was burning, and it was burning fiercely. The ground itself was half molten, and if not for Percy's immunity to fire, that by itself would have been a headache for a demigod level warrior. The sky was crimson with flames, reflecting the lava on the ground. Some places, flames erupted from the ground, randomly blazing up and then dying away. And in the heart of this world, stood a dragon.

The beast's head was huge and its long, three pronged horns were alight with soaring flames. Although it looked both fierce and fiendish, the dragon's head was still recognizable at first glance! Its torso and claws were far longer and thicker than any fire dragon Percy had seen in the past and its tail was similar to a giant python's in that it was far longer than its torso. Its entire body was covered in scarlet scales and burning light was reflecting from every one of them.

Percy gulped with fear. The aura emanating from the dragon wasn't at the Peak of demigod as Hestia had indicated it would be. Rather, it was at the late stage of Minor God! According to what Hestia had said, his opponent would be something with the strength of a minor god, but the cultivation should be equal to his own! That was why Percy was so calm. Even if it had the power of a minor god, he could use poseidon's blood to increase his own cultivation to minor God realm and instantly he would outclass his opponent. But now even if he used his Bloodline, his cultivation would only be equal to his opponents! Then Percy's mind shook." Wait did the trial already know that I can raise my cultivation?! that was why it set the cultivation equal to mine!"

Meanwhile Hestia was frowning. Ares's eyes widened." Truly, your direct disciple outclasses all my disciples! Even though he is a Peak demigod, the trial has given him an opponent at Minor God Realm! Ahahaha!" Hestia ignored him as she quietly tried figuring out what had gone wrong. This trial was conducted by Overgods, so there should be no errors. But if Percy was to fight this dragon, the disparity was simply too big!

She watched with narrowed eyes as percy took up a fighting stance. Meanwhile Ares turned towards another battle field. It was the same as Percy's, filled with flames and Holding a dragon within. However the pressure here was that of a peak Full God's! the dragon chuckled as it stared at it's opponent." Hehehe, little girl is this a joke? You won't even make a decent snack! How are you possibly qualified to fight me!"

Artemis didn't reply. She merely glanced at him, silver eyes flashing. Then she walked forward, raising an arm. A boundless pressure locked onto the dragon, forcing it down and locking it into place. it roared angrily, but despite it's struggles it was unable to break free. Artemis clenched her palm into a fist. The dragon's roar turned into a strangled squeak as the majestic creature was crushed into a meatball.

Artemis snorted then waved her arm, flinging away the carcass of the mighty peak full god level dragon. She walked over to where the portal had opened and entered it, moving to the next trial.

Percy clenched his teeth as his bloodline silently activated. He suppressed the blue green glow and the trident hologram as his aura silently rose to the minor god realm. Of course to anyone watching him, it would simply look as if his aura had burst with power. After all, raising someone's cultivation from the peak of demigod to the late minor god realm? That was unheard of! Only a grand power like poseidon's Lifeblood could manage something that went so blatantly against all logic!

Percy reached out an arm, and suddenly a vermillion light flashed and the heaven smiting sword appeared in his grasp. Against an opponent with the same cultivation, Percy had absolutely no fear. It would simply take him a little more effort, but he was sure he could manage the dragon.

The dragon snorted coldly." A mere demigod, yet you still hope to resist!" he roared and a torrent of ire exploded from his maw, washing over Percy. Percy ignored it and directly dashed forward through the flames. Compared to Hestia's flames these were non existent. To an inheritor of Poseidon, flame held no fear! The dragon frowned and cut off the fire. He swung a paw against Percy, bringing the heavy claws to bear against his sword.

The million kilograms sword and the incomparably sharp claws collided. The dragon felt no resistance at all. Then suddenly it felt a surge of pain. It glanced down in horror and saw its entire claw had been chopped off! Percy smirked and leapt upwards. An ordinary heavy sword would have a blunt tip, made for smashing and crushing, destruction by sheer and absolute brute force! But the heaven smiting devil sword had an incomparably sharp tip that never dulled! He swung the sword as he moved up, dragging the sword along the dragons sparkling and hard scales. With a s crisp shattering sound, all the scales were crushed and a fountain of blood exploded as his ripped the dragon's chest open!

The dragon roared in pain and rage, swinging its other paw. Percy pulled up his sword, bringing it to meet the incoming claws. With a loud bang, he was sent flying, even as the dragon's claw burst open with a deep gouge all the way down to it's bones. He roared in anger and triumph as his tail swung around, bringing to bear against Percy. Percy's eyes went Azure blue as the image of an Azure Dragon Appeared behind him, Spreading it's wings and roaring with a might that shook the heavens! His bones crackled and popped as the power of the dragon god woke!

"cha cha cha!" his joints creaked as he stabbed the sword into the ground, slowing himself as he flew back. He shot out a fist at the incoming dragon's tail. His skin shimmered and suddenly was covered with Azure blue scales as he Dragonified!

"Bang!" Percy was smashed into the ground with the ferocity of the dragon's tail. The scales on his arm had all shattered and were seeping with blood. However, the dragon wasn't well off either. A true dragon's body was fearsomely powerful and sturdy, with explosive strength and incomparable defense! This dragon was a true dragon, but in terms of blood density, Percy far outclassed him! After all Percy had the dragon god's bone marrow, constantly producing and pumping out fresh dragon blood! His dragon bloodline density had slowly grown over the past few years and now he had an even more powerful bloodline than the True dragon itself! So when he had unleashed his dragonification, his aura had momentarily turned into that of the Azure Dragon God! The dragon's heart was shaken and it's power had dropped as well.

The scales on it's tail had shattered with the punch and the site of his punch was dripping thick blood. "That aura, that form, that strength!" the dragon looked up at Percy." You… just who are you!" Percy's entire body was covered with Draconic scales. they gleamed in the fire, blue mixing with crimson. He lifted the heaven smiting sword and pointed it at the dragon." You only need to know this much. I am your death!"

Percy exploded with speed, turning into a silver flash as he streaked towards the dragon. On the outside, hestia's eyes widened and she silently cursed in her heart. She quickly restored her expression and continued watching as though nothing had happened. Ares's eyes widened as well and astonishment flickered onto his face. He immediately glanced at Hestia, then back at Percy." This brat… how did he use artemis's Moonlight flash? That skill is her supreme movement skill, the reason why she can move at heaven defying speeds with ease and with barely any energy consumption. Did that Hestia somehow get it? got it and taught it to this kid?" Ares frowned and glanced at Hestia from the corner of his eye. This was certainly curious.

Percy flashed with a silver light, then suddenly appeared above the dragon, chopping down on it's neck! The dragon twisted, but how could it mach Percy's speed, especially after being taken off guard and with it's huge size? Percy struck with all his force and the heavy sword sliced through it's neck, the weight carrying enough force to entirely severe its head off! He performed a backflip, dodging it's last slash and then avoiding it's wild attacks in its death throes. Blood gushed crazily out of the Dragon's neck like a fountain, spraying crazily in all directions. Its completely drenched Percy as it's beheaded corpse collapsed with a heavy thud. Percy waved a hand and it was sucked into his inner world. The blood and flesh would make great nourishment for the developing world.

He shook his head, letting the blood drops fly out of his hair. The he coolly headed towards the portal as he stored away his weapon. Ares was staring at Percy with a cold calculative gaze as he left the first trial ground." You have picked an excellent disciple indeed Hestia! Despite being a demigod, he defeated the minor god level True Dragon with barely any injuries and minimal effort!" Ares commented as he smiled at her. Hestia replied to the smile with a cold glare. Ares chuckled then stroked his chin." I have a question madam Hestia. Be so kind so as to clear my doubts." Athena's ears perked up. After all, she expected Percy to be dead, but here he w as alive and a powerful, extremely powerful warrior!

Hestia didn't bother replying. Ares wasn't deterred and continued." You must have seen artemis fight previously as well right? And you must have seen her use a special movement technique while she does so. it stems from her physique, so it can be said to be unreplicable. However, just now, your disciple used a peculiar movement skill, and whether in speed or method or energy consumption, all are equally as powerful! I also know that while artemis was missing she was in a lower realm, so naturally she was under the eye of your master Chiron." Ares's voice turned cold." So care to explain t o me, how such a high level and secret technique was suddenly displayed by your disciple? Hestia shrugged." Go ask artemis if you're so eager to know." Ares chuckled and suddenly his cold bloodlust vanished.

"I have already done that, but she refuses to answer any questions of mine, no matter how much my chains and whips try persuading her." he sighed." I will try again later, but I fear I'll be disappointed once again. But maybe…. I might have figured out what she's hiding from me!" Ares's eyes flashed and were temporarily filled with flames as well, but his were even more destructive and intense than those in hestia's. he chuckled softly as he recalled Percy's figure and the sword he had wielded. A boy with such a queer weapon was easy to remember.

Hestia frowned at him." If you dare act against a direct disciple of mine…" she left the threat hanging, then turned to the next battle field. Athena was frowning as well, gently stroking her face as she looked at Hestia from the corner of her eye." That boy… there's something off about him." She sent a mental transmission to Ares." I killed him. And yet here he is." Ares's eye twitched with shock." Are you sure you killed him?" Athena gave a faint nod nod." I watched his life drain away. He should be dead, there is no way he can be alive! And Hestia is no fool to send a demigod to the championships." Ares frowned and turned away from the battle field he was looking at." This is worrisome. Hestia is fearful enough without any hidden plans. Whatever she's up to, doesn't bode well for us."

Athena turned back to her disciples battles." We'll have to discuss this later." She replied, then broke off the mental transmission. Hestia's eyes flickered from Ares to Athena. She could sense they had just been discussing something. And whatever it was didn't bode well for Percy. She looked at thalia's battlefield. This was the last direct disciple to battle.

Hestia sucked in a breath as thalia walked into the battlefield. She had no doubt left the pocket dimension so late, just to ensure she would be the focus of everyone's attention during her battle. She was dressed in a tight leather shorts that cut off right above her thighs. Thalia insisted this was so she could run faster, but Hestia had seen more than dozens of people die at her hands just because they were distracted by her clothes.

Her shirt was tight and short, leaving her stomach uncovered. She wore a jacket over the shirt and Hestia knew that it was filled with an array of weapons that would be enough to wage a war. Knives, poisons, darts, staffs, she had them all. The bulkier weapons were stored in spatial rings and threaded into her necklace and her jacket. She even used mechanical weapons like guns and explosives, which she had bought from Hephaestus.

She could be described as a master of battle, versatile in all aspects, and proficient in all weapons. She was rumoured to be from a lower plane, and people said she had survived in there almost alone for hundreds of years, honing her skills while surviving all alone in the forests of the plane. And ofcourse, this was just her normal fighting. Adding on her lightning powers, she was nearly invincible, capable of both long range and short range attacks, as well as using the lightning as armor.

However the best thing was, Athena was unable to dominate her. and so, she was the only disciple in the wisdom sect who was completely free of outside influence and control. Hence she got along extremely well with the disciples from the flame seed sect, and Hestia knew that Zoë didn't have any danger of death from her at least.

The battlefield for thalia was filled with trees. Hestia could see numerous enemies lurking in all of them, in all directions. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. After all, this was thalia's home field. She was best adapted to combat in the jungle, and surrounded by enemies. This trial wasn't even a trial for her!

Thalia had a smile on her face as she reached into her jacket and pulled a small orb out. Hestia immediately recognized at as one of the explosives Hephaestus made. She tossed it upwards and it exploded in a wave of flames. Hestia immediately recognized this tactic. She was going to burn down the forest, and all her enemies with it! the forest was filled with roars and screams of pain as all the living creatures inside were engulfed in flames. Thalia flipped up her palm and a katana appeared in one hand and a small dagger in the other.

She dashed forward, dancing a dance of death in the blazing inferno, her katana giving rise to fountains of blood and her dagger accurately stabbing into vital points as she quickly ground away all her enemies.

Within minutes, the army that was previously numbered in the thousands, was entirely reduced to a few stargglers. These last few were on the verge of death after being burned so thalia didn't even bother hunting them down. She quietly stowed away her dagger and looked around cautiously, gripping the katana with both hands. The ground suddenly rumbled and trembled as tiny cracks spread through it. suddenly a huge hand erupted from underground, grasping at thalia. She reacted quickly, twisting and dodging as she leapt away. The ground rumbled and collapsed as a gigantic humanoid suddenly rose from under the ground. Thalia cocked her head to one side and stared at it. it was Twenty feet tall, with long arms that extended down to its feet. It had a smooth face, with no indication of eyes or a mouth. It was entirely smooth as if carved from stone. It turned towards her and took a step forward. Immediately the distance between them was shortened by over half. It reached out a hand, reaching to grab her.

Thalia snorted." I hate pushy guys like you the most. Get the hint and stop trying to pick me up!" she flung her katana. It was ridiculously small compared to the giant, but it spun through the air like a throwing knife and sliced away one of it's fingers. The monster stumbled back and grabbed it's hand with its other arm. Just then thalia dashed forward. She moved in a zigzag patter before leaping up, kicking off the giants knees and grabbing it's arms and climbing upwards. Despite being huge, the giants speed was nowhere near thalia's. she leaped onto its face, and raised both arms to her shoulders. Her ring glinted and suddenly a Huge ten Foot tall heavy sword appeared in her hands.

She winked at the giant and smirked." I'm honest and I'll say this to your face, I hope you don't mind!" she rammed the huge sword down and smashed it into the giants head. It's arms rose, then fell down as it collapsed backwards. Thalia somersaulted off its corpse, then waved her hand, retrieving the heavy sword and the katana. She stored them back and then headed for the portal which had opened where the monster had erupted from.

Hestia shook her head." Though she took longer than Zoë and artemis, she used only brute force to defeat her enemies. That was impressive." Athena smiled thinly." I'm glad that you think so."Ares snorted." That girl is wasted on you. so much talent." Athena smirked" oh really?" then she spread her wings and rose into the air." I will be going now. Perhaps we'll meet during the second trial!" she shimmered and disappeared. Ares looked at Hestia." I will take me leave as well now madam Hestia." He tipped his head towards her, then faded away.

Hestia gave a deep glare in the direction he had been, then disappeared as well.

 _-Asura Pocket dimension-_

Artemis was sitting and meditating coolly, ignoring her fellow disciples as she calmly circulated her battle qi. Suddenly space trembled and Ares stepped out. He looked around and all of them immediately bowed. Even artemis bowed, her face stiff and expression icy. Ares smiled." Ehehehe, all others leave. I wish to speak to my daughter… alone." The other disciples silently disappeared as they shimmered out of the dimension.

Artemis gave Ares a cold look." What is it… master?" Ares chuckled at her icy expression, then sat onto a chair." Percy jackson." He said softly as he observed her expression carefully. Artemis felt her heart shake as her pupils widened slightly. Her heart beat sped up, but she struggled and kept her expression neutral. But Ares smiled as he saw her pupils widen slightly." So it is as I guessed." He said with a deep chuckle. Space shimmered and Athena appeared as well. She smiled." I heard most of the conversation." Artemis ground her teeth. What the hell was going on? For so many years, she had kept it a secret, how had Ares found out?

Ares shook his head." Really now, if you find a suitable suitor, you should tell your father you know… so he can decide if the boy is worthy for you…" artemis looked at him coldly." I have no idea what you're talking about." Ares snickered." Then you don't mind if I go and get his head for you to keep? The head of the boy with the vermillion heavy sword?" artemis had been about to retort, but the mention of hong'er hit her like a fist to her gut. Athena laughed lightly." Oh my artemis, this is getting interesting. I killed that boy you know… and I'm sure you know the reason why~"

Artemis's eyes widened and she looked up at Athena. Athena smiled." Yes indeed, the famous and mysterious styx soul!" but just as those words left her lips, a deep killing intent suddenly erupted and engulfed her. her breath seemed to freeze in her lungs as artemis glared at her. Ares chuckled lightly." So I was right. This boy does have relations with you." Ares smirked and stood." Did you know artemis, when he used your moonlight flash, I felt your aura from him. That can only mean one thing, am I right?"

Artemis felt like she was being cornered, pushed down from all directions. Ares's smile grew wider as he loomed over her." you gave him your life blood didn't you artemis!" Athena looked up with surprise." Is that so? Well then it looks like your disciple has prepared him as a present for you hasn't she!" artemis shook her head." M-master… what do you want from me….." Ares chuckled." You'll be a good girl and do your best in the competition right? As for the boy…. Hehehehe" artemis drooped her head as she felt her heart turn cold. Athena laughed as well." You're going to activate artemis's blood inside him?" Ares nodded." Of course. Such great talent and power, he'll be perfect as a disciple. After all, with my bloodline control, I can simply use artemis's blood to completely subdue and control him!"

A.N.: and so the grand Championship begins! And a sinister plot begins to unfold. As the games proceed, more and more eyes lock onto Percy. Can he make it through the games alive and meet artemis? Keep reading to find out!

Also suggestions for trials. I do have ideas, but they're pretty weird. So review and pm guys, please! Show your support for my efforts!

Also I set up a poll, but( like an idiot) I forgot to display it on my profile. Now I set it up, so ya'll can go see it and vote. It'll give me some motivation~ also daily updates are killing me. Now I realize why people update once a week or so.


	48. Bloodline Contract

**Sixth Arc: Bloodline contract**

Percy expected at least a little praise for defeating a minor god rank dragon in the first trial. However, he was in for a disappointment. As soon as he started discussing the different trials that the other disciples had gone through a scalding hot wind blew into the dimension. Hestia swept in, her fiery eyes blazing with rage. She pushed at the air and he was blown backwards, caught completely off guard as he smashed into a wall. Percy fell to the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Hestia gave him a smoldering stare and then swung her arm, directly pushing the other disciples out of the pocket dimension." You absolute idiot!" she roared." You used a skill taught to you by artemis!?" Percy coughed miserably and sat up. Hestia was glaring at him like he was the world's biggest fool.

He frowned as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Hestia frowned and sighed." The damage is done anyways. Ares saw it, and he's no doubt guessed that you and artemis share a relationship. This will no doubt make artemis's life a lot more miserable, but as long as it doesn't affect your combat efficiency, I'm sure it'll be fine." Percy didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. If it was fine, then why did she have to slap him so hard she nearly crippled him? How did that make any sense at all? He grit his teeth and swallowed all his anger." Disciple accepts his mistake." He said through gritted teeth. Hestia gave him a cold glare." You really have no sense at all." She commented and then disappeared.

Percy shivered slightly, feeling the pain spread all throughout his body. He groaned then limped over to his bed and collapsed into it." why is my master so unpredictable…" he groaned softly and then pulled his covers over his head, drifting off to sleep.

Some time later, he woke up, as he sensed a deep killing intent. He shivered and his eyes snapped open. Someone's arms were around his neck, and for a second Percy was confused if he was being hugged or he was being strangled to death. His bleary eyes shot open and he immediately jumped backwards. But just as he did so, a wave of incomparably familiar fragrance washed over him. His eyes widened and his muscles relaxed slightly as he registered the yellow-silver eyes and the short auburn hair. That familiar small nose and that unmistakeable aura. Percy felt himself start trembling." Ah… artemis!"

Her face was right before his and he could feel the warm breath from between her lips glide over his own lips. He felt his eyes tear up and his vision blurred for a second as he tried to come to terms with the fact that she was with him, in front of him right now! The bed was radiating their shared warmth and Percy's mind drifted back to the brief kiss they had shared after he had saved her life before the Dragon God Trials.

But then he saw the red color in her eyes, the fierce bloodlust emanating from her. and all of it was aimed at him." You utter, pathetic… incomprehensible fool! How dare you come to the realm of the gods despite me forbidding you! how dare you participate in the championship! How dare you reveal the secret I had hidden so painstakingly from Master Ares!" her arms left his throat and her thin fingers wrapped around it instead." I'll kill you! you goddamned fool! Die!"

For a second, Percy's breathing cut off and he struggled as he tried to react to the sudden turn of events' then he suddenly realized the pressure she was exerting was pathetically weak, less than even what a level one warrior could use. He remembered what Hestia had told all of them. Within this dimension no one could hurt them, and they were safe, since all outsider's would have their powers sealed on entry! Even an Olympian like Ares or Athena could not disobey this law, since it was created by the Overgods! And even if a legend were to try their best, they could never strangle him, let alone a normal person without any power. After all, Percy's body was that of a demigods!

Suddenly he heard someone chuckle." Oh dear, stop it now artemis. It's useless, you can't kill him and you know it!" artemis gasped and retreated away from Percy, baring her teeth and growling like she had become demented. Then a familiar figure stepped in front of her." Ares". Percy growled as he stared at him.

Ares chuckled." Just a spirit projection I'm afraid. I couldn't risk coming here in the flesh. After all, you might try to kill me then am I right?" Percy grinned." You're damned right" Ares chuckled." I thought as much. Anyway Percy, I'm sure you already know this, but you're a great talent. I would love for you to become my disciple!" Percy frowned." Are you really that stupid? Do you really think I'm ever gonna want to join your sect?" Ares chuckled softly." Tell me Percy, do you know why I never got married?"

Percy frowned." Because you tend to rape everything in sight?" Ares chuckled." Yes that is part of the reason. But apart from that, did you know, the person most likely to fail your expectations and break your trust, is the one you trust the most..?" Percy had no idea where this was going." What the hell does that mean?" Ares tapped his nose with a finger." Hestia must have told you how I control my disciples am I right?" Percy nodded." Yeah you're a total git." He looked at artemis." Is that what your doing to artemis right now?" Ares laughed." Yes! She wants to kill you so badly right now you know!? she's barely able to hold back her bloodlust! And so she has to obey my every order or I will simply drive her mad with killing intent and make her kill you!"

Percy stretched out a single hand. A vermillion light burst into existence and the heaven smiting sword appeared in his hands." You know, you're really powerful and stuff, so I probably can't kill you." Ares nodded." That's true." Percy examined the edge of the blade." And this is a.. whatchamacallit? Spirit projection? So killing this won't hurt you either." Ares nodded again." Also true." Then Percy grinned at Ares." Putting shoving this huge sword up your nose is really gonna make me sleep really well tonight so I'll do it anyways!"

Percy started to stand, but Ares raised a single finger." Wait for me to finish. The ending is going to really tear you up from inside." Percy scowled." You think I care about your failed love story?" Ares laughed." You have artemis's blood. And I have the ability to control anyone with her blood." Percy stiffened with horror. Ares smiled." Got your attention did i?" Percy swung his sword up onto his shoulder." I don't care to listen to your bullshit, why don't you just-" his voice cut off as a fiery, intense power burned in his veins. He immediately recognized it as artemis's blood.

His eyes glowed silver as he fell backwards onto the bed. Artemis jumped forward, grabbing him as he fell. She stroked his forehead, a worried expression appearing on her face. Ares chuckled again." Do it my sweet daughter!" artemis grit her teeth and her eyes blurred with tears, then she lowered Percy onto the bed and lowly leaned forward, gently licking his neck. Warmth spread throughout Percy's body as her soft tongue glided over his skin. She licked him again, trailing upwards, along the side of his jaw, drawing up till she kissed his forehead. Percy shook and shivered miserably as her blood awoke with all its intensity within him. The slave seal contact in her blood began spreading into his blood, contaminating it and permeating his body.

Chain like tattoos began appearing on Percy's skin, encircling his wrists and spreading over his arms, before snaking onto his chest and abdomen, down to his legs, before finally fusing and chaining him. The chain tattoo began revolving on his skin and Percy grit his teeth as intense pain flooded his body as his very free will was twist and bent. He felt great anger and hatred towards Ares, and Ares laughed as he felt this anger, using it against him, stimulating more anger, more bloodlust, more killing intent. Percy's heart shook slightly as he felt intense anger and hatred towards artemis. His eyes turned bloodred as he roared with rage." You… artemis! You tricked me! You left this blood behind so you could use me!" he screamed with abject rage and pounced on her. Ares laughed even louder." Yes, that's it! more anger, more rage! More killing intent! More bloodlust!"artemis grasped his wrist, struggling futilely as he pressed her down. Her powers were sealed, but his were not. So there was no way for her to resist him.

His words stung her and she trembled."per….cy….you…idiot…..disc….iple" she gasped as she reached out a hand and touched his cheek." You…..came….to….see…me?" her tears overflowed and dripped along the side of her face. Percy screamed like he had been electrocuted and fell away from her grabbing his head as the chains revolved even faster." Ares! I'll kill you!" Percy growled hoarsely as he struggled on the bed, writhing like a madman. Ares waved a hand at artemis." Get out. His killing intent is rising like crazy. The ritual is almost done. If you're here, he'll kill you." artemis sobbed quietly as she looked at Percy. She wanted to touch his back, to comfort him, but she knew what she would see in those bright sea green eyes when he looked at her. pure and undying hatred. Just like Apollo.

She turned and her form faded away from the dimension. Ares laughed lightly." Good boy. Welcome to my sect! back then Hestia stole Zoë from me! Now the scales are even! Ahahaha!" Percy grit his teeth as he curled into a ball." I refuse to join your sect." Ares looked at him like he was a fool." Is that so boy? Well let me show you exactly how fearsome this bloodline contract is!"

The world around Percy seemed to twist and distort, and then it turned black.

When Percy's eyes opened he stood in a long corridor that stretched off into both sides it was completely dark at the end of the hallways and Percy had no idea how long they might be. He looked up and saw that the ceiling was far too high to reach, perhaps twenty feet or so. He tried flying upwards, but found his floating powers sealed. There was a torch in the wall beside him, the only source of light in this gloomy and dark world. Percy pulled out the torch and began walking randomly. No sooner had he taken fifteen or so steps, the corridor suddenly branched splitting into a three way fork. Percy ignored it and continued, walking straight down the middle. A few seconds later, another identical fork appeared. Percy picked the center one and continued walking. To his annoyance, another similar fork turned up again.

Percy frowned with irritation and picked the left tunnel and started walking. To his chagrin, the tunnel yet again split into three roads. Percy didn't know whether he was simply going round in circles or this was the actual layout of the maze. He sighed and turned around and started walking backwards. Perhaps this way he could avoid these annoying forks. But as soon as he turned back wards, he was stunned. Behind him was an identical fork. And Percy had no idea when the road had suddenly changed behind him. He scowled." This is absurd! What the hell is going on!" he went to turn around, but as soon as he did, overwhelming killing intent washed over him, locking him into place.

His heart beat sped up as a terrifying figure walked out from the darkness. Dressed in his usual clothes, but with a heavy sword in hand, there stood Ares. He chuckled as he walked forward and his unbearable pressure washed over Percy." Surprised to see me boy? Well you shouldn't be. After all I'm here to break your sanity, and destroy your will!"

 _-time skip: two hours later-_

Percy was running through the endless maze, covered with blood, his entire body battered and bruised. He gasped for breath as he quickly picked another fork and ran down the road. As hard as he tried, he was unable to lose Ares. He always turned up if he slowed down even slightly, and sometimes, he was even in front of him. The wall beside Percy crumbled and Ares appeared in the gap, swinging his sword with all his strength. Percy raised his arm, summoning the heaven smiting sword as he tried resisting the blow. But the force was too much and he was blown backwards and smashed into the wall behind himself. Percy vomited blood as Ares boomed with laughter and swung the sword again.

Percy caught the blow on his sword and they crossed sword. Ares chuckled." This battle will go on for eternity boy, until you submit to me! There is no way for you to defeat me! All you can do is die forever and ever for all of eternity. And in the real world, not even an instant will pass! In the end, your sanity will crumble and you'll be driven insane! No matter how strong your will is, you will bend before me like all others did!" he smashed Percy into the wall again, then kicked him." You don't deserve such a fine sword. Ahaha! You must have had some fine luck to find it!" Percy grit his teeth and stood up again.

Ares looked back at him." Tch, boy I can appreciate bravery and determination, not idiocy and suicidal tendencies. There is no way, you, a demigod, can possibly defeat me an Olympian! Even if you were a peak full God, you would still be helpless before my might!" Percy raised his sword." I can block your sword…. So that means, you're not an Olympian… at least, not here in my mind. And if so I can fight you!" Ares sighed and swung his sword. It fell lightly, without any force behind it. Percy roared and swung his own sword, bringing it up to meet Ares's strike. The two sword's clashed and suddenly Ares's sword erupted with force. The previously weightless sword suddenly reached an impossibly heavy level, crushing Percy with weight and force.

Percy roared with rage and pushed back, straining with all his might. Poseidon's blood burned and his power rocketed, evening out with Ares's. his muscles began bursting under the strain. Percy clenched his teeth and withstood the immense pressure, bones crackling as the azure dragon roared and Percy's body reinforced itself. Ares smirked. Till now he had been wielding his gigantic heavy sword with a single hand. Now he raised the other hand, and stroked his blade.

The pressure overwhelmed Percy and his feet sank into the ground as the floor shattered into pieces, forming a crater beneath him. Percy stabilized himself with all his force and grinned at Ares." See, I can block your attacks!" Ares sighed at him." When an inexperienced brat like you gets overconfident in his combat skills, masters like me are necessary to teach you your place. I am known as the god of war, because my prowess in combat is unparalleled!" he widened his eyes and suddenly the pressure on Percy increased exponentially. Before he could even react, the heaven smiting sword was blow away and smashed down into his chest.

The blunt tip of Ares's heavy sword smashed into his chest, caving it in and pulverizing the bones inside. Percy powerlessly fell to the ground and vomited out all the blood pooling in his chest. Ares chuckled." See? Do you get the difference in our powers? Resistance is futile. Hehehehe." He glanced at Percy's sword." How intriguing. That sword didn't even crack under that much pressure. And such a strong and sharp edge too." The heaven smiting sword suddenly shimmered and turned into Hong'er. She knelt next to Percy." Master? " she shook his arm slightly. She tilted her head curiously." Master what's going on?"

Ares stared at her, dumbfounded." Is that, a sword spirit!?" then he slapped his forehead and started laughing." This is getting more and more funny, the more I watch it! a pathetic swordman like you got a sword spirit?" he bent and grabbed hong'er by her collar and lifted her up." Such a pity that such a treasure was wasted by being contracted to you." hong'er squirmed with surprise, kicking and screaming. Ares chuckled." The best way to get her, would be to kill you then try and make a contract. But I doubt she'd accept a contract with me anyways." He glanced at her, then his eyes shone with excitement." You haven't claimed her? hahaha! So you prepared her as a present for me eh!? Hahahahahahaha! Perfect! This is perfect!" Ares flung hong'er to the ground." I just need to claim her myself and complete this contract!"

Percy tried lifting his head, but the pain had paralyzed every part of his body, leaving him incapable of movement. Just then, a soft voice whispered in his consciousness." Now is the decision time, old friend. You can either let Ares control you and become his slave while he even claims your sword. Or you can give your body to me. Then I'll slaughter him for you, and help you save artemis from him. Both options are before you. you need to decide." Percy shivered slightly." Riptide, you really like to take advantage of my weakness don't you?" riptide chuckled." Can you blame me? After all, I am trying to help you out aren't i?" Percy gasped with pain and closed his eyes, visualizing riptide.

"Riptide, you think that I have no other choices right now?" riptide hummed with amusement." Indeed, you can try and commit suicide, but I doubt that would help." Percy gave a bloody smile. He reached out and grabbed riptide's hilt." You're my sword, so obviously, I can use you!" riptide chuckled." But you can barely use any of my power. Even if you use me, you still aren't his match" Percy laughed painfully." We'll see about that after I try!" Percy's eyes opened and he rose to his feet. Ares glanced at him." Huh… you can still stand eh? Doesn't matter how many times you stand, your stubbornness simply means you'll suffer more!" Ares launched forward, swinging his sword. Riptide shimmered into existence, settling into his grip.

Percy's eyes turned red."Ares, you damn bastard! Die!" he roared and leapt forward. The two of them clashed, and Percy was blown backwards. Ares roared and swung his word again, smashing him into the ground. Then he stopped and settled his sword onto his shoulder." Is that all you have? What a bore!"

Percy turned and grabbed Hong'er's hand." Hong'er… I'm sorry… if i… can't…protect you…." Hong'er sniffled softly, then reached out and touched his cheek."Master… Hong'er… she wants… to help you…" Percy's eyes fluttered shut and his consciousness began fading away.

Ares shook his head." What a needless pain. Well, at least it's been dealt with." He started to shimmer as he prepared to leave the mental dimension. There was suddenly a roar of power behind him and he spun with surprise. He stared with astonishment as Percy stood, grasping the heaven smiting Devil slayer sword again. The vermillion light glowed with a fury, completely covering him. His wounds began healing at such a high speed, it could even be seen with the naked eye. Ares trembled." This... what is this…?" hong'er stepped out from behind Percy."Master, kill him."

The phantom of a Devil God roared to life behind Percy, the aura of darkness and death covering everything. Ares trembled intensely then raised his weapon." All bark and no bite! You dare resist, then let me show you why it is futile!" he roared and ran towards Percy. The image of an Asura appeared behind him, carrying a gigantic heavy sword. Percy dashed forward as well, and the two of them collided, sword smashing into each other. The devil God behind Percy roared with fury and shredded the Asura into pieces. Ares's eyes widened as Percy pushed him back, step by step. His sword began crackling as it trembled. Percy's vermillion aura mixed with Blue green, then mixed with black, turning into a rainbow like hue of colors. In the hands of the devil god, Riptide appeared and the phantom swung down at Ares. The Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword seemed to merge with riptide and the entire dimension shattered apart as Ares was blown to bits.

Back in the pocket dimension, Ares coughed stuffily and opened his eyes. He glared at Percy." This goddamn brat. What is he made of?" he snorted." Never mind, as long as he's under my control, all his powers are mine anyways." Just then Percy's own eyes snapped open." Did you like that you slimeball?" he sneered at Ares. Ares scowled, the clenched his fist. The chain tattoos on Percy's skin began glowing and started rotating on him." You talk too much for a slave." His eyes glowed red." Asura bloodline Contract!" Percy shivered and then clenched his teeth. Ares chuckled." No matter how strong you are, mere mortals like you exist to serve under me. This year artemis will become my nutrition, the next championship, you will participate and become my nutrition! Hahahaha! This is your fate! For soon I will become an actual god! A true immortal god of war!"

Percy fell to his hands and knees, clenching his teeth desperately. Then he slowly opened his mouth and spoke in a trembling voice." When… the… heavens…seal my path… I shall destroy the heavens…" Ares tilted his head." Eh? Still muttering rubbish?" Percy raised his head and glared at him." If… a Buddha comes in my way, I shall… kill a buddha… if a god… comes in my way… I shall kill a god…" he struggled to his feet and raised s trembling hand." That is my will… to stand… Against the Gods!" with a vermillion flash, the Heaven smiting Devil Slayer sword appeared in his grasp. The chains on his skin trembled, then shattered. He roared and leapt forward. Ares blinked." …..Oh shit." And then Percy slashed his sword through his projections head.

The projection crackled and shattered into shards of light, and Percy collapsed onto the ground, panting and heaving. He struggled to his feet and willed Hong'er to turn back to herself. She flashed with light and the mighty sword turned into the petite girl. she grinned softly and suddenly pushed him back onto the bed, clambering onto him." Master, are you alright?" she asked cautiously. Percy was panting heavily, but managed a nod. He smiled tiredly at her." thank you hong'er. I don't know if I'd ever be able to survive without you." Hong'er giggled softly then cupped his face with her tiny hand." Shh master, rest for now. Hong'er has already told you, she will do anything for her master." She bent and lightly kissed his cheek, then slid off him and cuddled next to him." Hong'er will be right here with master. Hong'er will take care of you, so you don't need to worry about anything at all master!"

Percy sighed softly and wrapped his arms around the small girl." she kissed him again." Master, I heard big sis artemis, telling Hong'er to help you." Percy smiled." Yes, your big sis is a very odd person…. But she needs help, more than me right now." Hong'er giggled." So we're going to save her right?" Percy laughed." How did you know that." Hong'er smiled." Because you're Hong'er's master!"

A.N.: I hope that satisfies all the Hong'er fans. The little girl in red has saved our hero again! As most of you may have guessed, Hong'er is one of the main heroines!

Also you may have wondered why Hong'er talks in Third Person. That style is usual in Light novels and I picked it up from there. It seemed to suit her personality, so I use it every time she talks.

And yes this battle is inspired from the anime bleach, Ichigo and Zaraki Kenpachi's battle! And the idea for the bloodline contract was taken from isekai no seikishi monogatari. And for all the people guessing riptide is like ichigo's inner hollow, you're absolutely right!

Also we're getting close to chapter 50. Lol that's a landmark guys! Reviews are the fuel to keep me going. So review dammit! Ciao!


	49. The heavenly Tribulation

**Sixth Arc: The Heavenly Tribulation.**

When Percy awoke the next day, he w as greeted by strange looks from the rest of Hestia's disciples. Dionysus chuckled and swung in next to Percy." Hey hey, junior brother. Who's the kid?" he chuckled and looked at Hong'er who was still asleep, arms wrapped around Percy's neck. Percy wondered what he could say. After all, a sword spirit was something that tempted even Ares. He trusted his fellow disciples, but he didn't want more people to know of his secrets than necessary. The fewer people who knew, the lesser chance it would spread. Hephaestus looked at Hong'er." How did she even get in? I though no one except the disciples of the three sects could enter the pocket dimensions. Is she one of your dual cultivation partners?" Zoë shook her head." No I can sense her primordial yin. A very powerful primordial yin." Her eyes widened." It's even stronger than Master Hestia's!" she looked at Percy." Ok, tell me, where the hell did you find a kid with even stronger primordial yin than master Hestia? Master hestia's primordial yin has been accumulating for centuries, and her profound arts are the most powerful type of Yin arts! It should be impossible for a girl who probably hasn't even reached twenty years of age to have a more powerful primordial yin!" Percy waved a hand over her, sucking her back into his inner world.

All three of them were looking at Percy now. Percy didn't know what to say. He started to sit up, then winced in pain. Zoë caught his expression." What's wrong?" Dionysus grabbed Percy's cover and tugged it down. As he did, his eyes widened and Zoë gasped. Hephaestus immediately pushed his way over to Percy." Percy, what's wrong? Who did this?" Percy's body was criss-crossed with black scars, each one as thick as Percy's thumbs. Percy recognized them as the marks left behind by Ares's bloodline contract. Zoë and Hephaestus exchanged knowing looks." Percy… these scars are left behind by the bloodline contract of the Asura sect." Zoë said cautiously." Did Ares come here and try something while we were gone?" Percy shook his head." I have artemis's life blood." The three of them sucked in sharp breaths as they heard him. Zoë pointed a finger at Hephaestus and Dionysus." Out, the two of you." they started to protest, but just then, Zoë released her cold killing intent and the two of them froze. They coughed awkwardly, then backed out. Then Zoë turned to Percy." Talk." She ordered.

A few minutes later, Zoë was sitting quietly, digesting everything she had heard." You used your own will to shatter the Asura Seal?... that….thats… impossible…" Zoë sat down beside him, and hesitantly touched the scars running across his skin." Even peak full gods who are mere inches from becoming Olympians cannot break through the seal… and you're merely a demigod?" she started investigating him again. Then her eyes widened." That's odd. I can't sense any power from you" Percy laughed." What are you talking about?" he started investigating his body with his divine sense, then froze with horror. He tried again, but got the same result. Zoë immediately pulled out a sound transmission talisman and sent a message to Hestia. meanwhile Percy was trembling. This was because, his body had no power at all! It was as if, he had no cultivation!

Percy tried revolving his battle qi but found it all sealed away. He shivered with fear. He couldn't sense any of his powers, whether it was his power over water, fire or ice. He couldn't even sense the presence of riptide. He focused on his bloodlines, but even they were missing. Then he felt a tiny fluctuation, right beside his heart. He quickly focused on it and sensed the incomparably familiar aura of the seas wash over him. Poseidon's lifeblood circulated slowly around his heart, as if it was drained of all power. Percy closed his eyes and poured all his strength into it, trying to activate it's power. The golden drop of blood trembled and shimmered, then a tiny portion of it broke off, seeping away and fusing into Percy's blood. The previously red blood thickened and turned golden. Percy held his breath in anticipation. He could sense the aura from the blood. It wasn't ordinary blood. That was the aura of life blood!

A few seconds later, there were two drops of golden lifeblood circulating around Percy's heart, and almost one to two percent of his blood had turned into Poseidon's normal blood! Percy didn't know why this phenomenon had occurred, but it was a pleasant surprise. However he was still unable to understand why his power was sealed. Then suddenly, his soul trembled as the tiny sliver of Poseidon's soul that had fused with it, awoke. An incomparably deep voice chuckled." Minor God. Bring down the Heavenly Tribulation!"

The pocket dimension trembled as space above Percy tore apart, shredding away into tiny pieces. Zoë gasped and backed away from him. She clearly recognized what this tearing of space meant." Heavenly trial of lightning? This brat… actually broke through?" just then, the entrance to the dimension opened and Hestia entered. She glanced at Zoë, then at Percy, and understood what was going on." Stand back. We cannot interfere." Zoë nodded in agreement and they both backed away.

In the empty void above Percy's head, dark clouds began gathering. They shimmered and crackled with power, different colored lightning's flashing in their depths. They gathered and thickened over him spreading out all over the dimension. Then suddenly, space shuddered as a single fork of lightning descended, smashing ruthlessly into his body. He shivered slightly as the power coursed through him raging before finally dissipating. Then the second round began. Two bolts descended at the same time, striking him with full force. Then without pausing, the third round descended as well, four lightning bolts smashing into him. Zoë glanced at Hestia." Master, how many rounds do you think he will face?" Hestia looked worried." He'll face six. But what I'm worried is that he might need to face seven! If so… can he survive?"

Zoë turned back to him, just as eight bolts of lightning struck him, indicating the fourth round. Then the fifth round began, carrying sixteen bolts of divine retribution. Till now, Percy had shown no reaction, silently taking each round. Hestia and Zoë exchanged worried looks as the sixth round began. The clouds rumbled softly and a deep boundless pressure descended upon the world. Then thirty two jagged bolts of white hot power struck Percy from all directions. He shuddered and his hair was burnt to ashes. His skin was blackened at the site of impact. But even so, the clouds did not disappear.

Hestia gripped her arms fearfully as the clouds started swirling, gathering even more power. Zoë gulped with terror as suddenlythe room was filled with lightning, sixty four separate coils of power smashing into Percy. He shuddered, and blood sprayed from his mouth. His skin was entirely charred, but his strong aura of life just gave a faint fluctuation. Hestia sighed and looked up." Thank the heavens he-" she was cut off by a deep rumbling as the clouds descended even lower, now entirely covered by a web of lightning. Zoë was speechless." Could it possibly be… the eight round?"

The powerful lightning disengaged from the clouds, then condensed into tiny balls, barely bigger than Zoë's pinky. But there were one hundred and twenty eight of these balls and each carried a power so fearsome, even a peak full god like Zoë trembled with fear as she sensed it. she could imagine what her fate would be if only a single one of these struck her when she was a demigod. She had no doubt the one hundred and twenty eight at the same time were more than enough to finish her off. The balls of lightning revolved around Percy, then struck together at the same time. His body bent and twisted and the acrid smell of burning flesh engulfed the room as he was thrown across the room by the force of the lightning. His body was bent and twisted and every part of it was blackened and burnt. Hestia and Zoë hurriedly locked their aura onto him, and they trembled as they sensed the faint flickers of life from him.

Zoë trembled." It's a miracle! He survived!" Hestia shook her head solemnly." Look up. It's not over yet." Before she could even react, hundreds of tiny lightning bolts snaked downwards and struck him, slicing into his body. His already twisted body spasmed and Zoë almost screamed in horror. Then she fell to her knees as the clouds that covered the entire room slowly began to be sucked away." Is he…." Her voice trailed off as she carefully probed his condition. Percy's eyes fluttered open." Ow… why did no one mention… how much… this damn thing hurts…?" Zoë clasped her mouth with disbelief and Hestia shook her head." How did he survive nine rounds when the greatest talents can't survive even seven! This brat is just too fearsome. Zoë started to run to him and Hestia was following her, still shaking her head and muttering. The her eyes widened and she pulled her back." Look out!"

The dimension trembled and creaked, threatening to break apart entirely as the clouds thickened and concentrated into a single ball over Percy's head. Three faces appeared around the cloud, each one carrying an ancient, timeless aura. Hestia bowed and Zoë dropped to her knees in fear." The… the… the… three…Overgods….." she trembled and then fell down with fear, not daring to raise her head. The three Overgods looked at Percy's burnt and broken form. Then the first Overgod spoke." You defy the heavens." The second Overgod interrupted." But we cannot interfere." The third Overgod shook his head." We cannot. But his talent is fearsome as well. So we can give him a trial." The second Overgod glanced at the third Overgod." Fate, what are you planning." The third Overgod, Fate, looked at the second Overgod." Life, you are too compassionate. Death is right. He is a danger to our order. But we cannot interfere. So we shall give him the tenth round, and leave it at that." Life shook her head." That is too harsh. We planned only nine trials, because that was the absolute limit!" Death rumbled." He is no ordinary human. Very well. Let us ask him." Fate lowered her gaze to Percy." Perseus Jackson, Successor of Poseidon. You have powers that Defy the heavens. As such, we cannot allow you to pass. However, we shall grant you a compromise."

Percy struggled to his feet, blackened skin crumbling off and flaking away." What is it?" Death chuckled." Take our final trial. And if you do so, we will grant you a gift." ." no effin way." Percy declined cleanly. The three Overgods froze with surprise." What!?" the Overgod of death roared with anger." How dare you refuse our benevolence and—" Percy cut him off." That isn't benevolence, it's suicide. And even if your gift was a ticket to increase my strength directly to the Peak of minor God, I still wouldn't accept. After all, the gift is only useful if I'm alive to use it." the Overgod of fate looked at the other two." This is…. Unexpected." The Overgod of life suddenly looked at Hestia, then chuckled softly." Percy jackson. What If I told you, there is a way to save your masters life." Percy shivered and glanced up with surprise." A way… to save her life?"

The Overgod of Life nodded." If you pass our trial, then I shall tell you." Percy sank into thought. Hestia was frozen for a few seconds, then suddenly shook her head." Percy! I forbid you from taking the trial!" Zoë looked up at her like she had lost her mind." Master…" Hestia shook her head vehemently." No, Percy you mustn't take this trial! It is simply too difficult for your body to bear another round! You're already at your limit, but the next round will be worse than everything before combined!" Percy glanced at her, then tried a reassuring smile, then looked back at the Overgods." I'll take the trial!"

The three Overgods chuckled, and sealed away the entire area around Percy, isolating him from Hestia and Zoë. Hestia clenched her fists as she glared at Percy. Zoë managed to stand up and touched her shoulder." Master Hestia…" Hestia ignored her, glaring at Percy without blinking. Zoë sighed then turned back towards the trial as well.

The single cloud that remained was rumbling terrifyingly as it gathered its energy. Percy sighed and closed his eyes, sinking into his inner world. Hong'er was still asleep, comfortably snuggling in her bed. Percy walked over to the tree of enlightenment that stood in the center of the world. The ground around it was filled with the blood of the true dragon he had sucked into his inner world. The tree had obviously sucked up quite a lot of the blood and it looked more vibrant now. The dragon's corpse was lying on the side, blood dripping from its wounds.

He examined it's leaves, then found the one he sought. It was dark blue and silver, shaped alternately like a bolt of lightning or a dragon. The power of thunder within it was apparent. He closed his eyes and focused on that power, calling upon the blood of Poseidon at the same time. Divine retribution or not, it was still lightning. And divine it might be, but he still had the all powerful life blood of Poseidon! Percy sat cross-legged under the tree as six figures appeared over him, revolving the great way of the Buddha. The power of poseidon's blood awoke and a small spring bubbled up In front of him, turning into a small pond filled with crystalline water that fed the tree.

Then suddenly, in the real world, the very void trembled as all the power in the cloud gathered together, then suddenly rushed out in the form of a thunder bolt. This thunder bolt was thicker than Percy himself and held unparalleled ferocity. Even hestia's heart trembled with fear as the powerful lightning strike smashed into Percy.

The power coursed through him, then it was redirected into his inner world. It tore from the skies, striking towards Percy's form. The tree shook as lightning struck, engulfing both of them. Percy's body trembled miserably and his body began burning up as the power overloaded him, entirely anhilating his form. Percy grit his teeth stubbornly, then roared in a low voice." The first rebirth, was this life. The second rebirth, was meeting artemis! The third rebirth, was saving calypso! The fourth rebirth, was calypso saving my life! The fifth rebirth, was my rebirth after Annabeth's betrayal! And this is my sixth rebirth!" his body blazed with blue green light and began healing at an inhuman speed.

The Overgod of death stared helplessly as Percy sucked in all the power of the lightning, converting it into power for himself to use. The Overgod of life chuckled." It looks like that boy is beyond our estimations." The Overgod of fate laughed as well and suddenly the three huge faces disappeared from the sky. The barrier sealing Percy opened up and Hestia dashed in at full speed. Zoë stood dazed for a second, then ran in behind her. Percy's body had been rebuilt entirely, all over again, but he had absorbed all the lightning that had been poured into him. He stood and stumbled. He saw his clothes were entirely ruined. Percy blushed despite himself and quickly dressed himself, replacing the half destroyed clothes in a second.

His body was fresh and tender, as if it had never been scarred and he was bursting with power. And his aura was finally that of a minor god. Percy raised a hand and suddenly, lightning sparked to life, dancing on his fingertips. If anyone else saw this they would probably have had a heart attack. After all, the lightning he possessed wasn't any ordinary lightning! It was the divine lightning of retribution! Hestia stopped in front of him. She looked at him for a second, and Zoë blushed and half covered her eyes with one hand. Then Hestia slapped him so hard, the world spun. Then Percy realized, the world was still, it was him who was spinning." You damned fool!" growled then kicked him once for good measure, before turning and leaving with an angry huff. Percy glanced at Zoë from the ground." Ah… senior sister… my body seems to be paralyzed. A little help?" Zoë chuckled and walked over to his side. Just then a voice echoed in his head." Percy, in case you were wondering about how to heal your master, it's quite simple. All that's needed is…" as the Overgod of life explained all the things necessary as well as the procedure, Percy was noticeably paler, and his teeth were chattering slightly. He shook his head." Isn't there a way….. you know… that doesn't involve…. Me dying?" the Overgod chuckled." Well I held up my end of the bargain. So I hope you won't blame me for not telling you how to heal her."

Percy shook his head as Zoë settled him into bed." Are you sure you aren't actually trying to think up a plan to get me killed since you failed this time around?" the Overgod snorted." Hardly. I can assure you, with my honor as an Overgod, I can swear that the method I told you just now is absolutely true and will hold true in any and all circumstances. If you follow my method, you can save Hestia from her death. Of course, it depends on whether you can find all the necessary items and follow the procedure I have instructed you on." Percy gulped with fear, then sighed." The fates have it for me, don't they?"

It took Percy only a day to recover, what with his extraordinary recovery powers. And it was just as well, considering that the next trial was about to begin. This time, Hestia didn't turn up. However, Zoë explained the rules to all of them." The first trial can be said to be a trial to see how well you use your cultivation, a trial of cultivation. We are all elites, so that was quite easy for us. However, the second trial is far more different!" she smiled at Percy, then winked." The second trial is a trial of age, and it sees how long you have taken to gain your current cultivation! In this trial, you will feel immense pressure and your powers will also be restricted! The greater your age, the greater the pressure on you, and the greater the restriction on you!" Dionysus glanced at Percy." So oldies like us are going to have a huge disadvantage compared to this newbie who was just born?" Zoë chuckled." You can put it like that, sure."

Then Zoë grew serious." But unlike the first trial, the second trial allows participants to mix. So you might end up encountering people from the other sects." She looked at Percy intently. Obviously, Percy, as a Minor god, had the biggest worry. Percy chuckled." Don't worry, I have the age advantage." Zoë's eyes narrowed." Actually, the direct disciple of the Asura sect, Artemis is just four years older than you. she will have near equal restrictions. And you can be sure, Ares will use the bloodline seal to full effect, to get rid of you." Percy gulped softly, then nodded. Zoë softly shook her head." If we see you, we'll come protect you, okay?" then she turned and disappeared. Hephaestus and Dionysus nodded at him and exited as well.

Percy closed his eyes, going into his inner world. Hong'er was still sound asleep. Percy slapped his head." What is she? I just underwent a life and death trial, and she's still sound asleep?" he walked over and slapped her butt. She yelped and jumped up, gripping her butt and blushing as she saw him." Uuuuuu master! Why did you wake Hong'er? She's sleepy!" Percy flipped his hand upwards, and a small sword appeared in his palm. It was the most expensive one Artemis had gifted him." Uuuuuuu" Hong'er's eyes grew wide and saliva dripped from her chin. She turned into a red blur and suddenly appeared behind Percy. He gasped and looked down at his hand, which was now empty.

"Kabank….Kabank….Kabank!" by the time he turned, she was putting the last pieces of the sword in her mouth. She pressed her cheeks and seemed to glow with satisfaction." Uuuuu master got Hong'er a treat!" Percy was still staring at could see a full god running at top speed, but he couldn't see her! what was she made off?! Hong'er jumped into Percy's arms." Now now master, take hong'er along. She'll take care of master outside!" Percy smiled and swept her up. Then he exited his inner world and glanced at the exit to the dimension." Shall we go?" Hong'er nodded intently."mnm!" and they both exited.

A.N.: so my power cut off. And I hadn't saved. So I had to retype the whole effin chapter. So it's pretty short, and there might be no update tomorrow. I'm just too exhausted. We'll see. Just do your job and review. That's the best you can do to motivate me after all.


	50. Second Trial

**Sixth Arc: Second Trial**

Note: this will be the last chapter in the series. Chapter 50 atlast! Hope you enjoyed the series!

When his eyes opened, Percy was standing with Hong'er in the middle of a small sunlit clearing, around 10 feet in radius, a perfect circle. As soon as he appeared, a voice boomed from everywhere, and Percy recognized it as the voice of the Overgod of Death." The Final Participant Has Arrived! The Second Trial, Nightmare of Memories Will Soon Begin! The Rules Are Simple! Each Participant Shall Have A Restriction Placed On Them, Which Will Vary With Age! The Younger You Are, The Smaller The Restriction! Your Aim is To Leave The Trial Ground Within Four Hours! To Do So You Must Battle with One Other Participant, Then Undergo a Dream Trial, Where You Will Have To Cross A Fellow Competitor's Worst Nightmare! There Are Four Participants Sealed Into Each Space, So you Must Find Your Opponent! And So I Declare The Second Trial Open!"

Space shook slightly. Percy raised his hand." Hong'er!" Hong'er giggled then closed her eyes." Hong'er senses four tasty swords straight ahead. Two of the swords are moving closer. The tastiest sword is moving the fastest, and the other one is moving more slowly. The last two swords are in the same place, and haven't moved yet." Percy nodded decisively." Lets move towards the slow moving sword. If it has a weaker smell, then the opponent must be weaker, and hence uses a weaker sword." Hong'er wrapped her arms around Percy's neck." Well come on then master! Hong'er wants to eat that sword! There was a vermillion flash and Hong'er turned into the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. Percy gripped the hilt with both hands then raced off.

Halfway there, he sensed ripples in the air. His eyes widened and he swung his sword. Golden Flames erupted from his sword, burning the ripples into nothingness. But Percy was still shaken because he recognized that attack.' Thousand Layered Waves: Final Wave Tsunami!'

There was a light chuckle." Oh so you managed to block it huh boy?" Percy looked up and saw a maiden reclining softly in a pool of water." She looked leisurely, calmly bathing as if he were no threat. It was clear why Hong'er hadn't sensed her. she was using a Trident! She rose and brushed her hair behind her head, smiling softly. Despite the burning fighting intent Percy was feeling, it was still difficult to concentrate with her standing nude in the pool. Percy locked his eyes onto her face." Senior sister, do you plan on fighting like this?" she seemed amused." It will only take me a second, so why bother?" Percy raised his sword." Is that so?" she lifted her hand then brought it down, tapping the water. Her eyes turned Blue Green." Endless dance of the Sea god! Earthshaker!"

Percy felt the earth tremble around him. His own eyes turned blue green.' Divine Sea Transformation! First Lifeblood!' Percy's first drop of Lifeblood erupted with power.( A.N.: Percy has Two drops of lifeblood now. Remember, in the last chapter, his normal blood formed one more drop of life blood, as well as normal Poseidon Ichor.) his cultivation immediately rose to the Middle stage of Minor God. He slammed his sword into the ground, sinking it to the hilt. The ground around him rippled and the earthquake she had summoned was shattered. She glanced at him with surprise." Perseus jackson. You're even more of a mystery than my master told me." Percy smirked." Oh senior sister Amphitrite is flattering me."

She laughed and leapt from the lake, her body being wrapped with silken cloth as she spun in mid air. She landed lightly and raised her trident." Swords are so narrow minded. They don't have the overwhelming force of a trident! When I sweep my trident forward, all enemies a round me will collapse! But sword shatter as soon as they meet my trident! Sword like Tiger, Trident Like Dragon!" she raised her trident, and a Phantom of a White Dragon appeared behind her, spreading it's wings as it roared at Percy. She thrust forward and space rippled, twisting around her trident." Divine Dragon Trident Thrust!'

The Azure Dragon God appeared behind Percy. It raised it's head, Spreading it's wings as it arrogantly roared at the heavens. Space turned into a hurricane around Percy. Crimson and Golden Flames Erupted simultaneously around him, mixing with the hurricane, forming a destructive hurricane. Percy's eyes flashed and he unleashed his Heavenly tribulation thunder. The Phantom of the Tree of Enlightnement appeared behind him, thunder erupting from it's leaves. It fused together, turning into a gigantic explosion that was directed at Amphitrite. After, all, Amphitrite was a Full god. Percy knew that if he held back, he'd die before he even felt it." Fusion of fire and Thunder! ThunderFire!" Amphitrite's eyes widened as her Trident creaked and bent under the pressure. The dragon phantom behind her disintegrated and she was blown backwards, blood spraying from her lips. She somersaulted and landed a distance from Percy, and wiped her lips with a trembling hand.

Her eyes flashed green and her aura rose, pressuring him. Percy scowled and raised his sword. Then she flipped her hand, and her trident disappeared. She smiled." You're an interesting boy. Perseus jackson… I accept defeat." She smiled and turned away." After all, if I continue to fight, it will simply waste my energy." She flickered and disappeared from view. Percy sighed. Then he turned and laughed." You can come out now. I can sense you." there was silence for a few moments, then two shadows detached and rose into the forms of Bianca and Hazel. The two of them raised their hands in unison and suddenly they were holding two pitch black swords each. Percy sighed." Alright then. You want to play it that way huh?" he still remembered what Hestia had told him. The twins, when working together, were almost as powerful as a direct disciple. Percy wasn't so overconfident to think he could take them both on at once. But if one was removed from the equation?

His eyes turned pure Blue Green. A Trident Glowed and began revolving over his head. The Second Drop of Poseidon's Life Blood activated, and his cultivation rose to Late Stage Minor God. He stretched out a hand and then roared. The Divine Soul of the Azure Dragon God awakened.' Dragon God Soul Domain!' the terrifying phantom of the azure dragon appeared behind him. Suddenly, the only thing Bianca could see, was a Gigantic Azure Dragon God, Staring at her With Deep Killing Intent. Her heart shook and she was instantly covered with sweat. Her body was paralyzed and she seemed to half faint with fear.

Holding the Dragon soul domain over Bianca, Percy leapt forward. Hazel lifted her sword, then saw Bianca Frozen beside her. she hesitated for a second, then was forced back, dodging Percy's sword slash. But Bianca wasn't so lucky. She was smashed by the flat side of Percy's sword. He was kind enough not to slice her with the razor edge, but with the tyrannical power of his sword, her bones shattered like twigs. She was thrown aside like a rag doll. Percy raised his sword to his shoulder then stared at Hazel. The dragon soul Domain shifted onto her and she paled. She covered herself with her wings, just as Percy attacked her. the incomparably powerful wings soaked in the attack, but she was still sent flying. She collapsed and looked up at him, gasping with terror. Percy smirked then pointed his sword at her." scram." She scrambled to her feet and grabbed bianca's broken form before fleeing.

Percy chuckled, then swayed faintly and fell to his knees."haaaah….haah… the dragon soul domain… takes too much effort." He collapsed onto his back, then turned Hong'er back to herself. She got up and looked around." Master, they've fled away." Percy sighed with relief then started to close his eyes. Just then a voice rang out." All Participants have fought! I shall now begin the memory round. Beware. To fail here will result in damage to the soul, and may even mean madness or death!"

Percy quickly sat up and recalled Hong'er into his inner world. He calmed is breathing as he restored his breathing to the most optimum state. Then calmly, he sank into the illusion.

 _-in the distance-_

The Overgod of Life was frowning at the other two." This is a trial! We're not supposed to interfere!" The Overgod of Fate nodded softly." Indeed. However. There are something's he must know. the grand mistresses have given me their approval as well." The Overgod of life was silent. Then she sighed." Let us hope for the best then."

 _-Dream Trial-_

Percy was standing in front of a small cabin. He started in surprise as someone walked through him. Then he looked down and saw, he was shimmering." This is weirdly disconcerting." He mumbled. Then his eyes widened as he was who had just walked through him. It was… Hestia?" is this Zoë's memories? Or maybe Hephaestus or Dionysus?' he hesitated, then followed. The inside of the cabin was simple and had a single couch and a table. There was a single door leading them in.

He looked around then continued in. he saw Hestia and another woman standing by a bed, crossing their arms. He could just make out someone lying in the bed, a blanket draped over them. He moved closer, shifting around Hestia. He froze as he saw artemis, bloody and bruised, fallen on the bed. If he hadn't remembered he was an illusion he would have rushed to her, but as it was, he quietly knelt beside her, skimming his hand over her bloodied skin. She looked so young, even younger than when they had first met.

She stirred and her eyes opened as she blearily glanced around. She trembled slightly as she saw Hestia and the other woman, eyes tearing up." Big brother…. Where's…. my.. big brother?" Hestia knelt beside her and patted her forehead." Rest child. You need it." suddenly artemis stiffened and her eyes turned crimson. She leapt forward, grabbing Hestia's throat. Hestia smoothly stepped back and grabbed her, pushing her back into bed, grabbing both her wrists and holding them up over her head and placing her other hand over her forehead. Hestia's fiery eyes burned even brighter and a glowing flame mark appeared on her forehead. There was a bird cry and Percy glanced around, seeing the phantom of the vermillion bird appearing behind her as flames engulfed both of them for an instant. Then artemis seemed to calm down, but her eyes remained crimson. Hestia sat back, panting and shivering slightly.

" Artemis. Tell me. What is Ares trying to use you for!" artemis screamed and grabbed her head with both hands. Hestia touched her forehead." Easy now… I've sealed your Asura Bloodline Contract. You can ignore his commands. Calm down." Artemis shuddered slightly, then relaxed and slumped back into her bed. She glanced timidly at both the people and then burrowed under the sheets." Where's my big brother! I want him!" she sobbed softly, voice cracking. Hestia sighed then shook her head." Where is Zoë?" Artemis shook slightly as she heard the name." big brother… he's protecting her right now right!? He must be there! Now he'll come and take artemis home with him!" Hestia grabbed her hand and forced her to sit up." Artemis! You're in danger! Tell me what Ares is commanding!" Artemis looked at her with big eyes." He…. Wants… big brothers powers…. Uuuu but…. He can't use them….." Hestia sighed and let her lie down, then she turned back towards the other woman with her." it's no use Delphi. Ares has been hell bent on that power. Once he gains it, he will probably reach a new height in his strength. Then even I may not be his match." Delphi shook her head." Ares can't absorb apollo's powers for a reason. Apollo sealed the Sun God Origin inside Zoë. That way, only Zoë can inherit the Celestial Sun God's Crystal. And he also sealed a Portion of the Nine Elements Heavenly Tribulations Power within Artemis. So as long as both of them don't die, and unless artemis undergoes the nine elements heavenly Tribulation herself, the two seals will remain sealed, and Ares will not gain the power."

Hestia remained silent for a few moments then sighed sorrowfully." He will gain the powers. The grand championship approaches. And the Overgods have already told us who our direct disciples should be. They have selected Thalia for Athena. Zoë for me. And Artemis for Ares. I know what Ares will have planned. And despite everything, Zoë can never bring herself to kill Artemis. Artemis however… under the Bloodline contract, she will kill anyone or anything she is commanded to. I wish to protect both of them, and honor apollo's dying wishes, but I am helpless." Delphi remained silent. Then her eyes glowed green and the hissing of a serpent sounded out." Three lives Pupil!" her voice turned rough and rasping, like the scales of a serpent over dry sand." There…. May be… a way."

" Warrior from below, wields the cursed blade.  
Drenched in blood, Asura's shade.  
Power of a True god flowing through his veins.  
Toppling the rule of the God who reins.  
Born to defy, the greatest of power.  
And make the seas tremble and cower.  
Power of fire, Thunder and Water combined.  
Face the enemy, born in mind.  
the grand calamity, he must resist.  
Pain shall follow, but he will persist."

Delphi swayed and collapsed into Hestia's arms. Hestia looked troubled." The grand calamity…. I fear… that it isn't as simple as you think it is Delphi. Ares alone isn't powerful enough to be a grand calamity. And Athena is still holding her cards close to her chest. But we will have to wait. Wait and see if this 'warrior from below' is capable of saving us." She sighed, then the scene before Percy's eyes changed.

He saw a younger artemis, with an even younger Zoë, playing together in a small clearing. Then the scene changed again, and he saw Ares, wielding a double handed sword, Facing off against a Young man, dressed in golden armor and wielding a Golden Heavy Sword. Artemis stood behind him, cowering slightly as she hugged Zoë. The man in golden armor was bleeding from the corner of his lip, but so was Ares. He scowled at the Golden man." Apollo. Don't make this any harder. You're power is growing closer to the level of Olympians. But you will never actually reach it! so no matter how difficult the battle may be, you will lose… inevitably!" He chuckled softly, then raised his sword." And after your demise… your sister… and the little girl you picked up… will both suffer my wrath! If you wish to spare them, then give up! And then give in! that power is rightfully mine anyways!" Apollo scowled." I don't think it will be so easy Ares!" He glowed brightly." I didn't want to go all out, but if I do, I'm sure I can wound you bad enough, so Hestia or Athena could finish you off!"

Ares stiffened, then laughed." Maybe so. But I'll make sure to torture those to till the last possible moment, before finishing them off!" the two of them raced forward and clashed, seemingly evenly matched, but Percy could see the strain on Apollo, having to protect the two behind him. Ares however was able to go at it with all he had, using all his power on attacking. As time went by, the advantage Ares held grew greater before he was finally overwhelmed, being smashed backwards by the hilt of Ares's sword. Percy held his breath in anticipation, but before Ares could land a killing blow there was a green flash and Delphi appeared between the two, the Phantom of a Green Python Coiling around her as she warded off the blow." You madman! He's your son! He's our son! How could you even think of doing this!" Ares scowled." Delphi, stay out of this!" she shook her head stubbornly." Not when my son is in such a bind!" Ares sneered." Athena already killed your body. With just a soul projection, how long can you protect him for!"

Delphi's eyes grew cold." Indeed I cannot protect him, not for long. But I can curse your fate Ares." He paused for a second, obviously afraid." You… you would do this…" she laughed coldly." I gave my life to save artemis! Now if I have to give up my soul to save Apollo, then why would I hesitate! Only I never expected that you, their father, would be such a vile threat, as big as the threat posed by Athena!" Ares sneered." I told that boy to stay away and let me absorb the power. But no, his aunt Hestia has him under her control! And you're the same! Listening to your sister! Well curse me if you will! Soon I'll have enough power to break your curses as well! Ahahahaha!" he cackled madly, then turned towards Apollo, who was half dazed, bleeding heavily." Goodbye… Son!" Ares spat as he swung the sword. Delphi's eyes glowed and a green light covered Artemis and Zoë, and the three of them disappeared.

Percy's eyes opened and he sat up, gasping and heaving as he tried to process what he had seen. He had been supposed to undergo a trial, but that was no trial! That was a memory of Artemis! They were a collection of all her worst memories. And a prophecy. Percy summoned riptide, and glanced at it." a cursed blade huh?" he whispered softly to himself as he slowly digested everything. He sat up and then collapsed to his again, retching and gasping as he threw up the contents of his stomach. By the time he was done, he was shivering and trembling. The strain of seeing those memories was obviously too much for his mind to bear, especially after using the dragon God soul Domain.

He shivered and recalled everything he'd learnt." Oh… artemis…" he whispered as he remembered everything he'd seen. There was a spatial ripple as he was shifted out of the second trial. There was a rumble and suddenly he was standing in an arena. Zoë stood by his side, and they were standing facing Persephone and Demeter." Huh? Senior sister? Is this.. the third trial?" Zoë laughed." Two on two. That's the third trial." Persephone and Demeter scowled." We drew the short straw in this round." Demeter grumbled.

Zoë chuckled then raised a hand." It's almost Noon. Wanna try your luck?" Persephone held both arms out and suddenly trees sprouted from the ground, twisting towards Zoë. Zoë waved a hand, and she erupted with flames, covering up with Golden Armor. Percy winced as he recognized it as the same pattern Apollo used to wear. Her eyes turned into fiery golden discs, miniature suns, burning with fury. The golden armor, though on Apollo it looked quite flashy, it seemed extravagant on Zoë. The little girl with a regal air, suddenly turned into a princess, with a Golden Helmet shaped like a crown curling over her hair, a fiery golden aura radiating from her, and the ground beneath her blackened and was scorched into nothingness.

She raised an arm and a Golden Bow appeared. She pulled back the string and a single arrow, pulsing with power appeared." Divine Sun ray, Explosion!" the arrow streaked out like a ray of light. The two girls winced and drew palms of both palms together, summoning a wall of wood before themselves. It smashed in and exploded, shredding it to ashes. Percy stared open mouthed as they were thrown aside like rag dolls. Hestia had said that together, they were powerful enough to stand toe to toe with a direct disciple! But this was totally different. Zoë hadn't even moved, and yet they were already on the verge of being knocked out.

Zoë smirked." Its getting closer to noon. I can sense the sun rising. Do you wanna keep fighting?" Demeter shook her head." No… we… accept our loss…" Zoë laughed and the twins were twisted and removed from the trial ground. A presence appeared in the area around them. Percy recognized the Overgod of life as she spoke." Well done, participants. You have completed the third trial as well." This concludes the elimination rounds! From here, we shall begin the Final Trial! You will be given three days of rest. Then the six of you will be allowed into the final arena. The Battle will be performed by elimination! as the winner of the previous championship, the Flame seed sect will be given the advantage!"

" the format and rules are as such. The passing participants are: in the battle between Percy , Zoë and Persephone, Demeter. The winner was Percy and Zoë. In the battle between Hephaestus, Dionysus and Bianca, Hazel. The winner was Hephaestus and Dionysus! In the battle between thalia, Amphitrite and Artemis, Drew. Both sides declared a tie! Hence both teams were passed. The format will be elimination with each round. We will split the participants into two groups, group A and B. as a form of advantage, Zoë, the direct disciple of the Flame seed sect will be placed in the first group, while the other two direct disciples will be placed in the second group. The first round of battles will be as follows! Group A: Zoë Sollunas Vs Amphitrite Nereid. Drew Moonflower Vs Perseus Jackson. Group B: Artemis Sollunas Vs Dionysus Winslet. Hephaestus Vs Thalia Grace."

Then a small gate swung open in the arena wall. Percy turned to smile at Zoë, but she ignored him, directly walking into the Portal exit. Percy shrugged." All these people are too weird for me to figure out." He remembered the images of Zoë and artemis playing together, then recalled what he'd heard. Zoë was someone Apollo had picked up. But from where? And why was she so special to him? He was pondering on this curiously as he entered the portal, returning to their pocket dimension.

Hestia was still absent. Percy sighed." Is she really so mad at me for undergoing the tenth trial to find a way to save her life?" he shook his head, then turned to Hephaestus and Dionysus. They grinned at him." Got through easily?" Percy laughed." Zoë blew them away by herself. They chuckled." She does have that habit. The closer it gets to noon, the greater her power, and as the sun rises, so does her Magic. It can be said that at noon, she is unstoppable, destruction incarnate! She's the sun descended on earth, causing utter destruction. She and artemis are exactly the same in that regards. But of course, artemis's power of destruction is fearsome even during daytime. Zoë is more controlled at night." Percy was silent, then nodded at them, retreating to a corner to sit and meditate, waiting for the final trial." Artemis… wait for me." And so, three days passed

A.N.; whole bunch of flashbacks. Also it's april 1st.


	51. Special Segment: Hong'er!

**Special Segment: Hong'er talks**

The little redhead was asleep in Percy's inner world. Then she senses the presence of people staring at her and wakes up." Uuuuu…. Master?... who're you guys? What? Cat got your tongue? Well do you at least have a sword for Hong'er?" she tilted her head and smiled." Master is meditating for the next three days, so hong'er is free, but she's also quite bored. Will you play with hong'er? Ehhhh? You want something in return? How about Hong'er gives you a sword? Oh wait, Hong'er ate them all… hmm how about Hong'er answers your doubts? After all, with master's many different powerups, you must all be confused. Hihihi is that alright? Ok, let's go!"

Percy's physique?" umm well… Hong'er knows master has two drops of poseidon's lifeblood. His current power is at initial Minor God. But when he uses the first drop, he reaches middle minor god level. And when he uses the second drop, he reaches Minor god Late stage. He also has 1% of his blood as normal poseidon's blood. If he activates this along with the lifeblood, he can reach minor god Peak realm." Hong'er frowned." Now give Hong'er a sword, or she'll stop."

 _-few minutes later-_

"Nom….nom….nom… mmm that was good. So as Hong'er was saying, Master can reach peak of Minor God. But big sis artemis is Peak of full god. Uuuu big sis is so cool!"

Why is Ares after Apollo's power?" did you guys not pay attention during the time Rachel was explaining to Calypso? In the 43rd chapter, Nirvana Samsara. So basically, the winner of the Championship gets to undergo the nine elements tribulation. Usually you die. But some people can survive and become Olympians like Ares and Athena. So when a person dies under the trial, Ares and Athena, depending on whose disciple has died, uses their corpse to become a boost to themselves. But once, a person survived the trial, but didn't become an Olympian. But the power he had now, it was greater than any normal full god. So Ares wanted that power, so he attacked that warrior. But rather than give that power to Ares,he sealed it into his Sun God's crystal and then hid it, preventing Ares from getting his powers. Later, it was found by Apollo, son of Ares, and then he was attacked by Ares for the power. Rather than give it to his father, Apollo sealed it into his younger sister artemis and his adopted sister Zoë. So this is Ares's elaborate scheme to get the powers from both of them."

What happened to Percy's styx soul." Ummm… well Hong'er is in his soul world right now. So I guess master rebuilt it. so no, he doesn't need to steal it back from Athena." Hong'er sighed then lay back in bed." Uuuu Hong'er is sleepy now so shoo."…

" you're still here? You wanna know about riptide?" Hong'er licked her lips." Well Hong'er knows he smells really delicious…..uuuu Hong'er wants to eat him! And well, he's a Devil God. He's cursed, to take the life and body of his owner, and use it for destruction. Every time Master uses it, he gets a severe backlash, which is riptide can invade his soul and control him. It's similar to the Asura Bloodline Control."

Where is Delphi?" well… Delphi is a soul body… so Hong'er guesses she'll probably be dead by now? Uuu Hong'er… Doesn't…. Know!"

Why doesn't Percy dual cultivate with Hestia." Cause she'll kill him." Hong'er gives you a look.

Why doesn't Hong'er's master claim her?" cause Hong'er is a really cute little beauty and Hong'er's master adores her too much to claim her!"

About Percy's bloodlines and powers." Ummmm well Master has the Blood and soul of: Poseidon, Phoenix, Golden Crow, Azure dragon god. He has the blood of the Fairy maiden of Ice(Piper) and usually fuses it with his water and Fire powers. He has the blood of the Lightning Dragon(Calypso) as well as the Devil Orb. He also has the tree of enlightenment, which exists in his Inner world, and it has the ability to absorb most types of powers. That's how he absorbed the power of Heavenly Thunder. He doesn't use his devil powers, because they corrupt his personality, and it's a crime to have devil powers."

Pertemis" uuuu Hong'er X Percy is much cuter! But yes, it's based off Jasmine x Yun che from against the gods,as well as Rukia x Ichigo from bleach. Also based off Grisaia and UQ Holder."

" Hong'er is really sleepy now. So if you have any more doubts, review them so she can answer them later." Hong'er yawned and flopped back into bed and was soon fast asleep.

A.N.: she's breaking the fourth wall! Help me! She's the girl from the ring! She's coming through the screen! Oh, she just wanted my butter knife. Well I hope that cleared up all the doubts. Especially the "why Ares is after Zoë". And also the " what level does Percy reach with his Life blood?". I do explain them during the story, but with so many things going on, I think a few of you missed them. And so the many questions in the reviews. Also Hong'er made another appearance and I love her so why not?


	52. Final Trial

**Sixth Arc: Final Trial**

Percy spent the three days restoring himself to his best condition and regaining his energy. He opened his eyes and stood. Zoë was already standing at the exit." I'll be having my battle first, so I'll be heading out now!" she smiled at them and then strode out. Dionysus and Hephaestus turned to a simple formation set into the wall. Percy glanced at it as well." What's that for?" he asked curiously. Hephaestus answered him." It's a formation used to view the matches in the final trial. The three sect heads have their own formation in a separate room. But we can use the one here." Dionysus finished fiddling with the formation and it opened, showing a projection of an arena. The arena itself was huge, large enough to hold tens of thousands of spectators. The entire battle field was miles in radius, but to powerhouses like them, such distance was nearly meaningless.

Zoë stood on one side, her Golden Armor sparkling in the sunlight. Bow already in hand. Amphitrite stood on the other end, dressed in translucent robes tinged bluish green. Her trident was held loosely in one hand, and her expression was light and easy, as if she was out on a vacation rather than on a battlefield." Hehehe. Direct disciple Zoë. I never expected I'd get to face you." Zoë's face was impassive." Do you give up?" Amphitrite chuckled." Indeed, I can't waste time on talk. It's getting close to noon, and your power is already quite high. So I'll skip the pleasantries and directly use my trump card. If this can't get rid of you, I don't think I have a chance at victory." Zoë shook her head." Foolishness."

Amphitrite smiled." Let a girl have her fantasies." Her eyes turned greenish blue and the hologram of a trident appeared in her other hand. She tossed it up. The ground trembled as the trident grew in size." Oh holy phantom of the God of the Seas, arise with vengeance. Rain your blows upon the world and collapse all of land into the endless maw of the seas! Bring forth an endless storm of never ending despair!" space flickered and twisted behind her, then a huge presence appeared behind her, blurred and vague at first, then turning into a phantom of a huge man with a trident held in his hands. His face was indistinct, but the power and majesty of his presence was unmistakeable." Trident of the Sea God!"

Wind howled and the ground rippled as the phantom struck, bringing the terrific power of the oceans forward in a single strike. Zoë's eyes narrowed as she raised her bow." Burn all of creation to ashes. Cruel Sun: Sunlight Flare!" the phantom of a golden figure appeared behind her, grasping a burning orb in one hand. He thrust out the orb as Zoë released a golden ray from her bow. The golden ray seemed to collide with the trident. The space around the collision bent to tearing point, then shattered with an explosion. The phantom of the sea god trembled, then shattered. Amphitrite swayed on her feet and a trickle of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth." Hehe… just as fearsome as expected. I accept my loss." She coughed up a mouthful of blood and spat it out. She wiped her mouth with a hand and stowed her trident away and then walked away, exiting. Zoë seemed indifferent as if she had already known the outcome, which Percy supposed she did. Dionysus whistled." That's a direct disciple for you. now she'll move to the next dimension. Losers will return to their original dimension."

He glanced at Percy." You're turn now." Percy scratched his head." Well. Good luck to me then." Hephaestus chuckled." Just beware Drew's charm." Percy nodded and then stepped out. The vision in front of his eyes twisted and he appeared in another Arena. There was a familiar figure waiting for him at the other end. Dressed in her usual provocative clothing, and wearing her usual seductive smile, stood drew." Hello my cute junior brother Percy~" her voice was as silky as ever and seemed to sink into Percy's bones. Percy cocked his head." Hello senior sister." Drew tilted her head and held it with a hand." Killing you would be such a waste. However….." her eyes went blood red." …. I'm under direct orders." Percy smiled and summoned the heaven smiting Devil slayer sword." It depends on whether you have the skill to do so."

Drew slammed her palm against the air." A measly minor god against me? Hardly needs skill." Percy smirked and swung his sword. The ripple of air and the sword ray clashed, shattering. Drew's eyes widened." Ah yes, you can resist even master Ares's attack. But can you stand up to me if….." she pointed a finger at him. Percy's eyes widened as the blood of the Horned Dragon in his veins ignited, sending waves of fiery lust and passion through him." Hehehe. I sensed my pets blood in you. I wonder why Hestia used it on you? but no matter. Now I can dual cultivate with you before killing you. with your current power, I'll no doubt get a huge boost!" she smirked and walked towards Percy with light footsteps." Yes, you want to push me down and rip my clothes off yes? You want to dominate me and ravage my body… and I want you to~"

A dragon's roar echoed through the stadium as the dragon soul domain opened. Drew froze for a second, turning white with fear. With her power, soul suppression was nearly impossible. But what level of existence was the Azure Dragon God? Even a sliver of his soul was so powerful that Percy, at the minor god level could paralyse her for a second. A second wasn't very long. But in a battle between masters, it was fatal. Percy's eyes turned green blue and his aura surged like the seas and rose to the peak of the Minor god realm as he summoned all the power the blood of Poseidon had. He raised the heaven smiting sword and swung with all his force, slashing her from her shoulder to her waist. Drew was thrown backwards, blood spurting out in an arc as she was thrown to the ground. She lay there, still shocked, then leaped to her feet." You damned kid!" she raised her hand and green gas spread from her." Heavenly poison, turn his bones to dust!"

The gas revolved like a tornado and swept towards Percy. Percy's eyes flashed and a smile touched his lips.' Moonlight Flash!' he shot forward like a silver meteor, directly rushing for the tornado. Drew laughed crazily." You fool! You'll never even make it through the tornado!" phoenix flames erupted all over Percy, and a phoenix cry rang out." Phoenix Fire Lotus!" a Fire Lotus abruptly bloomed, slamming into the tornado and covering it with flames, filling the arena with smoke. Drew was still laughing." You're already dead!" suddenly Percy appeared behind her.' concept of stealth: Perfect Concealment!'. Even Hestia was unable to sense Percy when he was a demigod, not to mention now when he was a minor god! He slashed again and now his sword was covered by Golden Flames. He slammed the sword into her shoulder and she screamed as she was engulfed in a ball of fire. At the same time, the Powerful Vibrations within his sword directly rushed into her body, tearing her internal organs apart.

She trembled intensely, grabbing his sword to stay on her feet. The fire subsided, then revealed the ruined form of Drew, burnt black and red in patches. Her luxuriant hair was now completely roasted away and blood was spilling from all her seven facial orifices, as well as the two savage cuts Percy's surprise attacks had put on her. she struggled to stay on her feet for a few more seconds, then her grip on his blade weakened and she fell down. Percy knelt and fed her a medicinal pill." Take care senior sister." He smirked lightly, then rose and headed towards the exit." How…. How… did you… break the horned Dragon's blood?" Percy glanced over his shoulder." Oh that? I had already suffered under its effects when I was a demigod. It couldn't control me then. It hardly had a chance this time." He chuckled lightly then walked out.

Zoe glanced at him as he stepped through." That was impressive." She commented softly. Percy grinned." Well what can you say, I got lucky." "Why did you not finish her off?" she asked puzzled. Percy smiled." We have a history." He said mysteriously. Zoë shook her head." But regardless, you defeated her using surprise attacks. In a one on one, it would have been a very close battle and you probably would have lost." Percy rubbed his head." Ahahaha. That's probably true. Like I said, I got lucky" Zoë snorted coldly." Then you might as well give up right now. In our battle tomorrow, you will be absolutely crushed. Drew, compared to Amphitrite can be said to be a toe to toe rival. And so, you are a weakling before me." Percy smiled thinly." What thinks you've seen all me cards?" Zoë snorted." And I haven't shown mine either."

They both fell silent and turned to the array on the wall, watching silently as Dionysus and artemis faced off in the middle of the stadium." Yield." Artemis said coldly. Dionysus chuckled." It's not night yet. So I might stand a chance." He started walking, circling around artemis. Suddenly, the sunlight seemed to turn purple and dozens of Dionysus's appeared, circling her. their movements were all matched as he walked around artemis. Artemis didn't even bother looking at them. She just kept her eyes straight ahead. Suddenly, a single Dionysus darted forward, holding a short sword in his hand. He directly thrust at her but she didn't even flinch, raising her hand to grab the sword. But just as she did, the sword turned into purple mist, along with the rest of him. Another Dionysus appeared behind her, slashing downwards. Her eyes flashed silver as she disappeared, then appeared behind Dionysus.

Her hand was bloody, and so was Dionysus's chest. She flicked her hand, and the ground was covered with blood and her hand was once again restored to it's pristine condition. The phantoms of Dionysus faded away and he collapsed to his knees, vomiting blood and clutching at the bloody hole on the right side of his chest." If that had been the left side, you'd already be dead." She said coldy, then stormed out. Zoë glanced at Percy from the corner of her eye." Now do you understand the difference between a ordinary peak full god and a direct disciple peak full god? And that is when we are in the weakest level of strength. Artemis at night is infinitely more powerful." She huffed angrily. Percy kept silent. Zoë turned away from him." If you wish for me to beat you up, then so be it!"

She switched the array to the next battle. Percy was quite curious. Thalia was the one he knew least about after all. She was an enigmatic mystery to even Hestia. She was after all someone capable of resisting athena's soul control, and yet was the direct disciple. His eye twitched slightly as she walked into the arena. Both Amphitrite and drew dressed provocatively… but thalia was a different level of provocative. They relied on elegant charm and seductive power to arouse. But thalia… she was like an exotic wild fruit. She dared people to test her, to draw out her charm. Thalia grinned as she saw Hephaestus." Heffy! I heard we were gonna fight! And I was like.. totally no way! I was like so confused for these three days.. like can I use heffy's weapons on him? Would that hurt your feelings heffy?" Hephaestus chuckled." Hardly. But you wont use my weapons right?" thalia pulled a gun from its holster on her thigh, then tossed it aside." Of course not. You probably have defenses against each one." Her hair crackled and rose slightly as her clothes were torn apart by tendrils of lightning, that wrapped around her, forming an armor of lightning. She grinned and shook her hand, a tendril of lightning turning into a long coiling whip." Heffy~ prepare to be shocked!" she said with a giggle. Hephaestus sighed." How many times did you practice that line?" she cocked her head." A few… hundred times!" then she lashed out with the whip. Hephaestus body glowed and his own shirt exploded as thrusters propelled him out of the way." Overdrive!" he rushed forward and his arm thrust out glowing." Meteor Cannon!" a beam of pure energy exploded forward and Percy couldn't help but whistle." He's really powerful for a second successor!" thalia wasn't able to move away and the beam slammed into her, turning the arena into a blinding supernova.

It seemed unbelievable anyone could take that strike head on. Even Zoë's eyes were narrow as she stared at the array." She should have tried dodging as soon as he raised his arm." She murmured softly. Then the light faded and the arena was filled with dust. Hephaestus was still holding his arm up, though he was clearly exhausted. Then a wind swirled and thalia rose from the dust, completely unscathed. Even her armor was perfect." Heffy, you held back!" Hephaestus stared at her open mouthed. She giggled then pouted." I gave you a chance, but you actually held back! Awww how sweet." Hephaestus sighed again, as if wondering what was wrong with his life. Not only was she unscathed, she was also asking him why he held back." I was worried a full power attack would cause you a fatal wound."

Thalia settled down then smiled." Show me then, your full powered attack!"Hephaestus's face hardened." You asked for it." his entire body glowed brightly, all over, then dimmed. He raised his arm and pointed at her. Zoë's eyes narrowed." Foolish girl, move away!" suddenly Hephaestus's palm glowed and an even more powerful attack exploded forth." Big Bang Annihilator!" his chest suddenly opened and a new cannon protruded and another ray exploded out. The first ray smashed into thalia, causing an even more powerful explosion, and right as the explosion began to spread, the second, even more powerful ray slammed into it, causing the explosion to implode, focusing itself on thalia. Hephaestus fell to a knee, then raised his other arm. His eyes turned electric blue and tendrils of electricity exploded from all parts of his body.

Percy gaped at him." What's wrong with him?!" Zoë snorted." He's almost out. This an attack that needs nearly all his power. He also used that first attack, so it's a really big strain trying to finish it." Hephaestus's body shook and his chest exploded, belching acrid smoke. He opened his mouth and roared." Third cannon: Black hole grenade!" a thin ray of concentrated power shot out of his arm and sliced into the fiery flames that were engulfing thalia and they all suddenly shrunk, turning into a blinding ball of pure white about two meters tall. The explosion of a hundred metres was compressed down to a mere two metres!

Hephaestus shuddered and collapsed. His body was sparking and crackling and black smoke was emitting from every part of him. He glanced at the concentrated ball of power then groaned softly. Then suddenly the ball exploded, and the entire arena was ruined. The entire array flickered for a few moments, threatening to collapse under the strain. Then the image cleared. Showing a pristine thalia brushing her hair behind her back." Heffy are you alright?" she asked with concern. Hephaestus belched some more black smoke as he raised a charred and melted arm and gave her a thumbs up. Half his thumb was missing." Absolutely ….fine….. thalia. I've…. never been….. better." He muttered sarcastically. Then he groaned." I give up." Thalia chuckled, then skipped over to him and carried him over to the exit." Get some rest." She called out as she tossed him through. Then she turned and exited.

Zoë was silent with shock." That power… should not have been blocked so easily. Even me… I would've been injured severely if I had faced it! but she took it head on without even singeing a hair!" she was obviously concerned." Now I really don't know if I'll meet her or artemis in the finals. At first I was almost sure it was artemis, but now I'm not so sure." Percy gave her a sideways glance." First get through the semi's, then worry about the finals." Zoë looked at him, then spoke in a voice usually reserved for idiots or toddlers or idiot toddlers." So I should worry if you'll beat me tomorrow? When it will probably be noon? Yeah you're right, I'll worry about it. I'm sure it'll haunt my dreams tonight. Or maybe the nerves will get to me and I won't even be able to sleep. Or maybe I'll stay up all night training. Or maybe I'll just give up. Or maybe I'll just run away." She threw him an icy look and stalked out of the room. Percy laughed then called out." Don't run away! I'm looking forward to our fight!" he burst into laughter, then sat down to meditate. All jokes aside, he needed to be in tip top condition if he wanted to fight Zoë tomorrow.

A.N.: sorry about the short chapter, but I had quite less time. I wasn't at home. Also I may go on hiatus soon. I'll be gone for maybe two weeks or so, and I won't have time to write even if I do carry my laptop over. It is holiday time, so I have a busy schedule now. Don't worry, I'll use that time planning the next arcs.

Hope you enjoyed the first battle. Percy is obviously the weakest. So how the hell does he beat Zoë? Those of you who've read the Seven Deadly Sins might be able to guess.

And yes I based Zoë's rise in power off Escanor's sunshine. It just fit perfectly. The power of the sun god obviously depends on the sun, so it was a match made in heaven.

Just review you guys. And I loved ya'll reviews on my April fool's joke. I hope no one actually took it seriously though. Ciao.


	53. Demon God Descends

**Sixth Arc: Demon God Descends.**

Note: Songs for this song: Blockheads- Stay the night, Our last night- Same old War.

The next day, Zoë and Percy were facing each other in the arena. Zoë raised her bow." You can still give up!" she said sharply. Then Percy chuckled softly." Don't jump to conclusions!" he said sharply. Then he raised a hand and summoned Hong'er, gripping the hilt securely with both hands. Zoë sighed then pointed at the sky." Unlike yesterday, it's already noon. You no longer stand a chance." Percy smirked and suddenly his aura erupted, twisting space around him chaotically. His eyes turned pure green blue and his sword was covered with the combination of fire and thunder. Zoë sighed then drew back on her bow, aiming at him, he darted to the side, but she reacted just a s fast, twisting and firing.

The arrow exploded an the way, the powerful explosion blasting him backward. The flames didn't hurt him, but the power in the blow couldn't be ignored. Zoë's eyes narrowed and she drew back her bow once more, aiming at him as he flew backwards. Percy grit his teeth, trying to swing his sword to intercept the arrow, but the arrow was simply too fast, blasting a hole through the right side of his chest." Like artemis said, I could have killed you just now." She snorted coldly, then began to turn away.

Then suddenly time seemed to freeze. Percy struggled to raise his head as a powerful presence enveloped him." Perseus… jackson… we… have… granted you the knowledge… of the prophecy.. and artemis's past… for a reason. If artemis and Zoë meet in the finals, Ares will kill them both and gain endless power. Fighting a prophecy never works. You must understand it and follow it. only you can save your master… and only you know how to do it."

Percy gasped and raised his head." Senior… who are you..?" he asked. The presence chuckled." We are the ones who see the weaving of all time and fate. And we know you know us. Go forth Successor of the sea god!" time unfroze. Zoë was walking away, but then she heard a groan as Percy sat up and then slowly stood. She glanced back." You're simply torturing yourself. The sun keeps rising… how can you possibly win?"

(A.N.:Song: Blockheads- stay the night)

His blood had drenched every part of his body and his clothes. Percy glanced at his hand as he placed the heaven smiting sword back into his inner world." The warrior from below, wielding a cursed blade." He said softly." Riptide!" he called out and the familiar bronze blade appeared, settling into his hands. Zoë's eyes were wide." That prophecy… how do you…" Percy interrupted her." drenched in blood Asura's shade." His eyes turned blood red as riptide's power rushed into him. Then the six avatars of the great way of the Buddha activated and the Asura phantom's power spread through him. The ghost stood for his soul. The beast for his physique. the witch slave stood for his magic. The mortal stood for his intellect and wisdom strategy. The Buddha represented conscience and divine mental fortitude. And the Asura was his bloodlust, killing intent and his fighting spirit.

Riptide's voice rang in his head." Suddenly ready to use me?" Percy grinned." Lets save my master." Riptide chuckled." So long as you give me your body." Percy chuckled as well, then the Asura phantom appeared behind him, roaring with blood thirstiness. Zoë's eyes were as round as saucers." You.. who are you…?" Percy's voice rang out, harsh and grating, filled with incomparable bloodlust." I am the one who shall destroy the heavens. When the day comes and the one I love is no longer in this world, I shall destroy this world with her! I am the Demon God!" his power raged and surged. Zoë scowled." Enough bravado. Come, lets see what you're made of."

Percy raised his sword and the Asura mimicked his movements, and roared as well. The sun god phantom appeared behind Zoë, grasping the sun in one hand. She scowled and aimed at him." Don't blame me then!" she fired, a golden ray shooting out like a sunbeam, heading straight at Percy, at unbelievable speeds. Percy chuckled and suddenly disappeared, appearing behind her, slashing as he struck towards her. Zoë's eyes widened and she twisted, leaping backwards. His slash cut through her bow and landed a gash across her arm. It was a foot long and her blood steamed slightly as it spilled out. Zoë grit her teeth, then the sun god's phantom struck towards Percy.

The Asura phantom intercepted the blow, slicing off the sun god's crown, then attacking his arm, leaving an identical gash on it. Percy and Zoë faced off again, and Zoë's face was tight with pain, shock and a small amount of fear. She clenched her teeth even more, grinding them as she summoned all her power." Cruel sun: infinite Ray" a ball of light erupted to life before him and it exploded releasing multiple rays towards Percy. But Percy's blue green aura spread outward, covering the entire area around him with powerful ripples that completely destroyed her attack.

Percy raised his sword to slash a gain. But just then Zoë's form glowed golden and the wound on her hand healed." Well, it's high noon. The peak of my power is at this time! My healing and restorative powers are unmatched right now!" she shimmered and appeared behind Percy. A golden sword appeared in her hand and she slashed at him. The ripples around Percy tried to repel her attack, but her sword bent and twisted, curving around all the ripples before streaking across his back, leaving a bloody splatter. Percy turned around and she leaped backwards, dodging his sword strike." You really like heavy swords huh?" she grimaced." The extra length is annoying." Percy tilted his head. Then suddenly the phantom of the beasts appeared beside the Asura, beating its chest with a loud bellow as it's power rushed into Percy. The foot and half long cut across his back suddenly wiggled and healed itself at impossible speed.

Zoë stared" that's…. that's impossible."Percy sneered at her, then raised his sword again." What are you? I can sense intense evil from you. or rather.. from the sword!" she gasped slightly." The cursed sword!?" Percy nodded stiffly." Finally recognized me eh? The same sword from your prophecy!" Zoë scowled." Did you posses him?" Percy laughed out loud." Hardly! I give him my power, in exchange he gives me his body! He is my old friend after all." Zoë's eyes hardened." Whatever you are, I'm going to end you!" her body erupted with power, and Percy's did as well.

The two of them rushed towards each other, swords clashing with a loud ring. Percy's riptide was tyrannical and overbearing, bringing crushing force with each swing. Zoë's sword was a flexible sword, capable of absorbing even the most powerful blows, but unable to compete with Percy's speedy healing. They fell into a deadlock, but soon Percy gained the advantage, using the Dragon God Soul Domain to momentarily daze her, and take use of that to sneak past her defense. Obviously Zoë wasn't expecting that and soon she was on the back foot, her left arm hanging uselessly from a deep cut into her shoulder. Soon Percy had her battered and bruised as she was completely covered in wounds. Her defeat seemed imminent. But just then, her Sun God phantom which was beginning to fade away suddenly gave a bright glow, turning into a blinding pillar of sunlight. Zoë herself glowed and all her wound healed instantly. She smirked at Percy." Peak of noon! Now die!" she swung her sword, slashing Percy across his chest multiple times in a row.

Hestia was gripping the edge of her robes worriedly. Athena was silently staring wide eyed. Ares had a contemplative look on his face. Then when Zoë began glowing Hestia sighed." Peak of noon. The ultimate culmination of the sun god's power. Right now, Zoë is invincible. Unless it is an Olympian, no one can defeat her. all her wounds will heal, her speed increases, her power explodes. She is now the sun on earth."

Zoë slashed Percy over a hundred times in an instant. Even with his fast healing, this was too much to handle. But Zoë didn't slow down or give him even a moment to rest as she attacked him over and over, driving him towards defeat. Percy's consciousness was already beginning to fade. But then he bit his tongue, forcing himself back to wakefulness and he recalled artemis's face." I came this far for you. and I'll be if damned if I lose now!"

He summoned the heaven smiting devil slayer sword, gripping t with his left hand. Riptide in one hand and the heaven smiting sword in the other, he dual wielded them, blocking her barrage of attacks. Percy's eyes flashed and he dug deep into his soul, reaching for the fragment of the divine soul. He touched it with his mind and he heard a deep thud as his very being vibrated with power. At the same time, riptide reached into the devil orb, summoning the power of darkness and death. Percy's eyes glowed, one, the right one Blackish red, the other, the left one bright blue green. His aura appeared, the left half the blue green of Poseidon, the embodiment of the power of poseidon's Divine Soul! His right half was covered by a Black aura that wrapped around riptide in his right hand.

Percy roared and attacked, both sword fluidly striking her. Zoë's eyes widened and she retaliated. But now Percy suddenly exceeded her in speed, breaking through her defense and slashing her body. But just as her healing activated, Percy speeded up his attack, thousand of attacks merging into one.' Ten thousand waves layered together! Ten thousand attacks layered together! Divine Sea Sword Tsunami!" the attacks merged together covering her entire body in an instant. Zoë's eyes widened and she roared." Supernova!" her body exploded with all her power, expelling it all towards him. Percy ignored her attack. his powerful attack slammed into her attack. The two held for a second, then exploded, completely engulfing the arena, tearing it to shreds.

Space shimmered and the void rippled as two phantoms appeared behind Percy, Poseidon, wielding his divine trident on his left, and the Asura phantom, grasping the Devil God Sword on his Right. The two struck together, aiming at the heart of the collision, where Zoë was still trying to resist. The power of the two phantom's attacks stirred the winds and shook the earth as they smashed through Zoë's defense, shredding it to pieces like paper.

Zoë dropped to her knees. Percy rested the heaven smiting s word onto his shoulder, using riptide to lean on." Haaah…. Zoë…. You… have lost." Zoë swayed for a second, then fell forward, her eyes rolling back as she fainted. Percy stored away both swords, then turned and looked up at the skies." I am the shade of Asura! The wielder of the cursed blade! And my retribution is beyond reckoning! Soon I shall reach you and show you true fear!" he bellowed at the skies and then strode out, exiting.

Ares was unable to believe his eyes." That brat just threatened me? And I felt…. Fear? How can that be possible? He's just a minor god! Even if he were a full god, he'd be no threat, but as a minor god, he's absolutely no threat!" Ares muttered to himself. He glanced up and saw Hestia looking thoughtful. Then she glanced at Ares." My sister's prophecy seems to be coming true. Do you feel fear Ares? You know it too don't you? he's here for you. the prophecy will come true! And then my sisters curse on your fate will also come true! How does that feel Ares? Watching death approaching you?" she asked in a low mocking voice.

Ares scowled then shook his head." That little brat? His strongest attack won't compare to even a thousandth of my strength. As if I would ever fear him. I can kill him long before he matures." Hestia smirked." Oh the prophecy will come true. You can't prevent it." he was about to retort, but just then Athena contacted him." That boy. He uses Asura power." Ares hesitated, then nodded."Athena , what are you planning?" Athena chuckled." I have a plan you might like to hear. It might be even better than your plan to absorb artemis's power." Ares glanced up sharply." What are you talking about?" Athena chuckled softly." I'll tell you later in detail." Then she broke off the mental connection.

When Percy exited the battlefield, he collapsed onto the ground. He shook slightly as riptide's power tore at his soul, trying to swallow his personality and destroy his identity. The backlash of using riptide was always severe, but just now he had overdrawn riptide's power's to the absolute limit. As of now, forget about using riptide's powers again, Percy was unsure if he could even restore himself to fighting condition by tomorrow. He sighed and flipped over, facing the array on the wall." Artemis. I've come so far. You absolutely cannot lose to thalia. You have to win and come see me tomorrow. And I wonder… will you finally be willing to praise me?"

Artemis's eyes were cold as she faced thalia. Thalia on the other hand seemed her usual bubbly self." Hehehe artemis, did you see that battle? That boy is really fearsome right? If his attack had me, even I'd have difficulty getting through unscathed." Percy didn't know whether to laugh or cry." This damn girl, my attack broke through Zoë's greatest defense and offensive skills and completely defeated her. and she's saying she can get through it unscathed? Is she serious?" artemis's voice was cold." Regardless of who it is, all will fall before me." Thalia chuckled and her thunder armor erupted completely covering her." let's see you're attacks then artemis." Then artemis snorted." I figured out the secret to your invulnerability. So it's useless to try such pathetic tricks. After all, your defense cannot possibly block an Olympians attack. So as long as someone is strong enough, they can ignore your defense. So if his attack were to hit you, it would break past your defense and defeat you am I right?" thalia's eyes flashed with electricity and she giggled." Maybe~" then she thrust a palm out, a whip of electricity condensing in her hand.

Artemis's eyes turned molten silver and she stretched out her hand, silver bow materializing in her hand." Bathe, cleanse, destroy and rebuild. The never ending cycle, the unending birth and death of the moon, show your vitality and destruction! Full moon cycle!" she aimed at thalia, and her eyes widened and she darted to the side, but artemis suddenly appeared all around her, encircling her. the artemis in front of her drew back her bow and a crescent moon appeared over her." Crescent moon!" she fired her attack and it struck thalia. She shivered and suddenly her movements slowed down, almost as if she were being weighed down by a heavy weight. The next artemis fired and this blow seemed to slow her down even more. She was struck in a similar fashion five more times and each strike slowed her down till she was almost frozen. Then the artemis at her right raised her bow. A half moon appeared over her head." Half moon!" she drew back her bow and fired and innumerable number of arrows erupted, like barrage of missiles that all curved and struck thalia. Her armor seemed to absorb all the attacks. The next six artemis's also attacked in a similar fashion, but her armor seemed to absorb all their attacks.

Then the artemis behind her, the fifteenth artemis raised her bow in a sweeping motion the full moon appeared over her head, resplendent and beautiful, shining with silver moonlight. Her eyes were a pure molten silver and her aura was similarly silver." Full Moon Barrage!" a silver arrow materialized in her hand and she nocked it, calmly aiming at thalia from behind. The arrow seemed to absorb all the moonlight from around her, glowing brighter, then she fired, releasing it like a silver comet.

It slammed into thalia's back and she trembled, then a single crack appeared on her armor. The half circle of artemis's who hadn't fired yet, suddenly drew and aimed at thalia. All fourteen fired at the same time, fourteen silver streaks striking home at the same time. The cracks on her armor spread and covered her all over. Then all the artemis's merged back together and she calmly drew another arrow, aiming at thalia's head." Dance of the moon, finish!" she fired it coolly. The arrow sank into thalia's head and she trembled, then suddenly her armor exploded, blood spurting from all over her body. She was sent flying backwards, tumbling and rolling over the ground. Artemis snorted coldly, then walked over and nudged her with her foot." Looks like I was right. You're armor is you're invulnerability and you're weakness. As long as it is active, you avoid all type of damage. But if it is broken, all the damage it absorbed is directly transferred onto your body. So unless it is a fatal attack, you will never be injured. And so you can fight at top condition for the entire fight, unless your opponent Is too powerful for you."

Thalia groaned in response. Artemis threw her an icy look, then walked away." I'm the peak of peak full gods. No full god can contend with me." She declared and then exited. Percy was silent as he watched her." that power… is unbeatable. There is no way to dodge or block that attack. She launches 29 attacks, each of which compares to an ordinary direct disciples most powerful attack. And you have to survive it head on. That is impossible! Even with riptide's power, I can't possibly take such an attack." Then he sighed." Anyway, I didn't come here to win… tomorrow I'll have my wish of seeing her… as she is, finally."

He closed his eyes and drifted off into a restless sleep.

Back in the Asura dimension, Ares was contemplating what Athena had told him." That lady is quite sneaky. I still don't know why she told me this. After all, she's no ally of mine. Even if we're at a temporary peace to deal with Hestia… she would never tell me such a ludicrous method to gain power. But I can't figure out how it benefits her." he sighed and then shook his head." Never mind that. As long as I gain power, it doesn't matter!"

Percy spent the entire day calming down riptide's backlash. It was impossible to recover entirely. But he wasn't planning to fight anyway. Even if he was at top condition, he still was no match to artemis. But now that he was here, he really wondered if he would be satisfied after telling her farewell. Especially leaving her under such a tyrannical master? Percy sighed." It doesn't matter, when she wins this battle, she'll undergo the trial. Then she might become an Olympian, so she'll be able to take care of herself. She hardly needs my help to take care of herself." He summoned hong'er." Come one hong'er. Let's go see you're big sis." She turned into her sword form, and he swung her up and headed out.

Artemis already stood there, her face impassive and expressionless." Give up right now and leave." She said as she saw him. Percy smirked then lowered his sword." I come so far, just for you to snub me. Master, you're disciple has risen from the cripple to the warrior who stands before you today!" artemis growled softly and held her head." Fool! Give up and leave! He…he… AAAAAHHHHHH!" Percy's eyes widened and he stepped back as boundless killing intent filled the arena. Artemis's eyes were blood red as she raised her head and croaked with great difficulty." Percy… leave…. Before…he..he…makes me…kill you…." Percy stepped back with horror and then nodded." I give up!" he declared and turned away from her." Farewell, my master." He said softly as he walked towards the exit.

Then the exit twisted and shut in front of his eyes. An Overgod suddenly appeared in the skies, the large face covering the sky above the stadium." This battle will not end so easily. The Overgods declare that this battle cannot be withdrawn from!" Percy stiffened and turned." What the hell?!" he shouted at the sky. The Overgod chuckled." Perseus jackson. Do not betray our hopes. Stand victorious." And then after encouraging him the Overgod courageously disappeared. Percy looked at the panting and shivering artemis." Oh hell."

Artemis's eyes turned black and the pupils were blood red. Her shivering stopped as she straightened and glanced at him. Her face was completely cold and her skin was bloodless, absolutely white. Her silver armor suddenly appeared over her. and the skies darkened." Moon god's Lightless Domain! The sunlight disappeared and the sky turned black, without even the twinkling of the stars. The only source of light was the bright full moon." Percy shifted nervously. Dionysus had warned him and so had Zoë. Artemis at night was infinitely more powerful. Though it had just been day, she had forcefully turned the area around them into night. And down here, she was an impossibly powerful monster.

Percy instantly ignited the flames of the Golden crow on his sword, covering himself with light. Hong'er was staring out of the pearl in the sword hilt." What's wrong master? Did you make big sis artemis mad at you?"' Percy groaned." That might be true." Hong'er giggled." Master, she's gonna beat you up. You better run!" Percy didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Artemis was going to do much worse.

Artemis stared at him coldly, then raised her hand. All her killing intent suddenly condensed and focused on him. He shivered and tried moving backwards, but to his horror, his entire body was frozen, paralyzed. The killing intent around him thickened even further and then Percy was enclosed in a ball of darkness." Destroy all. Asura Oblivion." Artemis waved her hand lightly, and the ball of darkness seemed to thicken and solidify, the surface turning entirely smooth. She watched it for a few moments, but nothing out of expectations happened. Then she gave a light sigh and her lip trembled as she turned away from the ball of darkness.

 _-olympian viewing room-_

Hestia was sweating as she saw Percy being engulfed. Even as she watched, his aura weakened while inside the ball, like a man on his deathbed, then it disappeared entirely. She stiffened and her eyes grew wide as she struggled to sense him, but there was absolutely nothing. Ares sighed mockingly." So he was only that much eh? And dared to threaten this sovereign." Athena was impassively watching, but her eyes were glinting with a self satisfied light as well." A talent that is dead, is no talent at all." She said softly.

- _inside the oblivion-_

As soon as Percy was engulfed in the attack, he felt the stifling aura, and he immediately tried slashing his way free. But he was still utterly paralyzed. He summoned the power of phoenix flames, but they were immediately suppressed and consumed. He quickly pulled hong'er back into his inner world, in order to protect her from this attack, then summoned riptide, trying to draw out his power. Then he heard riptide's voice." Jie Jie Jie. Old friend. Our time seems to have come. This attack is destroying all power. It won't spare even my power. It will even nibble away at your cultivation, reducing you to a mere mortal, then stripping away your flesh and digesting your very bones. She's killing you in a very thorough manner." Percy shivered at his words and realized he was right. His aura was weakening and his power of flame, thunder, ice was all being suppressed and obliterated. Even his dragon bones seemed to weaken and turn back into normal bones.

Percy's struggles gradually ceased as his aura continued to weaken and his power continued to fall. He closed his eyes." I'm so sorry…. Mom…dad… calypso… Aphrodite…I wont be coming back…." He couldn't help but recall joyful moments he had spent with all of them." Artemis… well I guess… I was an idiot…."

Percy's eyes opened after what seemed like an eternity." Where am i? what is this place?" a small speck of light approached him, growing bigger as it did. It was a small screen, carrying an image? It was…. A memory?

"all hail perseus jackson, son of the sea god!" he trembled and looked closer, seeing Chiron….. a centaur? Bowing down before him, along with others." Camp half blood?" he murmured as the name came to his mind. Then he saw himself, battling with Luke, but on the deck of a ship." The princess Andromeda!"he exclaimed as the name suddenly flashed through his mind. More memories approached, himself with Zoë, Bianca and thalia, battling a gigantic lion while a familiar yet unfamiliar Grover played the pipes in the background." The nemean Lion…". Battling with Annabeth by his side, with a monstrous woman, half woman half dragon." Kampe!" finally, himself, at that agonizing moment, where Luke asked him for the dagger, begging him. And him refusing, then watching as Luke erupted with golden light, and turned into another person. A person with a lean body, dark curly hair and a cruel smile. His eyes seemed endlessly deep and time itself bent and twisted in his presence." Kronos…" Percy breathed softly. But then the memories began fading away, leaving Percy helpless and alone, and he thrashed, wondering if he was going to suffer here for all of eternity. Then there was a small gleam of light and Percy glanced around.

(A.N.: Song: Our last Night- The same old war)

Bright sea green eyes peered deeply into his own. They were filled with joy, and a fierce pride." Remember. You are my son. A true son of the sea." The blood of Poseidon began circulating with increasing speed and his power neared the limit of minor god." Who you are… doesn't require… this unnecessary power… the blood of Poseidon runs through your veins… and your experience lies in your bones. You have faced down Olympians as a normal mortal demigod. Claim that power, it is yours. Claim it… and save the girl you love." A familiar voice rang out and chaos appeared beside Percy, stroking his face.

 _-arena-_

Artemis was just about to turn to the portal when there was a light cracking sound. She stiffened and turned towards the source of the sound. With a loud bang, the ball of darkness suddenly tore open. She inhaled a sharp breath as Percy stepped out of the ball, gripping riptide. She shivered and raised her hand, a ray of silver suddenly firing at him. Percy lifted his sword and the world seemed to slow down. His movement was incomparably slow, but managed to arrive before her attack struck him, deflecting it.

But the biggest shock to artemis was, he had no aura. It was as if he were a perfectly normal human, who had no battle qi. He was even weaker than a rank one warrior, but he had deflected her attack!

Percy glanced up and he seemed to flare up with power. He still wasn't emitting any aura, but he was emitting a heavy pressure, a strong presence. He smiled as he raised his sword. A heavy whisper floated by his ear, un heard by any except him." Who are you?...who are you…?" Percy nodded." i…. am the successor of the sea god, Poseidon!" he roared and launched himself forward. A sword appeared in artemis's grip and she raised it, meeting his slash." You have no aura, no power! How can you still fight!" she growled." I am the successor of the sea god Poseidon. And I shall wield this blade, to stop anyone who wants to harm you, even if it is you!"

They separated, both leaping back. Artemis's eyes glowed and she moved forward in a silver streak, her speed reaching the limit." Moonlight flash!" Percy calmly moved, spinning, raising his sword to block her attacks, sword moving fluidly as he intercepted each attack with extreme precision. Without any special techniques, any powers, Percy matched artemis move to move, blade and man moving in unison as their momentum rose, reaching inhuman levels.

Artemis snorted and leapt back." 29 dances of the moon!" she raised her hand, bow materializing. She split into 29 forms, surrounding him. She quickly fired, attack rushing like a meteor. Percy sighed softly." Riptide, let's go!". Sinking into his center, then he moved, slashing the arrow into half, then spinning and blocking the next attack. He moved calmly, blocking every single arrow. Artemis was wide eyed with disbelief." Your speed.. was unaffected?" Percy smiled gently. Then flickered and appeared before her, tapping her nose with a finger." I don't rely on my battle qi for power. So you can't slow me down by paralyzing it." artemis leapt backwards, face reddening." You… I'll kill you!" she growled then rushed forward again.

 _-olympian viewing room-_

Ares's mouth was hanging open." That boy has no aura? He has no power? And he's still artemis's match? Even using that sword, that cursed blade, that should be impossible right?" Athena shook her head and gave Hestia a meaningful glance." He's changed fundamentally. If you talk about his battle with Zoë, he was a warrior made of wood, using a molten hot sword. He was using it for a boost in power, but it even damaged his own body. But now he's like a warrior made of steel using the molten sword. It spreads through his body and they fuse together. And he gains a great advantage. Both sword and man working in unison, perfect harmony, resonance of souls. And to do that, he discarded his own cultivation, turning into an ordinary human, then pushing it to the absolute limit it could achieve."

 _-arena-_

Percy smiled and the tree of enlightenment bloomed behind him, the embodiment of all his cultivation progress. Then it fused into him and suddenly his aura erupted from him. It rose from the first level warrior to the peak of ninth level. Then he broke through and became a legend. He continued and became a demigod, then reached minor god, directly reaching the peak of minor god. Then he trembled slightly and erupted fire and water erupting on either side. Poseidon's blood subdued the water immediately and he was immune to fire. He directly became a Full god! The Asura phantom erupted to life, bloodthirsty killing intent filling the arena.

Artemis roared and ran at him, all her power pouring into her sword. Percy raised his sword in a slow motion and his aura swirled." Artemis… trust me…. You once saved my life. And I swore that you would never hurt me. I still believe in what I said that day in the dragon god trial. I trusted you, and I accepted your sword. And so today I'll return the power you gave me that day. My life and everything else you've given me till today! I'll give you everything!" he roared and launched forward. Artemis's eyes were leaking blood as her sword aimed right at his heart. Then she threw her sword aside.

Riptide slammed into her chest. Her arms wrapped around Percy. The killing intent from her faded away as she sobbed into his shoulder. Percy pulled riptide aside and they both collapsed, holding each other." Percy… Percy… forgive me… for being so weak…" she cried out as she clutched at him. Percy smiled gently and patted her back soothingly." I trusted you… after all.. you're my artemis."

Artemis clutched his hair and pulled his head back. Her eyes stared into his and Percy's mouth dried as her sparkling silver eyes bored into his. Her warm breath, panting was brushing across his face. Percy's eyes half closed and he started to lean forward." Thwack!" artemis slapped him." Idiot Disciple! I told you not to come here!" she burst into tears again and hugged him so hard he felt his ribs were going to crack.

Percy flailed slightly." My ribs.. my ribs…" he croaked. Artemis sat back and released him, half laughing as she wiped her eyes." You idiot…. I'm so proud of you… you're the greatest disciple I could have ever hoped for….… I … i… i lov-" she was interrupted by spatial distortions that filled the skies. Three tears appeared in the fabric of space and three figures dressed in Black, White and Green robes respectively stepped out. The Green robed one stepped forward." Perseus jackson… you have completed the trial of the Championship! You are qualified to undergo the nine elements trial ! however.. you are still not a peak full god. But when you arrive at that stage, you shall directly undergo the trial, and you can try to reach Olympian level." Then the three figures raised their hands to the skies." We declare Perseus Jackson, inheritor of Poseidon's Lifeblood, and successor of the sea god the winner of the 56th grand championship!"

A.N.: damn my heart and hands were trembling during that Pertemis battle. I spent more than fifty chapters, building up to this exact battle. That moment when Percy stabs Percy and breaks her bloodline contract, that was my original goal. That was what this story was built on! I was waiting for this day. And now my life is complete. This is also a great time to declare my hiatus. Till around April 20th. And I'll reread the story, replace chapters with mistakes, then think about how to continue the story in a coherent manner. Maybe I'll post an update detailing the summary and another appearance by Hong'er, explaining exactly how Percy beat artemis, in case you haven't understood it yourself.

Based off the Cutest ship : Ichigo x Rukia(bleach: movie- fade to black). I got the idea for this story while watching a music video. So you really need to thank these two for this story.

Also that guest, who reviewed that I didn't make drew a plaything. Go reread chapter 31. In the first paragraph, I've underlined the words "it might never happen". And I pay attention to every review that comes by. And yes I asked if you guys wanted it, but I can't just toss in a smut for no reason. Percy isn't a sex fiend, and my story has (trying to) a plot. A battle is hardly the best place for Percy to screw drew. Plus artemis would probably hate him if he did that. Just wanted to get that out of the way.

Ciao, with peace from Manhattan.


	54. Special Segment: Hong'er 2

**Special Segment: Hong'er's Appearance.**

"Uuuuu why did you all come to disturb Hong'er's sleep again? Don't you know Hong'er is on hiatus till april 20th? Hmmmm you want a summary and explanation about master's progress? Hmm Hong'er will tell you, if you give Hong'er a sword."

*time skip*

"nom nom~ mmm uwaaaah! Hong'er loves swords! Why? Don't you love swords?" Hong'er bites her lip." Ehhh? You wanna know about master? Fine, fine, Hong'er will tell you."

How did Percy become a Full God?" well, master has the life blood of Poseidon right? So he can use it ro rise from initial minor god till peak minor god. However, he does this, by unleashing the power stored within the blood of Poseidon. This power adds to his own power and he increases till peak minor god. But if you unleash all the power in the Life blood of Poseidon, it will provide you enough energy to reach the full god realm, just like a celestial God Crystal that Artemis and the other disciples used. However, the Life Blood of Poseidon doesn't give instant boosts like that. Instead it allows the inheritors body and power to develop along with it, which is why master can fight even above his own level. If he used an instant boost, he wouldn't gain the benefits that come along with undergoing the trials. For example, he underwent the Lightning trial, and so he Gained a body immune to Lightning as well a s promoted his own power over lightning. Now master can use Heavenly Retribution Lightning. Also, by undergoing the Trial of Water and Fire, he has Gained perfect control over them, as well as additional powers you'll see later. So while fighting big sis artemis, he unleashed the full power of his Life Blood, directly and permanently raising his cultivation to initial Full god. But here's the important part. Pay attention, because Hong'er will be mad at you if you don't. Master can't increase his power using the life blood anymore. You heard Hong'er right. He is at initial full god level, and he can no longer use the power of the life blood to increase his level like he used to. That's because he unleashed all the power inside it and permanently made it into his own. So there is no more extra power he can draw out to increase his level anymore."

Percabeth." Uhhhhh~ why does everyone talk about big sis artemis and the other girls! Master is Hong'er's master! Hong'er is the only person who can molest him! Uuuuu. So master does have a deep history with the grey eyed girl who tried killing him. And since Hong'er doesn't like her, you can ask Athena about her if you're so curious."

How did Percy battle Artemis." Well master is superb at fighting. And so what chaos did was she reminded him of all the times he had fought extraordinarily powerful enemies who exceeded human limits, relying only on his mortal form. That was how he unlocked the true potential of his Poseidon Bloodline. And so he used his human body to reach a level where he could match even a peak full god.( inspired by Natsu Vs Zancrow from Fairytail.) it wasn't like when he used his Devil God Transformation to battle Zoë.( inspired by Meliodas Vs Escanor from the Seven Deadly Sins.) rather, he used riptide just like he used to use it in his previous life. He went into perfect harmony with riptide and they shared their power and their Form, turning into a perfect synchronized warrior.( inspired by Carter and Horus Becoming the Eye of Horus from the Kane Chronicles.)"

Is Percy Ares's match?" well, actually, you can describe Ares as a Late Stage Olympian. Percy is an initial Full god. You should be able to guess they're not even close to being equals yet. Athena is Supposed to be a Late Stage Olympian as well. Hestia is a Peak Olympian, and she did that by forcefully activating her Vermillion Bird Bloodline."

Will the other Mythologies enter the story?" hmmm actually Hong'er isn't sure about that. She did see the author planning some stuff with tartarus, but then Hong'er fell asleep."

How long is the story going to be?" how should Hong'er know? technically, the story was only planned out till Master and Big sis artemis fought, so if you want, it could end right now." Hong'er giggles softly." Nah Hong'er's just kidding. The story has a long way to go. It's still being developed, so who knows? It could reach a hundred or even more chapters."

Since Artemis is rescued, shouldn't Percy go fight Kronos?"' Do you want Hong'er's master to commit suicide?"

When is the next smut?" what is up with you people and smut? Hong'er is an innocent little beauty, how will she know about all that? But Hestia should be making her debut sometime soon."

Cultivation Levels" so here's the list. By the way, cultivation involves battle qi, which is like your inner energy. So when Percy fought artemis, he sealed away his battle qi and simply used his normal form to battle her."

Nine Mortal Shifts: Level One to Level Nine: Develops Potential of the Human Body.  
Legend Realm: Exceeds the limits of the Human Body and begins development of Divine Battle Qi.  
Demigod Realm: You step into the Divine way and your Power turns into Divine Level Power.  
Minor God Realm: Your Power turns into pure Divine Battle Qi.  
Full God Realm: Your Body Begins to Develop into a Divine Physique, which raises recovery and regeneration.  
Olympian Realm: Physique Fully turns Divine. Even if you cut off their body parts, instant regeneration, unless you're stronger than them.( basically, if you're weaker than them, and you manage to hurt them by surprise attacks or they let you attack them, they can instantly heal it. the only way to hurt them is if you're stronger than them.)  
Overgod Realm: Soul begins Developing into a Divine soul.  
Celestial/ Titan Realm: The realm of the True Gods and titans.  
Extinction Entity Realm: the highest realm achievable by all things born of the chaos and universe.  
Beyond Extinction: the Legendary realm of Ratatoskr, Veorfolnir, Niddhogg, Apophis and Chaos.

"pssst Hong'er wants to give you a clue. Without the author's permission of course. Is Ares the True Villain? And is the Realm of Gods… really safe? Hihihi. Hong'er hopes you can't figure that out and it drives you crazy~ now shoo! Hong'er needs her beauty sleep." Hong'er rolls over and falls asleep.

A.N.: I was getting bored so I decided to get back and do some writing and see if I could post it. also, as CTRI said in the reviews, what is a forum? Cause I have no idea how this site works. Well I gave it a try and made a forum called Against The Gods Pj Fanfic.

And I'm still confused how the story should progress. I have a jumbled mess of ideas, but to avoid pitfalls and plot holes, I need to sort them properly. if not, it will be impossible for me to post any chapters at all, and I'd have to take a few days to plan out each chapter. That's why I took a hiatus. Better to sort my ideas, rather than slow down later.

Ciao and peace from Manhattan.


	55. War God's Treachery

**Seventh Arc: Battle for Supremacy**

 **War God's Treachery**

Ares was stunned into silence as he watched the Overgods crown Percy the victor. He met athena's gaze" that boy underwent the Flame and Water Trial and actually absorbed it?" he asked her. Athena nodded. Ares's eyes glinted decisively." That's it, that boy cannot be allowed to mature. He's too big of a risk. He went from initial level minor god to initial level full god. That should have been impossible, but he did it. I can't let him do any more miracles!" Hestia snorted." And you think you can tidy him up? With your pathetic power?" Ares smiled." Oh my miss Hestia. You're still my greatest worry."

Athena's grey eyes flashed and a streak of power exploded from the palm of her hand, aimed at Hestia. She snorted and her fiery eyes blazed, and she was covered with flames. The terrible heat of the flames destroyed athena's attack before it even neared her." even if both of you combine forces, you're still far from being my match. Even if I can't defeat you two, you still can't kill me." Athena nodded earnestly." Indeed, just the two of us can't kill you. but we can still try." She glowed and her white robes were replaced by battle armor and a broad sword appeared in her grip. Ares's clothes similarly turned into a simple armor and he hefted his heavy sword with one hand. He waved his arm." Asura God Prison Domain!"

Immediately, they were ripped from the pocket dimension and directly thrust into a desolate and dark domain. The entire place was filled with light black mist that hugged the ground, and even the sky was incomparably black. Immediately, Hestia felt a powerful restriction surround her. she glanced around suspiciously." What is this trickery? Where is this place?" Ares chuckled." You'll have to thank Athena for giving me this gift. This is the Asura domain, which will be your graveyard!"

Ares hefted his sword and dashed forward. Hestia snorted again, then her eyes flashed with fire and she raised her arm." Vermillion Bird, Bring Thy retribution on all ! Flames of Endless Retribution!" the flames covering her roared, blazing upwards to the heavens. Ares coolly swung his sword and it smashed into the fire. The flames exploded and Ares was thrown backwards, skidding as his feet gouged the earth. Athena appeared behind Hestia , raising her own sword and bringing it down on her head. Hestia spun, raising her arm." Insolence! Even the two of you are hardly capable of killing me!"

The vermillion Bird Appeared behind Hestia, screeching as it batted it's wings, sending Athena flying.

 _-back in the Arena-_

Percy started to stand up, still holding artemis. Dionysus, Hephaestus and the rest of the disciples appeared in the Arena.

Then a shiver ran down his back and he looked up. The Overgod of fate was still standing there." Shall I show you something, successor of the sea god?" she didn't wait for him to reply. They were all instantly transported into the Asura domain. She waved her hand and a tear appeared in the fabric of space, twisting and distorting until it made a small screen. Percy glanced in and froze with horror.

Hestia spun and danced, tongues of flame wreathing her as they defended and counter attacked. Ares and Athena were in a bad shape, burnt and scorched all over. Hestia was still in pristine condition, face cold and expressionless as she waved her arms fluidly a thin sword held in her hand, directing the flames. Percy was stiff for a few moments, then relaxed." She can hold them off. They aren't any match for her."

Artemis narrowed her eyes." No… Ares is planning something." Percy glanced at her with surprise. Then the Overgod of fate chuckled." Here it comes." Percy glanced up and his eyes widened as he saw Hestia standing over a kneeling Ares. His sword was half melted and cracked. Athena was lying on the side in a crumpled heap, her snowy wings burnt down to the wings. Hestia raised her hand and all the fire around her concentrated into her palm, forming a thin and sharp needle." Hmph. Ares, I never thought you were such a fool. Now die!"

Just as she was about to thrust her palm forward, the

Just when the flame diamond at Hestia's fingertip was about to fire, the inferno less than thirty meters behind her suddenly burst open. A fiery figure abruptly slammed down toward Hestia while bearing world shattering might and space destroying power.

Hestia's power was completely concentrated at her fingertip and her mind was fully focused on the horned dragon before her. She was completely defenseless and the unseen attack was too close to her… she had already been struck when she finally noticed it. Her mind turned completely white.

Boom—

The inferno within a one-and-a-half kilometer radius from the battle site boiled into a sky scorching wave that was tens of thousands of meters tall.

"WAHHHH!"

From the northern shore of the Asura Prison, a roar filled with extreme dismay resounded. The space itself was trembling, the parched earth underneath their feet was filled to the brim with cracks, while the Asura Prison in front was surging even more violently. If not for the obstruction of the Overgod of Fate, everyone would've already been engulfed inside.

The might of that flame mirage was obvious from one's imagination.

Clearly, it had been accumulating its power for a long time beneath the flame prison.

"MASTER!" Percy roared explosively, his eyes were opened wide and bloodshot. What he was most afraid of, actually happened so quickly… More so, it was much more wretched that the worst scenario he had imagined.

Not only was that a full power strike, charged up by the ancient horned dragon, it was also during a situation where Hestia was congealing all her power to slay Ares, nearly without any defensive profound energy around her!

Drew chewed her lip." Hey that's my pet!" she mumbled softly.

As though they were suddenly falling from heaven to hell, everyone's heart almost burst apart from the shock. Dionysus retreated several steps, appalled, while Hephaestus and Thalia's hair stood on end, their eyes wide to the point of breaking apart.

"A… Ahhh..."

"H...How can there be such a thing!?"

In that instant as though a stream of light flashing through, all the disciples clearly saw that what heavily struck Hestia, was clearly a dragon's tail!

The tail of a horned dragon!

After the curtain of fire fell, within the Overgod's Projection, they all say Wounded Ares twist, changing shape and turning into a dragon. Athena laughed and stood up. The real Ares suddenly appeared beside her, chuckling as both the Dragons attacked Hestia.

An identical, yet unwounded ancient horned dragon had appeared!

While Hestia's figure had already disappeared, buried within the vast flame prison.

Before everyone had calmed down from the shock, the second horned dragon had already pounced forward amidst its roar.

BOOOM—

The wave of fire rushed to the skies, as the thousand miles of fire sea was violently thrown up… While an eye-grabbing white figure appeared within the shattered flames that filled the entire sky.

Seeing this grey figure made Percy utter a shout in joy and surprise, "Master!"

But just as his voice left him, his joy immediately became terror.

She had never been injured even though she exhausted an enormous amount of power in her vicious battle against the ancient horned dragon disguised as Ares, which lasted over eight hours. However, at this moment, her grey clothing was soaked with blood everywhere, her hair was scattered and messy, the tracks of blood by the corner of her mouth and eyes was crimson and glaring, and her snow-like skin had become dreadfully pale.

Her back, however, was entirely dyed in red.

The Flame Hearth Sword was still being held in her hand but atop the tip of the sword, drops of blood slowly dripped.

Her chilling aura that almost shrouded the entire flame prison before, was so weak and in chaos at this moment in time.

In the exact moment she was blasted away from the flame sea, the two horned dragon's dragon flames had already swathed down from above, not giving her even a chance for a breather.

Hestia retreated back rapidly, however, her flight path was unexpectedly unstable, as though she was a floating leaf atop enormous waves. The Flame Hearth Sword swept out horizontally, sending out a streak of fire, but it was instantly destroyed by a dragon roar...

Pfft!

A huge puff of blood sprayed out in the skies and Hestia once again fell into the endless sea of flames like a white sparrow that was shot down.

Percy's mouth remained wide agape, yet he couldn't even utter a sound. As his entire body felt cold, only intense hatred and helplessness was left" a peak…. Olympian level Dragon….".

His strength was merely at the middle of the divine way, while the Hestia and the horned dragon fighting her, lay at its pinnacle. It was two entirely different dimensions in terms of power. As the second horned dragon finally made its appearance, Hestia didn't even have the chance to react before being forced into a desperate strait, yet he couldn't do anything at all… Let alone rushing to save her, he couldn't even get a little bit closer.

Even if he really could get near… with his power, what use was there even if there existed tens or even a hundred of him?

The only thing he could do, was to stand there and watch… watch with his eyes wide open.

Because, he was merely a petty and insignificant speck of dust… Even if he were to gamble his entire existence, he wouldn't be able to stop the enormous wave that was about to swallow Hestia. What was even more saddening, was that there was no way he would even have a chance to do so.

BOOM! BOOM!

Being continuously blasted down into the flame prison, Hestia's aura was becoming weaker and weaker. The traces of blood on her body quickly spread; under the attack of two ancient horned dragons, she could not even manage to seal her wounds.

Greatly damaged profound energy, seriously injured and being closed in from all sides… This was the dragons' only chance! If she escaped today, they'll never have the chance to kill Hestia again

The two ancient horned dragon's attacks were like enormous storms and waves, without the slightest bit of stagnation. Forget about retaliating, Hestia's defense was actually getting gradually weaker. Every single time she escaped with difficulty after being blasted down into the Asura God Burying Prison, her aura would grow a little weaker.

In addition to being unable to mind her wounds, having to channel all her power at the same time caused the conditions of her injuries to rapidly deteriorate… She was like a duckweed struggling within a storm, possibly shattering at any moment.

Percy looked on blankly and could only do so… What was flowing within his soul was the sorrow and helplessness of the weak, as well as hatred for his own powerlessness.

Why did I come to the God Realm… He painfully muttered in his heart. How nice was it in the lower realms; there was no one I couldn't save, nothing that I couldn't do, and I wouldn't ever need to endure such helplessness and suffering.

"First artemis.. and just when I managed to save her.. you… and now I don't even have the time to grow strong enough to save you…".

"Why did you have to be so good to me? If you were as strict and heartless to me like how you always are on the surface… I wouldn't be so..."

"There… There actually really are two horned dragons… How can it be… How can such thing happen!?" Hephaestus's pupils contracted. He was still frightened and was unable to believe the reality even now.

"It's over… it's all over…" Dionysus muttered, losing his wits.

Hestia was done for… and their flame seed sect, was also done for...

"We were actually… really fooled for so many years…" Artemis's body also wobbled, as the arm pressing onto Percy's shoulders entirely lost its strength.

Percy looked to the side, as he spoke coldly, "You lot definitely won't go to save my master, isn't that right!?"

At these words, Thalia, could only sigh deeply, as she closed her eyes, "It's not that we don't want to, it's that with our strength, even if…"

"No need to explain, I knew you wouldn't!" Percy was laughing, ever so coldly laughing.

"..." Zoe's breathing stagnated. Her lips moved but in the end didn't say anything, as her gaze that was fixed at the projection turned dazed.

The various disciples all had angry looks but this time, none of them rebuked him.

"Haah!" Dionysus heavily sighed, "The only one who can save her now, is herself. Perhaps, she can find a chance to escape… That's the only way."

But seeing Hestia's current condition, as well as the suppression by the two horned dragons as though they'd gone mad, he clearly knew in his heart how insignificant such chances were.

Back then, Ares and Athena were entirely suppressed by her. but now these two had used their trump card. Her flames as soon as they appeared, would be instantly shattered. Hestia was retreating with every breath, the blood leaking from the corner of her mouth had long dyed her entire neck red… And at this moment, Percy saw a hint of abnormal flush from her face.

That was...

Poison!

Horned dragon poison!

"Sssss!" Blood leaked from between the fingers of Percy's clenched hands… The poison from a horned dragon's breath was not normally dreadful to Hestia but that was during normal conditions. Now, it was fatal.

With her power, after being poisoned with the horned dragon's poison, she could have very quickly neutralized it with profound strength but she had no chance to do so at all after being poisoned. The more severely profound energy was channeled, the more acute the poison's effects.

Just like artemis, even if she had been poisoned by styx essence, she could have easily discarded her body and rebuilt it again, but she was forced to battle many enemies at once. Afterwards, she was even more heavily injured, and had to use all she had to escape… After falling into the Gaia Continent, there was a time where all her profound strength was lost. Only then, did the acute poison invade her soul and become hopeless.

The current condition of Hestia, was just like Artemis back then! After being hit by the horned dragon's poison, not only was she unable to neutralize it, the acute poison would spread and worsen at an extremely rapid pace during all-out combat. Furthermore, the non-stop worsening horned dragon poison would cause the conditions of her body and profound strength to continuously fall even more, greatly expediting the approaching fate of death.

BOOM!

Hestia was once again blasted into the Asura Prison… But this time, she flew out in just an instant, as she sprayed out a large amount of blood mist onto the Sword in her hand.

Percy's Phoenix and golden Crow bloodline's suddenly throbbed intensely at this moment. He quickly raised his head… Within the projection, an extremely thick and intense wave of Vermillion Bird Aura, shrouded down.

The expression in Percy's eyes instantly transformed, revealing deep fright...

" that was… her Vermillion bird blood essence!?"

Her sword glowed with soft flames. The two dragons roared and backed away. Then they slowed down and seemed to become immobile. Hestia walked forward with light steps,

Ares and Athena both paled in horror. Ares slashed with his arm and thy both were removed from the Asura domain. Hestia continued walking lightly towards the dragons. She turned to the unharmed dragon that had surprise attacked her and lightly thrust her sword forward. The dragon watched wide eyed as her sword coolly penetrated it and it slid down to the hilt.

The world turned silent then there was a flash of vermillion from within the dragon. One ray of light erupted from it. then a second. The rays multiplied, then suddenly the entire dragon burst into flames, turning to ashes. And so, the grand Peak Olympian Level Dragon…. Died.

The other dragon roared with sorrow and rage, then attacked Hestia with renewed fury. She swayed and floated as her flames flickered weakly, a lamp about to run out of oil. Her sword moved, blocking his assault, but each blow sent her flying.

Her fiery eyes were almost burned down to embers, revealing her dark pupils for the first time. Percy watched with bated breath as she was smashed down. Hephaestus sighed." Even if she had any chance of escape earlier, she no longer does. The Forbidden Flame Sword technique she used overdraws her life. She has no energy left anymore." Percy stared at the projection, mind racing.

He remembered, back when he had been in the Gaia continent. Piper had used a similar Forbidden Technique, to save him. Back then, the dragon was an unbeatable foe for him. But by begging artemis for help, he had saved piper. But today, even artemis was unable to help him. Percy scowled." Tell me! How should I save her! I have the answer!" Artemis punched his arm." You idiot. You are no match for that dragon. Even with all your divine abilities, you can't even get close to that battlefield."

Percy glanced at artemis. Then his mind grew still and he smiled." Master, I chased you this far, to bid you farewell. But I can't let master Hestia die either." Artemis's eyes widened, but before she could react, Percy struck her on the back of her head, knocking her down, unconscious." Hong'er!" he shouted and summoned the Heaven smiting Sword. Then he dashed off towards the battle." Percy wait!" Zoë cried out, but even she was unable to react before he had already shot off.

As Percy rushed towards the battle, suddenly a figure appeared in his way. He froze and raised his sword." Athena!" he growled. The grey eyed woman chuckled." I already told you, boy. You're fatal weakness is you're never willing to give up on anyone, even if you have to sacrifice the world to save them." Percy scowled." So you remember the past." Athena chuckled." I know all, and I see all." She turned away." Don't worry, I won't stop you. you haven't suffered enough yet. You have never faced a true dead end. Till you do, your true potential will never come out."

Percy laughed." Are you advising me on how to get stronger?" Athena shook her head, then disappeared. Percy launched himself forward, and before long he caught sight of Hestia." Master!" he roared and shot towards her. Hestia saw him and her eyes widened. Her flickering aura blazed back to life and surrounded him, just as one of the dragon's attacks reached him. If Percy had faced it head on, he would've been crippled, but Hestia branched out her power to defend him. This raised the burden on her and she spat out a mouthful of blood as the dragon struck her again. With all her power protecting Percy, the dragons attack knocked her flying. She collapsed right before Percy. Percy scowled and stepped before her.

Percy slowly lifted his head to look at the claw of the dragon that appeared to be falling from the firmament. The expression in his eyes was calm like a glacial lake and he surprisingly closed them in the face of the incoming attack.

As he concentrated his mind, it felt as if time had suddenly begun to slow down.

He lifted the Heaven Smiting Sword, with the tip of the sword pointing towards the sky above and then moved it in a slashing motion… as though making a standard circular arc in the air.

In the wake of the soundless movement of the tip of his sword, space, law, and order grew chaotic all of a sudden.

If he succeeded, there would be a slim chance of survival; if he failed, he would die without a doubt!

Father, Mother, Artemis, Calypso, Aphrodite, Hong'er, Hestia, Piper… bless me!

I'll definitely succeed… I must succeed!

It seemed as if time had frozen and the world had became incomparably calm and quiet. Following his swinging of the Heaven Smiting Sword in a complete circular arc, a colorless, formless, soundless and traceless profound formation instantly took shape; one whose existence could only be sensed by Percy.

In this moment, Percy's eyes also suddenly opened and he unleashed decisive rays of cold light.

Hong'er who was floating in the pearl of the sword, shivered as a surge of power rushed into her.

Artemis raised her head, blearily glancing around and seeing Percy in the Projection, swinging his sword to clash with the dragon claw. Her eyes widened to the point of tearing and she started to scream. Before anyone could react, they saw Percy brazenly raising a sword and meeting the furious draconic flames of the ancient horned dragon head on.

It was like the scene of a tiny ant raising its arms to resist the entire sky.

At this point, it was impossible for Hestia to meet the ancient horned dragon's power head on even if she was alone, not to mention that she had to protect Percy right now. The only two conclusions of this clash were either they perish together or she withdraw her power and scrape an escape on her lonesome… But when she saw Percy risking his life to make his way towards her, she instinctively poured more energy into Percy's body despite her blurring consciousness.

The soul of Poseidon Howled with rage and his phantom appeared behind Percy, divine trident in hand as he covered the endless skies and brought the power of the oceans with him.

" Divine Law of Vibrations: Sea Wave Restoration!" Percy roared and his sword clashed against the gigantic claw.

The deadly draconic attack surged closer and closer… but in the next moment, just before it could envelop the duo entirely, the attack's power, aura, might and even heat vanished in an instant. Not a trace of the attack could be seen anywhere.

It was almost as if it had been transferred entirely to a silent world.

"AOOOOO!"

A furious and obviously pained dragon roar resounded through the air. Hestia immediately turned around to find the shocking sight of an ancient horned dragon flipping backwards in recoil. The innumerable wounds that riddled the dragon's body instantly burst under pressure and caused dragon blood to spray everywhere.

Everyone watching froze in astonishment. Everyone standing before the projection shouted at the top of their lungs as if they were struck by heavenly thunder, eyes bulging so wide and so rapidly in absolute shock that their eyeballs nearly burst out of their sockets.

It was because they could clearly see that the ancient horned dragon had thrown a calamitous swipe that could burn even a Divine Peak Full god to dust, at Percy and Hestia. But just as the attack touched Percy's gigantic sword, the dragon was suddenly sent flying away, rolling, roaring in pain and bleeding all over the place… it obviously suffered a grievous wound in that one instant!

Meanwhile, Percy and the Hestia on the point of demise… were perfectly unharmed!

"What… what… what…"

The crowd had never distrusted their eyes so much until today. A large majority of these people had lived over ten thousand years but despite adding up the most ridiculous rumors they'd heard and the most ridiculous scenes they'd seen in their life together, the culmination was still not even one ten thousandth as ridiculous as what they'd just seen today.

The ancient horned dragon was a Divine Peak Olympian! It was the most powerful existence in the long history of the God Realm since hundreds of thousands of years ago. Harming the ancient horned dragon with a single sword strike was absolutely impossible even if there were ten of Ares, one of the strongest humans in the God Realm… but somehow, Percy did just that.

It… it worked!

Percy madly roared in his mind.

The power of poseidon's soul bypassed the limits of all laws and rules of nature. Naturally, being the soul of a true god, it exceeded normal limits of power, but Poseidon himself was one of the most astounding gods. But all his powers, despite being extremely powerful, didn't actually exceed the limits of natural laws. But the Divine Law of Vibrations was different. It was an attack to reverse all the laws and powers within it's range.

The moment Sea Wave Restoration was fully executed, the law and order of all powers within the affected area were reversed completely. This also meant that all powers in contact with Sea Wave Restoration would be reversed in an instant!

Therefore… it was an instant counter!

It was also a full counter. Because the skill was based on the power to rewrite the law and order of nature, the strength and shape of the powers involved were completely irrelevant. Everything would be reversed completely as long as Sea Wave Restoration was executed in full, no matter the level or the form of the power!

The only thing that could stop it was a power that could also cause havoc on the laws of nature like the Might of Poseidon's power!

However, since the Poseidon's Divine Vibration Style heavily interfered with the laws of nature, it was also treated as a breach of the heavenly laws! The heavens punished all who forcefully use such skills without exception, so Percy was bound to suffer terrible consequences for his transgression...

The consequence of using Sea Wave Restoration was a severe reduction of lifespan!

Just as he finished executing the attack, Percy felt his insides twist and his heartbeat stopped. Then it restarted. Percy could feel his life span draining away. Despite having the huge lifespan of a full god, he had almost died executing this attack! This was an attack that required tens of thousands of years of life in compensation!

Percy's eyes flashed."' Master!" Hestia nodded and her sword swung directly slashing across the dragon's lifeline. When he had attacked, the dragon had used all his power, and had left nothing in defense. He obviously didn't expect his own attack to be reflected at full force. It was instantaneous, so he had no chance to guard. And so he was grievously injured. And now while he was dazed and injured, Hestia had no problem slashing across his lifeline.

"Aoo…. oooooooooo!"

The pain behind the dragon's roar rose several times higher and this time it was painted with deep sadness and desperation too.

Bang!

The flame Sword was forced out from the wound and blood gushed out of the dragon's lifeline like a fountain… the blood in the dragon lifeline was no normal blood. The leakage only quickened its death and loss of power.

"We… we did it!" Percy shouted with a trembling voice.

This was the best outcome he could imagine, coming here… it was the one and only miniscule hope—no, the only miracle that he could think of.

He had arrived beside Hestia, successfully executed the Sea Wave Restoration he had never used before and had no confidence in, and Hestia had followed up perfectly by throwing the Flame Hearth Sword straight into the dragon's lifeline...

It was a miracle Hestia and him had created together.

"Aoo—"

But it wasn't over. As a mournful and earthshaking roar filled the air, a gigantic dragon tail flew towards Percy with the power of despair behind it...

The ancient horned dragon that had fallen into the abyss of death could no longer afford to cover its tail with draconic flames. The attack was simply the dragon's final burst of hate… and it was the attack of a terrifying Olympian!

Boom!

Hestia pounced toward Percy and covered his body in Scorching Vermillon Flames. Then, the dragon tail slammed heavily into Hestia's back.

"M… MASTER!" In that moment, Percy felt as if his soul was pierced by a myriad of arrows.

Pfft!

A hot mist of blood fully drenched Percy's shoulders and back. The attack seemed to have completely destroyed Hestia's already weak and chaotic aura, so much so that Percy actually failed to sense her aura for one terrifying instant.

"Aoo!"

The ancient horned dragon's struggles and roars grew weaker and weaker and the blood pouring out of its dragon fault was turning a shocking dark red. However, the ancient horned dragon's hateful and despairing pupils were completely transfixed on Hestia and Percy's figures. The power of despair erupted in its body once more, prompting it to pounce straight towards the duo.

Even on the verge of death, it was going to drag them both into eternal hell!

Percy's pupils enlarged once, twice… then, the glowing, azure colored shadow of a dragon suddenly appeared in midair.

I stake all of my will… and my soul into this one gambit!

Dragon—Soul—Domain!

"Aoo—!"

The ancient roar unleashed by the azure dragon image actually overwhelmed the despairing roar of the ancient horned dragon in full… It was the absolute best Dragon Soul Domain Percy had ever unleashed by consuming all of his mental energy at once! The Asura Prison suddenly boiled and the roaring azure dragon exploded loudly…

"Waah!"

The Overgod of fate let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell to her knees all of a sudden. She clutched her head tightly like her life depended on it… before her, the projection, that had lasted for several hours, suddenly shattered, causing all of its images, sounds, and auras to dissipate too.

The disciples stared at her in shock. Who was she? The Grand Overgod! What could hurt her? even if every living being in all three sects attacked at once, they would all fail!

But the Overgod continued to clutch her head as if she couldn't hear any external noises at all. Her eyes were blank and her mouth was spouting soft, unconscious words, "What was that… what was that…"

After the azure dragon image had exploded, Percy's final conscious thought was his seemingly soul shattering before he completely blanked out.

A human was far, far inferior to a dragon when it comes to mental strength, much like the amount of energy they possessed. It was easy to defeat a profound practitioner with mental strength but almost impossible against a True Dragon.

However, as a sovereign of all dragons that had existed in the primordial Era of Gods, the shocking effect of the Dragon Soul on a dragon was enormously greater than on a human!

When the Dragon Soul burst and its roar shook the sky, the remnant light in the ancient horned dragon's eyes disappeared in no time and turned scarlet. Its bloodstained body went stiff in midair and the last bit of its despairing power quickly collapsed and dispersed, as if it had met the onslaught of a gale…

He had reflected back the power of a Olympian dragon with profound strength at the Initial Full God Realm.

He had intimidated the soul of a Divine Olympian dragon with mental strength at the Divine Full God Realm.

Percy gave it his all to cling onto the last sliver of hope with his insignificant existence.

Although the ancient horned dragon was already falling to its death, it was still an olympian dragon. This miraculous stun effect of the Dragon Soul could only be maintained for a maximum of a few instants.

Hestia held up Percy's unconscious body and slowly aimed the center of her palm toward the ancient horned dragon as she released the last of the dazzling rays of vermillion light.

BANG—

The ancient horned dragon was already losing its vitality even faster than it normally would because it attempted to launch a final counterstrike, staking everything. Under the stun effect of the Dragon Soul, it had lost all its remaining power. When the rays of light came into contact with it, its huge body couldn't put up any resistance at all and ended up acting as a medium to let the fire and condensing power play out its role. In the blink of an eye, its entire body got covered in a layer of flames.

With the power left in the horned dragon, it was simply impossible to struggle free of its predicament.

The last trace of its lifeforce was also turned to nothingness by the fiery energy coursing throughout its body… and its eyes finally lost all luster.

And so, both of the two ancient horned dragons had met their deaths.

Hestia slowly lowered her arm. With the last of her energy released outside, her fiery eyes turned completely black and there was not the slightest bit of energy present on her body… On the contrary, a scorching aura, that she had never possessed in these ten thousand years, was emitting from her at the moment.

Her aura had grown so weak that even she herself was unable to sense it and her arm that was supporting Percy felt so heavy that she was incapable of lifting it. Suffering from highly toxic poison, bearing severe injuries, and complete exhaustion of her profound strength… As the life force of the ancient horned dragon perished, her vague consciousness speedily sank into darkness.

"Ah… Where… am I…?"

A moan sounded in the depths of Percy's consciousness, issued by his own soul.

"...No… I can't pass out… The ancient horned dragon is… still here… Master… will die…"

"Wake… up…"

"Wake up, I said!"

His consciousness had grown unprecedentedly murky; it was vague as well as experiencing an incomparably intense pain… The pain was on the same level as when he had gone through soul separation in the past, before the underworld Python Flower in the Tartarus burial grounds. However, his eyes suddenly opened, as if he had been pricked by multiple needles simultaneously.

He felt a soft arm moving away from his body. Within his hazy line of sight, he saw a snow-white figure, that was mostly dyed in the red color of blood, falling downward without a sound…

There was a boundless reddish world down below…

The God Burying Asura Prison!

His mind felt so heavy, as though it was being weighed down by an insurmountable mountain but his palm almost instinctively reached out and grabbed the white figure that had just started to fall down from beside him. Afterwards, he tightly embraced the figure… Its aura was frail to such an extent that one would feel extreme sorrow at its state, but it unexpectedly helped in properly stabilizing his dissociating soul.

He then caught sight of a huge figure in the distance that was falling straight down.

It was the body of the dead ancient horned dragon!

Holding Hestia in his arms, Percy firmly bit the tip of his tongue. He used his barely existing consciousness to prompt his body to move and flew down in the hazy and disordered world, heading in the direction of the huge figure.

This is the fruit of the effort Master has put in, even at the risk of her life… I absolutely can't have it disappear in the God Burying Asura Prison like the one from before!

Even though his consciousness was on the brink of collapse, he still had his profound strength. With his blurred vision fixed on it, he quickly approached the ancient horned dragon. Then, he stretched out his hand and placed it on its body, instantly storing it into the Styx Soul Inner World.

As he felt a bit relaxed in his heart, his consciousness instantly sank into the depths and he immediately lost all control over his body. Carrying Hestia along, he fell downward toward the endless Asura Prison.

A.N.: not a moment of peace for the poor Percy. And I need ideas for characters from Greek mythology as well as from Kane Chronicles and Asgardians Mythology. That's why I wrote this chapter despite being on hiatus. I need ya'll to review and pm me ideas. Quickly. Or I'll need to extend my hiatus and sort through my own ideas.

Also the long awaited Hestia and Percy moments have arrived~ hope ya'll enjoyed. Inspired by Mu Xuanyin 's battle in the flame god realm from Against The Gods.

And I swear…. Stop reviewing that my story sounds like tales of demons and gods! It's frickin inspired from it! I mention in every chapter where each inspiration came from, so you aren't discovering something extraordinary! Gods!

Ciao.( Forum:Against The Gods Pj Fanfic)


	56. Break Through

**Seventh Arc: Break through**

Percy collapsed to the ground while still holding onto the frail form of Hestia. They were both covered with blood and Hestia had barely any aura left. Percy himself was almost burned out, having used the Heaven defying Sea Wave Restoration that had cut off his lifeline as well as the Perfect Dragon God Soul Domain, which had taken all his mental energy to execute and had overdrawn his soul to its limits. Even someone with the restorative powers of the sea would never be able to heal from such a crippling wound without intense rest and heaven defying medicines. Percy's consciousness was flickering as he hit the ground with Hestia in his arms.

Percy's submerged consciousness struggled to climb back to the surface.

Where is this place?

Can't… must wake up… Master ran out of profound strength… seriously hurt… deadly poison… only I can save her now...

If I don't, Master is dead for sure...

I must wake up!

The Dragon Soul Domain he had poured every ounce of willpower into had created a miracle by temporarily suppressing the ancient horned dragon and causing both its final attack and its consciousness to crumble. Otherwise, both Hestia and him would have perished under the ancient horned dragon's final strike.

The greatest Dragon Soul Domain ever performed in history had caused the azure dragon image to explode mid roar. Naturally, the consequences were incredibly severe.

He had never felt so tired and heavy in his entire life. He doubted that he could recover his mental energy in full even if he were to fall asleep for several days and nights straight… but the worst part was that he couldn't allow himself to fall asleep right now.

While Percy struggled his utmost to wake up, the slumbering soul of the phoenix and the golden crow ignited themselves from within the depths of soul. His heavy consciousness instantly brightened and the eyelids he couldn't open, no matter how hard he tried, shakily moved upwards.

He raised his head and glanced around weakly. Hestia's condition was weakening rapidly as he watched. He had to start healing her or she was doomed to have hidden injuries in the future.

Percy raised his arm and placed it on her forehead. The Styx soul Inner world, nemesis of all poisons, activated, spreading it's healing aura throughout Hestia's body, slowly dissipating the horned dragon's poison in her body. Percy gave a sigh of relief as the poison was removed. He pooled his power and poured it into her. though he had used the sea wave restoration as well as the dragon god soul, neither of them used any power. The first used his lifeline, while the dragon soul domain used his mental energy. So physically speaking Percy was in tip top condition. However, right now, he couldn't exactly be considered in any better shape than Hestia, as he was quite injured in other ways.

Percy continued pouring his energy into her, stabilizing her wounds. When he felt he had done sufficient amount of healing, he sat back with a sigh. Then suddenly his head jolted and he raised it.

"Wait a second. The horned dragon's poison had been completely purified, right? So why is she still burning up?"

Percy looked towards Hestia and put his hand slowly on her snow white neck. He immediately realized that the heat that was burning at his skin earlier almost hadn't declined at all.

What's… what's going on?

While feeling confused, Percy suddenly noticed Hestia's eyelashes fluttering once lightly. Then, she slowly opened her eyes...

"Master, you woke up!"

Percy hastily called out to her but Hestia didn't react to his call at all. Her cheeks looked unnaturally red and her eyes were misty and distant. Her vermillion lips parted slightly and the breath exiting her mouth was unusually soft. Percy could sense that the breath touching his face was burning hot, however.

What… what's this!?

Wait! Could it be!?

Percy abruptly recalled something.

He recalled the time he had just completed the discipleship ceremony. At the time, in order to force him to snatch Rachel's virgin vital yin, Hestia, in a fit of rage, had forcefully injected a drop of horned dragon's blood into his body!

The horned dragon's blood was the culprit!

When the ancient horned dragon was knocked back by his sword and when Hestia's sword had pierced through the dragon's lifeline, the sky had literally rained with dragon blood. Naturally, Hestia and him were both covered in the dragon blood. However, he was unaffected because he was unharmed and the dragon blood didn't enter his body. On the other hand, Hestia was injured all over, so of course the dragon blood had entered her body.

In fact, the amount of dragon blood that had entered her body should be considerable!

Dragon breath contained deadly poison and dragon blood invoked incredible lust! Percy knew from experience just how scary a single drop of horned dragon blood could be, so the effects of a large amount of dragon blood was unimaginable even to him. If Hestia was in her normal state, it would be all too easy for her to remove it. But now… even a drop of dragon blood could be fatal to her!

Dragon blood was not poison, so the Sky Poison Pearl couldn't cleanse it from her veins. It was also impossible for him to remove it with his profound energy or he wouldn't have forced himself into that miserable state that day. Thus, the only way to cure the dragon blood was...

"~！ #￥%…" The second the thought flashed through Percy's mind, cold sweat broke out on his head and his heart came to a sudden stop.

That dreamy whimper that entered Percy's ears was like the inviting moan of a witch. It instantly made Percy feel like his soul and his bones were melting inside his body.

While feeling utterly confused, he stared blankly at the beautiful hand being raised up and behind his neck. Her arm felt very soft and completely powerless and her eyes were misty and completely unfocused. As the horned dragon blood rampaged inside her body, she was instinctively, uncontrollably, and unconsciously seeking out Percy's manly scent.

Percy's heart began to beat several times faster than usual"… no… I can't… she's my master… she's the Sect Master of the Flame seed Sect… If I did it..."

"She'd definitely kill me when she wakes up!"

He remembered the killing intent that had erupted from Hestia after his accidental blasphemy that day as clear as yesterday. If he hadn't been immune to fire, he might very well be dead already.

If that was already the consequence of seeing her body, then… even if the reason he did it was to cure the dragon blood in her body, she would still tear him into countless pieces and no one could save him this time!

Still… if he didn't cure the dragon blood now, he had no doubt in his mind that she would die in her current state!

"What should I do… what should I do!?" Percy shook his head with confusion.

While his mind was warring against itself, his upper body was unconsciously pulled closer towards Hestia by her arm. At this point her warm body was almost sticking entirely against his and although she was currently as weak as a kitten, the horned dragon blood drove her body to move here and there like a water snake. Her lips opened and close repeatedly as wet, warm air that smelled like flowers was exhaled.

The moans that sounded like lovely, dreamy murmurs instantly sucked away every last drop of moisture in Percy's mouth. Lust raged inside his body and he abruptly clenched his teeth and roared in his head" I can't, I absolutely can't..."

He abruptly tipped his head downward in order to avoid Hestia's unfocused eyes. However, it resulted in his gaze invading her half torn clothes, slipping down to her jade-smooth collarbones, onto a pair of trembling, well-shaped mounds.

Percy's eyes were instantly spellbound as the raging heat in his body climbed near its boiling point. Then, determination slowly settled into his eyes.

"My life or Master's life… well, of course my master's life is more important than mine!" Percy thought to himself.

Now, armed with a righteous cause, every bit of struggle instantly departed his body. He grabbed Hestia's snow white clothes with both hands and tore them apart in one move.

Rip. In that instant, when the gorgeous, alluring sight that Percy had only dared to dream about in his head presented itself clearly before his eyes, every drop of blood in his body nearly rushed into his head. Percy's eyes turned into saucers, his ability to think departed his brain entirely as his body temperature closely rivaled Hestia's.

He opened his mouth but was unable to utter a word from his throat. He should be handling the unconscious Hestia—whose body felt softer than a common girl—with incredible care… but when thought actually translated into action, he was a beast completely out of control.

As for his certain death that was sure to come some time in the future, he had long since thrown it out of his mind.

He pushed her down, hands clenching her jade like shoulders , then slowly moving down to her soft breasts, gently tweaking the hardening nipples. Hestia uttered a bewitching moan as her sensitive body shuddered under his stimulation. She reached down, tugging at Percy's clothes. Her vermillion aura sparked to life and his clothes blackened, then crumbled into fine ashes, spreading from where her fingers held his clothes. Percy sucked in a sharp breath as her hands stroked his chest, meandering along the firm lines of his body, moving down to his hip, then continuing down to his throbbing manhood.

Hestia seemed like the epitome of seductiveness as she giggled softly, her frail fingers wrapping around him. Percy's temperature surged and he had to actively force himself not to burst into flames. Hestia continued stroking him with one hand, and reached up with another hand, fingers entangling in his hair and pulling his head down to her hungry lips. They enclosed his lips and she sucked hungrily, tongue slipping into his mouth, desperately seeking out every inch of him.

Percy closed his eyes, sinking into the kiss as his hands continued massaging her breasts, letting their moans mix and intermingle in their passionate kiss. When he pulled away, both their faces were flushed red and they were both panting as she tugged his member, positioning against her dripping pussy.

Percy couldn't hold himself back and he instinctively jerked his hips, thrusting himself into her. he slid into her warm and soft flesh with no resistance. With an aphrodisiac as powerful as the horned dragon's blood, her entire body craved him intensely. She was entirely ready. She didn't even wince as he stole her virginity from her, her arms wrapping around his neck as she raised her hips, her soft flesh hugging his as if she wanted to meld into him. The feeling of pleasure was nearly indescribable.

Percy felt like he was melting away inside her as his temperature rocketed, reaching her own burning levels and the two of them moved rhythmically, guided by their primal instincts.

Hestia gasped as he forced himself into her depths and her walls clenched around him. Her first orgasm smashed into her and she shuddered, shaking and trembling as her love juices spurted out as Percy continued thrusting into her, riding out her orgasm. Hestia raised her hand, stroking Percy's face gently.

Despite his immense stamina, hestia's body was like a vortex, sucking all his vitality and energy out of him. Even more importantly, his life line was injured, leaving him in a weaker state than he usually was. In this condition, he lasted only a few minutes longer than Hestia, before being hit with his own climax.

He collapsed onto hestia's frail form and shivered lightly as she kissed him again. Her eyes were dreamy and blurred, and her lips seemed intent on seeking him out, constantly asking for his attention. Her devilishly charming aura spilled out of her. then suddenly Percy was blown off her.

He flipped through the air, before falling on the ground. Percy's eyes widened, then he saw a goddess in silver descend from the skies, murderous intent overflowing from her."….artemis…?" Percy mumbled sheepishly. He had truthfully not expected her to suddenly appear. Her silver eyes flashed as she glared at him." Pervert! You evil scheming snake! You took advantage of her while she was too weak to resist!" she huffed with anger and her killing intent seemed powerful enough to cause his death.

Percy raised both his arms hastily and his profound energy condensed, forming robes that covered him up." Wait, wait! Artemis! She was contaminated by the horned dragons blood! There was no other way to heal her!" artemis's eyes grew cold as she scanned Hestia, confirming Percy's words. She "hmphed" him, then bent to pick up Hestia, clothing her.

Thalia and the others soon flew over as well. They glanced curiously at Percy and artemis, since the air between them was crackling. They were preparing to leave, and head back to the Overgod, when suddenly a deathly aura enshrouded them.

Everyone froze and looked up, seeing space tear and distort. Ares stepped out with a cruel smile." Since you've come, why not stay a while?" drew, the dark angel twins immediately bowed." Master." They said respectfully. Artemis began to bow reflexively, but Percy caught her shoulder, stopping her and pulling her straight. He stepped in front of her and faced Ares coldly." What is your plan?" Ares chuckled." You're interesting boy. Especially your Asura Powers." His eyes glinted." I'll be straightforward, I want to awaken your powers and rip them from you and absorb them. They are quite beneficial to my cultivation." Percy smirked and the heaven smiting sword appeared in his hand." Such boastful words. Aren't you scared the wind might cut your tongue?"

Ares laughed." Yes, struggle all you want. It's all meaningless before my power anyway! No matter how heaven defying you are, you can't defeat me!" he waved his arm and suddenly Hestia was ripped from artemis's arms. She screeched with horror and tried pulling her back, but Ares's suction was far too powerful for her to resist. Ares looked at artemis and his disciples meaningfully." Come here. Right now." Drew, Bianca and Persephone walked over without hesitation. Artemis shook slightly, but didn't move. Ares looked at her with a smile." My dearest daughter. Come here, don't disappoint me. Has all my training of you been for nothing?" artemis shivered as his cold look penetrated her. she struggled slightly and started to step forward. Percy held an arm out, pushing her back. His head tilted and his silent aura began surging." Ares. You. have. To. Die."

Ares laughed and waved his arm. Percy's eyes widened as an irresistible force slammed into him, sending him flying helplessly. Artemis screamed in horror and fear and leapt forward, hugging him and slowing his fall. Ares laughed again, his tone mocking." Watch closely. I'm going to kill your master, both of them, right in front of your eyes." He reached out one arm and artemis was pulled over by his suction. He held Hestia in his right hand, while artemis dangled from his left. Ares looked at Percy." Choose one, I'll kill that one and spare the other. If not, I'll kill both." Percy roared with anger and the golden crow appeared behind him, diving towards Ares. He sneered and shattered it with a wave of his hand." Pathetically weak. Is this all you have?" he waved his arm again, and Percy was smashed into the ground like a lifeless doll." Summon the demon! That's your only chance!" Ares cackled like a madman. Percy raised his arm and riptide appeared in his grasp like a divine weapon of the Gods.

The cold blade glinted with the red light. It's evil aura surged out. Artemis shook her head and screamed." Percy don't! he wants you to use the power so he can steal them from you! even the power of riptide cannot let you withstand Ares!" Ares shook his head." She's right. You can't save her no matter what you do!" he held her up and started squeezing her head. Artemis screamed and started kicking and scratching his hand. Percy bellowed and the dark aura began surging and swirling as the Asura Phantom started flickering to life behind him. Ares licked his lips with anticipation.

Percy's Asura aura was on the verge of erupting, when suddenly a vermillion color suddenly erupted, devouring the black aura that was beginning to engulf him. He shook and spat blood, dropping riptide. Ares frowned and everyone watched him with shock. A small girl, dressed in red clothes, with red hair and ruby red eyes appeared from behind Percy." I can't believe I was saddled with an idiot for a master." She muttered and glanced up at them. Artemis almost choked with surprise." Hong'er?!"

The tiny girl raised an eyebrow." Big sis! Its been a long time since Hong'er saw you! she took care of this idiot of a master for you!" she smiled cutely, and placed both hands on her hips. Ares scowled." The sword spirit?" Hong'er glanced at him." I'm a Sword Spirit God you buffoon. I'm over a million times older than you. I'm the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, the creation of the great Hecatoncheires, created by Metal Tempered in the palace of Nyx, Smelted by the Five Rivers of the underworld, melted in the Phlegethon, tempered in the Styx and Acheron, Cooled in the Cocytus, and frozen in the Lethe. I was imbued with the essence of Tartarus, and Sharpened on the edge of Chaos."

She sneered and waved her arm." These words are wasted on a buffoon like you." Ares's face grew red with anger." I was originally planning on breaking you and making you my slave, but I changed my mind. I'll just kill you!" he roared and a wave of power converged onto her.

Vermillion Flames exploded and Percy stood up. His eyes were pure vermillion and the phantom of the vermillion bird suddenly appeared behind him, wings spreading as the world shook. Beside it, the Golden Crow appeared, screeching in rage, while the phoenix appeared on the other side, Crimson flames burning the heavens!

The entire Asura prison fell silent as everyone stared at Percy. Ares wasstunned, then shook his head." False bravado! how could a mere initial full god match me, a Late stage Olympian!" Hong'er tilted her head." You really are a buffoon, who won't cry till you see your coffin. Look at his cultivation again." Ares looked at Percy and his face grew pale." P-Peak Full God?! But how!?"

He looked down at Hestia and then at the Vermillion Bird staring at him." He took Hestia's…. Vital Yin?" Percy erupted with force, streaking forward, followed by the three Fire birds that controlled all the flames in the world.

Ares stepped back with fear, but before he could react, Percy was already before him, eyes filled with murderous instinct. Hong'er had disappeared, turning into a heavy sword that snugly fit into his grip. Percy raised it, easily smashing it down onto Ares. He had no chance to dodge as space around him seemed to constrict with flames. He dropped Hestia and artemis, summoning his own Heavy sword and swinging it to counter Percy's strike.

The two heavy swords clashed, but the expected explosion didn't occur. Without any resistance, the infinitely sharp and superheated Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword directly sliced apart Ares's weapon, slicing through it like it was butter, before continuing on to slash down on Ares, slicing him from his shoulder down to his hip, directly splitting him apart in one slash. Ares coughed up blood with disbelief, then his body split into two clean pieces. He collapsed and fell onto the ground blood spurting and pumping. His eyes grew dim, and so, the great Olympian level Warrior, who had dominated the Asura sect as well as the Realm of Gods for tens of thousands of years, died. Percy raised his sword, pointing it to the heavens as a challenge to his fate and destiny, before his eyelids shuttered close and he collapsed into the arms of Artemis

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Nineteen  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm/ThunderFire/ Berserk Darkness  
Current status: Dragon-Phoenix Bond with Calypso/ Soul Bond with Hong'er/One With the Sword with Riptide  
Current Cultivation: Peak Full God Realm  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive), Circular Softness( Combined), Hurricane Spiral(Defensive))/Bloodline Of The Azure Dragon/Bloodline of the Royal Phoenix/ Bloodline of the Divine Golden Crow/ Celestial Moon God's Blood(special Power: Oracle's eye)/ Vermillion Bird Bloodline.  
Divine Transformations: Divine Sea Gods Transformation/ Devil God Sword Transformation/celestial Moon God's Transformation/ Asura Phantom Rebirth  
Weapon: Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword/ Riptide

A.N.: and so I'm back from my hiatus with a bang! A smut scene and a Boss battle we've all been waiting for! And I bear bad news as well. I won't be doing daily updates any more, because my hiatus just gave me jumbled up ideas. So each chapter needs sorting and polishing, but I' my best. XoverFan4evaaaa yes the Horned Dragon's blood has finally appeared as you anticipated. Well done.

This story is a crossover of sorts between Percy Jackson, Against the Gods, Tales of Demons and Gods, Martial World, Bleach and a whole bunch of other things. The next person to say it sounds like any of these series is gonna get an award for stating the most obvious thing in the entire world.

Yes I read Xianxia Lightnovels and mixed up their ideas with Percy jackson. So what? It's a fanfic,so I'll do whatever I want. if I want to make Percy marry the hulk and make superman his best man, it's my choice.

Here's the list. ,main story is from the Percy jackson series. Present universe based on the Tales of demons and Gods. The dragon god trials were the same as the dragon trials in Against the gods except the third trial which was based off the Phoenix trials Trial of the heart. Luke was based off the Demon God of the tales of demons and gods, and fen juechen and xuanyuan wentian from Against the gods. Hong'er was directly taken from Against the Gods, which is why it's called a crossover. The realm of gods idea was taken from Martial world, and the future all ideas are based off martial world and true martial world. I don't know what problem some people have with my writing, but I don't care. Even if I decided to rewrite A Xianxia novel with Percy as the hero, it's my choice, since its my fanfic. Don't like that? Go write your own fanfic.


	57. Romantic Moments

**Eight Arc: A New Universe?**

 **Romantic Moments**

 _-Percy's Inner World-_

A figure wrapped in darkness slowly materialized. The little girl in red glanced up lazily from her bed. The terrifying surge of power accompanying the newcomer made it clear that they were not someone to be trifled with, yet Hong'er didn't even bother sitting up." So it's you eh, Nyx?" she mumbled while she played with a strand of her hair.

Nyx frowned and the darkness surrounding her dissipated." So it seems the rumors were true. You have regained you memories, God Slayer Princess." Hong'er sighed." It has been Millions of years since anyone remembered that title." Nyx chuckled drily." We never forgot. How could we forgot the existence of a taboo such as yourself?" hong'er frowned." Are you people still going to complain about that bullshit?" nyx tilted her head and regarded her." that depends."

Hong'er seemed to expect this already and she gave a mocking smile." Depends on my feelings for the human boy?" nyx frowned, then nodded." Don't tell me you have ill feelings towards him after all this time." Hong'er's mocking smile didn't drop." That low level existence, wanted to conquer and subdue me. Tell me, is it wrong for me to want to rip open his throat and baptize my blade in his blood?" Nyx winced then shook her head." Well, we honestly didn't expect much else. But it doesn't matter anymore. Kronos is too strong for him to defeat, and he has run out of time, so you can kill him God Slayer Princess."

The red headed girl frowned at nyx then smiled slightly as she stood." Call me Hong'er." Nyx glanced at her with a bit of surprise reflecting in her eyes. Hong'er sighed." In these many Universes, there are many beings with power far exceeding him, and only the most elite have the right to wield me. He is far from ever reaching such a level. In fact, I'm sure he'll never reach it. but even if I let the elite warriors like yourself or your sisters wield me, I'll have to be satisfied being wielded by warriors who would never improve. But he…. Percy…. My master…. He can.. no, he will surpass all of you." her eyes flashed with confidence and she waved her hand." Now scram. Your audience with the God Slayer Princess is over. Hong'er is sleepy, so now Hong'er will go back to sleep, till Hong'er's master needs her."

Nyx nodded her head and was engulfed by the shadows, phasing out of existence. Hong'er dropped back onto the bed." He's had Hong'er for so long. But master has never tried claiming Hong'er. Why is that…? Is Hong'er not up to his standards?" she shook her head." No, No, No. Hong'er is a little beauty. How can master not appreciate her? master must be waiting for Hong'er to give him her permission, that must be why he is controlling himself." Hong'er nodded in appreciation of her thoughts." Then Hong'er should make the first move huh…?"

Percy woke up in his bed back in the flame seed sect, his head feeling like a hammer was being smashed into it. he winced slightly, then shifted uncomfortably. He felt the warmth at his side and looked down with surprise. He was a little surprised to see Calypso, curled up like a small rabbit, snuggled against him. He didn't know whether to wake her up or let her continue sleeping. He hesitated for a while, then decided not to disturb her. he lay quietly beside her, admiring her. her face was noticeably thinner and her hair seemed frazzled and messy. Percy felt a tinge of guilt. Once agin he'd left Calypso behind, rushing headlong into a new threat. But he couldn't help it. previously, her growth had matched his and they had been capable of fighting together, side by side. But now his growth had far outstripped her. she was still a peak demigod, and her battle power barely allowed her to fight normal Minor Gods. This was vastly different from Percy, who's cultivation at the Full God realm made him nearly invincible in even the olympian Realm.

The door to the room opened with a soft squeak and Aphrodite stepped in, holding a small bag in her hand. She froze when she saw Percy, stammering and blinking. Then she screamed and leapt into his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck. Calypso was jolted out of dreamland by the scream as well, and she glanced around bleary eyed and confused for a few seconds, before realizing what was going on. She squealed even louder than Aphrodite and forced herself into their embrace, arms crushing around Percy.

Percy sighed softly and hugged them, feeling a soothing sense of peace as he did. The needless battles, the endless bloodshed, but as long as he protected his friends and his loved ones, Percy was willing to go as far as necessary. This sacrifice was nothing at all. They were his greatest treasure and his greatest strength. Their reunion was interrupted by the door opening and a cold blast of wind sweeping in along with the people coming in. Percy looked up and caught sight of his fellow disciples, Zoë, Rachel and the rest walk in, relieved smiles hanging on their faces. But along with relief, there was still a great deal of apprehension. This apprehension was clearly because of one person. The person leading the entourage, the Grand Sect master, Hestia herself.

Her expression was cold as she looked at Percy. Percy struggled to sit up and stood weakly. Calypso and Aphrodite protested, trying to pull him back into bed. Percy resisted their tugs and slowly dropped to his knees." Master… this disciple was indeed in the wrong… I accept my mistakes fully… I have no excuses… and I fully accept my punishment…" Hestia continued glaring at him for a few seconds, then she turned away and waved her hand, indicating that those who had come could stay if they wished. She blurred and disappeared from sight. Though her form disappeared, her mental transmission still reached him." I…was…at fault…. And… you already know how to heal my bloodline wound don't you… so I don't blame you… I blame myself… for not… being able to resist…"

Percy hesitated, but didn't follow her. she needed time to get through all that had happened. But a slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. The Overgods had told him to heal her Bloodline Injury and recover her life. It was quite simple. For her to absorb the Pure Yang essence of a Male carrying the bloodline of the Noble Crimson Phoenix and The Divine Golden Crow. Either of these bloodlines would suppress her bloodline and allow its explosive power to dissipate. But since Percy carried both bloodlines, by dual cultivating with her, he had completely stabilized her bloodline and Life force. Now she would have no problem using her powers and flames without overdrawing her Life force. Originally she was carrying a death sentence, and would probably die in three years time, or even earlier. But now she had the lifespan of an Olympian restored to her. in exchange, Percy had lost his lifespan. Quite ironic.

He pushed this thought to the back of his mind and focused on the people surrounding him, answering their questions and laughing as they spoke. But as he looked around, one face was conspicuously absent. His master artemis.

The talk carried on for a long time, as many people were curious about how Percy had grown so powerful so fast, and how he managed to battle Ares as a Full God. Then soon they all scattered and left him alone to rest. But Percy was beginning to get agitated just lying down. After all he had healed back to tiptop condition, he could hardly be expected to lie in bed all day with his hyper active nature. He got out of bed and snuck out of room, converging his aura into himself, turning almost invisible and undetectable. Unless someone directly looked at him and saw him, they would never discover him unless he deliberately made the person alert to his presence. Percy originally planned on using this method to enjoy some freedom and roam around the sect for a while to stretch his legs before turning back to head to his room and rest for a while longer.

However, these plans were swept out of his mind when he encountered Hestia, silently and melancholically standing in the middle of a courtyard, staring at a flowering tree. He stepped towards her, dropping his concealment. She didn't react even when his aura suddenly appeared behind her." what do you want?" she asked directly. Percy tilted his head." Why would I possibly want anything?" Hestia shook her head." This world cannot be blamed. It is cruel and greedy. You joined my sect because you wanted to find the girl you sought. You used me and made me your master. You cannot be blamed… but it still happened. Everyone wants to something from someone, hence they interact with the world around them. Naturally you need something from me, or why come here to me?"

Percy chuckled." You have quite a severe view of the world." Hestia bowed her head before the tree." Perhaps you are right. But I have seen a lot you know. I am tired out. But I still have to keep going on." Percy sighed." I am just a junior. I cannot speak rashly. But sometimes sharing your burden helps you carry it." Hestia turned and looked at him. Her fiery eyes were soft and cozy, comfortable and soothing warmth spilling out from them, wrapping around him. Percy smiled and scratched his head as he suddenly felt awkward." Of course its up to you, whether you wish to or not." There was a sudden blur and Percy's eyes widened as his battle instincts kicked to life. But before he could move, she was already before him. Both her hands reached out, grabbing onto either side of his face and pulling him close and kissing him.

Percy froze as electricity seemed to run through his body, radiating from her lips. Suddenly, her seductive and charming aura that she always restrained spilled out from her, covering the entire courtyard. Any ordinary man would have lost his will under the pressure of this aura. He would instantly turn into a mindless savage. This soul suppression was far beyond ordinary levels. This was why Hestia always kept it restrained, if not, no one would be able to keep control of their instincts while around her. but now, with her nervousness about Percy rejecting, she entirely unleashed her aura, completely engulfing him.

She pulled away with a moan far more seductive than the ones she had made under the influence of the aphrodisiac. She smiled coquettishly at the paralyzed Percy. Her slender arms reached out again, wrapping around his neck as she drew closer to him again.

Percy's hand rose, grabbing her wrist and stopping her. she shivered with shock and started to pull away, but before she could, he pulled her into his arms, embracing her. the mortified Hestia felt her face turn beet red and she broke free from his embrace before dashing away without stopping. Percy shook his head." What was that about?" With the support of the Azure Dragon God Soul and Poseidon's Divine Soul, Percy's willpower far exceeded the level of any ordinary human. Using lust to control him? Difficult!

At the end of the courtyard, a pair of silver yellow eyes flashed as their owner retreated swiftly, leaving the courtyard in the opposite direction of Hestia.

Later that day, Percy was called by the disciples of the Flame Seed Sect for a Grand banquet. This was obviously to celebrate Percy's success as well as his victory over Ares. Almost all the disciples were gathered there. They were obviously all focused on Percy, the star of the show. That meant thousands of girls all who were flirting with Percy. The other girls were only able to laugh helplessly and shrug as they watched the scene.

Then the banquet itself began and everyone was required to be seated. Hestia had stoically ignored Percy, her impassive expression not slipping an inch as her eyes coldly swept over the event time and again. Percy was just beginning to eat when suddenly Hestia stood up. Her eyes were as cold as ever, but Percy could see a faint red flush on her cheeks. She looked at Percy and then spoke." I am announcing my Disciples appointment during this banquet." Percy felt a foreboding feeling sweep over him and he realized it was Artemis's Killing intent! Hestia seemed unperturbed as she continued speaking." I hereby announce that I am getting Perseus Jackson to be my successor. He will be the next sect master!"

The entire banquet hall was silent for exactly five breaths. Then all the people attending simultaneously screamed "WHAT!?" Percy himself was one of these people. But before they could continue, Hestia's powerful Aura descended, enshrouding them all." Is that clear? Or must I repeat myself?" of course, Percy could have used his own aura to push hers back, but at that moment, Percy's own thoughts and feelings were chaotic and confused. He had expected a lot of things, from death to banishment and even indifference. However, he had, quite truthfully, never expected this!

Percy looked at his master with desperate eyes.

Glares pinned him down from all sides without restraint and Percy realized that these were all from the people who had come. After all, even if it was Hestia who had announced the appointment, no one would dare to question her. and even though Percy himself wielded power on the level of Hestia, he was less fearsome and indeed, fewer people believed he was actually that powerful. After all he was just a new disciple and a junior of less than twenty years! Percy gulped and wondered which way he was supposed to look in such a situation. He looked at Hestia, but she was staring at her hand fixedly, as if admiring her nails. Clearly she wasn't planning on helping.

Percy's mind hit on a desperate idea and he quickly sent a metal transmission to Hephaestus. He didn't hesitate and quickly exclaimed." Oh! Junior Brother Percy had just been Telling me he has Pure Golden Crow as well as Phoenix and Vermillion Bird Bloodline! He is indeed the most suitable person to carry on as the sect master and ensure the Flame Seed Sect's Bloodline is not diluted and the future generations carry the Pure Blood of the Vermillon bird!"

Hephaestus's 'accidental yell' caught everyone's attention and they immediately latched onto it. after all if he was telling the truth, then it did make sense. After all, the sect master had to pass down her pure bloodline to ensure the sect had sufficient power and potential in the future. But finding another person with a powerful Vermillion Bird bloodline was easier said than done! Even though dual cultivation with Hestia would cause the partner to gain a dilute amount of vermillion Bird's blood, it was far from pure! However, with the support of the Divine Golden Crow's Soul and Blood, as well as the Noble Crimson Phoenix's Soul and Blood, Percy had cleanly replicated a great deal of her bloodline and had even absorbed a fragment of the Vermillion Bird soul. It was minute compared to the Azure dragon God Soul or the Poseidon Soul, but compared to the Golden crow or The Crimson Phoenix, it was almost identical in size. Of course the blood and Soul hadn't come from Hestia. Otherwise she would have lost a great deal! Instead, this was bestowed by the remainder of the Vermillion Bird God Spirit who resided in the realm of the Gods. And so he was the best candidate to carry on the sect!

Percy shook his head slightly. Best candidate or not, shouldn't he have at least been asked beforehand?! After all he had to agree to the appointment!

With the long life of a Warrior, they could live for hundreds or thousands of years so even getting jobs at hundred was quite early according to traditions here! Percy was, in comparison, a toddler! He wasn't even twenty yet!

Of course, Percy no longer had such a long life. He was unsure how much his life had decreased after using the 'sea Wave restoration' but he was quite sure more than half his life had been taken in compensation for his heaven defying attack. He might even have only a normal humans lifespan left now. It was uncertain if even breaking through would heal his lifespan. But he had no choice at that moment, so regret was meaningless. Percy sighed and turned his attention back to the crisis now surrounding his life.

He barely escaped the banquet, being bombarded by mental transmissions from various people. He finally ended up in his room, with calypso, Aphrodite and Hephaestus and the rest of his friends. Zoë was the only one absent. Dionysus tapped his chin with a finger." So master Hestia didn't tell you her plan before hand?" Percy shook his head." I had absolutely no idea at all!" calypso sighed and glanced at Rachel." What do you think?" Rachel turned red and looked at Percy. Her eyes met his and she jerked her head down, looking at her knees. Percy blinked." Did I do something wrong?" calypso looked at Rachel, then punched Percy on his head. By all natural rules and laws, with her being a demigod, her attack should never be able to hurt a full god. But her punch still gave Percy a good sized bump on his head.

Percy winced and rubbed his head." What'd I do now?" calypso scowled but didn't reply. She naturally knew of how Hestia had tried to force him into stealing Rachel's virginity. For someone as pure as Rachel as Rachel, naturally that was quite a big event. Percy shrugged and shook his head. Girls were always unpredictable.

Aphrodite laced her fingers together." Percy, go ask Hestia directly. Shouldn't that clear any doubts?" Percy looked at her like she was crazy. She laughed and ruffled his hair." Oh come on, in terms of power, you can at least defend yourself in front of her." Percy hesitated then nodded. Aphrodite slapped his shoulder."' Go on then. Better hurry it up!"

Percy gave a sigh and stood. His form blurred and he swept out of the room.

He quickly headed towards the center of the sect, where hestia's living quarters were. The sky had already darkened when Percy flew all the way to Hestia's' palace. Outside of the palace, there were two female attendants guarding there quietly. Percy landed from the sky, and said politely, "Flame Seed Sect's Percy requests to see the Sect Master Hestia. May two big sisters please help me pass on the message."

"Please wait a moment, Young Master Percy." Towards the arrival of Percy, the two female attendants both had smiles on their faces. The one on the right stepped lightly into the palace… After a short moment, she came out, but the expression on her face was unusual.

"Can I go in now?" Percy said with a smile.

"Young Master Percy… Please wait." That female attendant reached out and blocked him. Her expression was a little bit awkward as he said, "The Sect Master is probably not in a good mood today. She heard that the Young Master Percy had arrived… she told me to pass on… one word."

"One word?" Percy narrowed his eyes, his body slightly leaned forward and said, "Is it… scram?"

That female attendant panicked, lowered her head, and only said in a small voice, "Yes."

"Hahahaha!" To the surprise of the two female attendants, not only did Percy not get mad, he instead laughed loudly, and his loud laughter was not stiff at all. It doesn't seem to be forced at all, and it even seemed to be somewhat carefree… and proud?

"If so, may I please trouble big sister to bring a message to the Sect Master." Percy smiled and said, "The thing is that I already scrammed obediently. If the Sect Master is already this annoyed, I will try to appear less before her… Two big sisters, thank you for your hard work guarding the night. I bid farewell."

Percy flew up into the air, and quickly disappeared into the night.

Time passed day after day. With Ares's disturbance being calmed down, the harsh atmosphere in the Realm of The Gods slowly disappeared. The only thing that didn't grow faint was Hestia's prestige. Whether it was the Flame seed sect or the Asura sect, they all obeyed the Sect master's commands with their lives with extreme respect and fear, and no one dared to disobey at all.

The Wisdom sect set up its defensive barriers and shut itself from the world. And so the Flame seed sect now had complete dominance over the realm of Gods!

Percy started living as he used to. He was now immensely popular and this was obviously due to his great power and status. Even calypso and Aphrodite could only shake their heads at how childish he was, showing off. Like before, he was surrounded by a large number of young clanswomen who flocked around him incessantly…. That was right, these were all young maidens in their prime.

Of course, this was all on the pretext of teaching them. All for a good cause.

"Young master, yesterday you promised you would instruct me on how to cultivate the Vermillion Flame Chart Art one-on-one… Could it be that you've already forgotten?" A lovely girl donning a purple dress mentioned with a hopeful expression.

"Of course not, I even remember that the promised time is precisely three hours from now. Remember to come to my courtyard at that time."

"O… Of course I will remember." The purple attired girl flushed from excitement.

The surrounding young girls all revealed expressions of envy. A tall girl suddenly whispered with a shrewd expression, "Madalynn, you gotta be careful okay. Little Wan had told me in secret the other day, that when Young master was instructing her to cultivate, he had ac-ci-den-ta-lly~ touched her butt and chest, you know! Your bosom is even bigger than little Wan's, so watch out…"

"AH! DON'T SAY IT!" That girl who was referred to as "Little Wan" rushed up with a reddened face as she covered that tall girl's mouth with great effort.

"Cough cough." Percy's face was smooth and his heart was calm, as he said in a righteous and strict manner, "When it comes to one-on-one instruction, there will always be times where our bodies will touch. I will swear on the name of my master… that it was definitely unintentional!"

(Artemis: "Drop dead! Big Perverted Disciple!")

"Yes, yes, yes! Young master definitely didn't mean it… when you instruct Madalynn, you must definitely be 'careless' more often… Hehehe!"

"You baddies! Don't say… don't speak about the Young master like that." The purple-clothed girl known as 'Madalynn' stamped her feet, and her face was flushed all the way to her neck. But her expression and her eyes did not seem panicked. Rather, they seemed to be more… in anticipation right now?

The girls tittered about again, but suddenly, their laughs cooled off. Indeed, the girls in front of Percy suddenly had faces that were filled with panic. His brows twitched and he was just about to turn around when a girl had already shouted out, "Sect… The Sect Master!"

The moment Percy turned around, he saw that familiar petite, gray-colored silhouette, still quiet and silent as though a ghost without any presence at all, causing one to instinctively feel their heart jump… Yet that face of hers just had to be beautiful as though she were a goddess from the heavens.

The atmosphere that was originally ardent and ambiguous instantly froze with Hestia's sudden arrival.

"You all can withdraw, this Mistress has matters to discuss with Young master Percy in private," Hestia said coldly, with no undulation of emotion in her fiery eyes.

"Yes…" No one dared to disobey the Sect master's orders. All of the Flame seed sect's girls carefully left after bowing down low. The other sect disciples not far away also all obediently withdrew.

In the blink of an eye, only Percy and Hestia were left in the huge training arena.

"Hmph, surrounded by the chattering of beauties, Young master Percy is sure living the good life!" Hestia's sarcastic voice carried sarcasm within.

"This is why there is a phrase that goes 'live life to the fullest.' I don't know how long I'll live in this lifetime, nor do I know how I'll live in the next life, so taking full advantage of me still being alive in this lifetime, I'll naturally live life happily… As if want to be like you, knowing that I only have a few years left to live, yet still not loosening up even after taking revenge and resolving a great animosity…" then Percy shook his head." Oh I forgot, you're healed now aren't you? so you have a nice long life."

"Enough!" Hestia shouted, "There is no need for you to speculate or interfere with what this master thinks and wants to do… This master has a question, you used to come to pay respects to this master every day, but why haven't you come in this past month? Is it… only because this sect master told you to 'scram' a month ago?"

"Of course not." Percy looked Hestia in the eye and said with a laugh, "I was only wondering how long it was going to be before you can't bear to visit me on your own accord."

"You…" An instant of disorder suddenly appeared within Hestia' aura. It was unknown if it had happened because of anger or because a certain spot in her heart had been jabbed. She turned around, not meeting Percy's gaze. "Ridiculous self-confidence! This master is only here to visit Rachel and inadvertently saw that you were here, that's all… Looks like this master shouldn't have come to here today, hmph!"

Hestia angrily snorted, and with a wave of her wide gray sleeves, she turned with the intention of leaving.

Percy's lips quirked and he looked at her." wait a minute." His arm shot out, grabbing her wrist. She scowled and tugged her hand away from him." Don't touch me!"

Hestia' voice was incomparably cold and heartless, causing Percy to be slightly stunned. Seeing that she was about to leave again, he silently shook his head, then suddenly shouted, "Hestia, are you planning on always saying these kinds of false words in front of me?"

"Don't deny it yet!" Before waiting for Hestia to answer him, Percy quickly neared with a few steps as his voice became incredibly calm. "If you actually remembered that I had saved your life in the Asura prison and also helped you take revenge, then agree to a small request of mine… Which is, later on, whatever I say, whether it's right or wrong, whether you approve or not, whether it moves or angers you, that you'll listen until I'm done, without saying anything, without interrupting me, or leaving halfway."

Hestia stopped in her steps. She turned her head and looked at Percy. "Alright, just this once, this Master will stand here and finish hearing what you have to say… Speak!"

Percy's figure flashed, then stood three steps away from where Hestia was. He slowly breathed in, looked at her eyes that were as tranquil as candle light, and enunciated loudly, "Sect master… Hestia! Do you really think that in everyone's eyes, you are incredibly cold, heartless, cold-blooded, and nearly without emotion, so much that even you yourself think that as well? But too bad, in my eyes, you are not…"

"I have seen too many cold-blooded and heartless people, many more than you have ever seen in your entire life! In the eyes of a truly cold-blooded and heartless person, family is worthless. They would never sacrifice their own lives without hesitation to obtain power to achieve their revenge, and would never subconsciously block in front of me when I was about to be met a fatal blow, nor would they ever only eliminate only one ares and spare the rest of his sect. Nor would they, at the cost of sacrificing their own lives, painstakingly take on the heaviest responsibility of shouldering the Flame seed sect!"

"The cold-blood and heartlessness you show on the outside is merely a outer garment for others to see, and also merely a garment for you to deceive yourself! The you under that garment, I believe that I have seen it very thoroughly… Cough, I'm talking about your temperament, not your body, don't misunderstand…"

Hestia's face flushed and her pale face turned red. Percy couldn't help but recall that scene when he had first seen Hestia, bathing in a pool, then recalled her figure when they had dual cultivated and his eyes involuntarily moved towards her chest. The movement was slight, but Hestia clearly saw it. her face turned an even deeper shade of red, and she spun around, launching herself into the air and flying away. She turned around in midair and faced Percy." i… I will… answer you…. three days later…. i… i… I promise…" then without elaborating, she flew away.

Percy scratched his head." I didn't say too much did i?" then he shrugged." Hey my instincts haven't guided me wrong so far!" The next three days were all calm. In these three days, Percy did not exit his house; he just slept, trained, refined, and occasionally teased those girls who were in the spring of their first love… that was how he idled away his days.

Finally, when dawn broke on the fourth day, he was shaken awake by Calypso. "Percy, today in the afternoon, the Sect master called for a lunch feast, and she requires for all the Core disciples and Inner disciples to be present… Moreover, the sect master specified that you had to be there."

"Eh?" Percy's sleepiness was almost instantly dispelled as he replied, "Lunch feast… specifically requesting my presence? Did the Sect master mention anything else?"

"She didn't make anything else clear." Calypso shook her head. "The Sect Master only said that it was a great matter concerning the future of our Flame Seed Sect."

A.N.: originally I had planned Hong'er and Artemis moments as well, but this Hestia thing just kept stretching on an on. So rather than cram it into one chapter I decided to split it up and post the first half of the Hestia moments. But like I said, daily updates are difficult so I give no guarantees. Goodnight and ciao.


	58. Romantic Moments 2

**Eight Arc: Romantic Moments 2**

It was already disciples of the Flame seed Sect were all in attendance; none dared to be absent. Accompanying them were also leader personalities of the Asura sect. After all, Hestia had personally ordered them to all be present and said that she had a "great matter" to announce. After Ares's death, Hestia had absorbed the Asura sect into the Flame seed sect, increasing it's power drastically

With the start of the luncheon, drinks were handed over, and the originally somewhat nervous atmosphere became lively. However, after drinking the wine, everyone would immediately use profound energy to dissolve the wine energy, lest they forget their manners in front of Hestia due to their inability to hold their drinks.

"Big Brother, what great matter is this luncheon held for?" Zoe quietly asked Percy.

"I don't know," Percy answered. "But I feel like it seems to have something to do with me?"

"Ah? With big brother?" Zoe's eyes widened. "Big sis Rachel said that today's announcement is a great matter concerning the future of the Realm of gods… Why would big brother think that?"

"Two reasons." Percy glanced at Hestia and said, "One, when Calypso called me over this morning, she said that Hestia specified that I had to attend. At that time, I already had a feeling about it, but this is only secondary."

"What's the main reason?" Zoe immediately asked, completely believing Percy's words.

Percy briefly touched his chin. "The more important reason is that from the start of the luncheon till now, Hestia has not even glanced over at me once."

"Huh?" Zoe was momentarily stunned. "Just… Just for that reason?"

"Right!" Percy nodded with incomparable seriousness. "I'm not joking here. With my understanding of women… She definitely has something planned for me."

"But Hestia isn't even an ordinary woman. Besides… she doesn't seem to have looked at me either," Zoe weakly replied.

Percy looked at her in silence, then said, "Even if she isn't ordinary, she's still a woman. Her not looking at you is completely different from her not looking at me."

"Ha?" Zoe's jaw fell, puzzled… clearly not understanding what Percy was talking about at all.

Unwittingly, more than half of the lunch feast had passed, yet Hestia still sat upright on the head seat the entire time without barely saying anything. There was also no one who dared to ask about the announcement's "great matter."

Finally, she stood up and the entire hall fell silent as she did.

Hestia' gaze swept through the entire crowd and finally shot a glance in Percy's direction… Everyone was bowing, yet only Percy was still sitting in place, sipping his tea. No ripples showed on her face as she slowly got up and dully replied, "This Sect Master does indeed have a great matter to announce today. This matter is related to the future of our God Realm! It also is related to the continuation of our Flame seed bloodline!"

Continuation of the Flame seed bloodline? These words stunned everyone. Percy also furrowed his brows… Eh?

"Under the ambition and evil scheming of Ares's forces, this Sect master's father and brother were killed one after the other. Even though this Sect master is a woman, I am still the Flame seed bloodline's last successor. If the Flame seed sect's bloodline were to be severed after me, chaos will definitely ensue in God Realm. Now that Ares's forces and allies have all been eradicated, I have no other choice but to consider the great matter of how to continue the Flame seed bloodline."

Percy frowned." Didn't she make me her successor so that I could continue the bloodline?". Zoë shook her head." But even so, after you, there will still be no one with a pure Vermillion bird bloodline."

Hestia' words caused the crowd to look at each other in dismay. Since only Hestia was left of the original Flame seed bloodline, a true continuation of the bloodline was fundamentally impossible. If one were to speak about continuing the bloodline… then it would only be the children born from Hestia. An old elder couldn't help it any longer and carefully asked, "Hestia, are you meaning… to perhaps be intending… to accept a consort?"

Hestia' eyes flashed with a cold radiance before returning to their tranquil state. She said coldly, "My Brother was unable to leave behind an heir to continue on our Flame Seed bloodline, so this naturally can only be done by me now! I have been wearing gray for a hundred years is to mourn for my father and brother. It is now time for me to choose a husband."

Once the words "choose another husband" came out, they immediately left all those old monsters who had lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, dumbstruck. Never in their lives would they expect that what Hestia would announce today was this kind of matter. Even in their subconscious, they had never thought that this would happen. This wasn't because Hestia was the Flame seed sect's sect master, but that with her temperament… in this world, how could there possibly exist a man that she would find pleasing?! With her looks, identity, profound strength, and bloodline… In the entire Realm of gods, who could possibly be qualified to be her husband?

Everyone was incredibly clear that she said "husband" and not "consort"... There was a huge difference between the two; the two concepts were as different as the heavens and earth.

"Hestia, could… you already have chosen a candidate?" Even though Zoe was equally surprised, upon weighing the words, she faintly guessed something. "I wonder which god-like person has the fortune to receive Hestia' favor."

Hestia didn't respond and instead suddenly uttered, "Hephaestus, attend!"

The cyborg was standing away to the side, dressed in blue suddenly stepped forward and lowly bowed. "This humble disciple is here."

"Before dusk, announce to the entire Flame seed sect, send a sound transmission to every great city lord and regional lord that in seven days, Flame seed sect's Young master percy shall join with my Vermillion Bird bloodline and be engaged to me in this Imperial Hall…"

Pfft… The half mouthful of tea in Percy's mouth was ferociously spat out, directly spurting onto Dionysus's face… The latter was originally stunned, completely stupefied, but after being sprayed by Percy, he immediately fell off his chair onto the floor. Even Hephaestus next to him quaked with his entire body… If not for his formidable willpower, he might have also been stunned to the point where his bottom would have fallen onto Dionysus's head.

The Hall was deathly silent for a long time. After that, it was followed by a bubbling field of commotion. That excessiveness, that sound, and the expressions on everyone's faces was as though they had seen ghosts in broad daylight… No one had expected that this would be what Hestia was going to announce today, but never in their dreams would they think that the person Hestia would pick was...

"Silence!" In front of the sudden explosive clamor, Hestia slanted her brows. The sound of her cold reprimand instantly chilled everyone's bodies as all sound immediately ceased. Hestia' gaze became cold. "What? Does anyone have any objections?"

Everyone's faces twitched as their gazes all flickered. However, facing Hestia' sudden burst of power, no one dared to speak as they pleased. At this time, an old elder walked forth and spoke with a voice full of emotion, "Hestia, this… this… this is not unreasonable according to logic. After all, with the passing of the previous sect master, the only way to continue the bloodline is this method, but Young Hero Percy… this… this kind of match is absolutely unsuitable!"

Another elder came forth and spoke, "Hestia, you must reconsider this! Even though Percy's talent is shocking in every aspect, without equal in all of the God Realm and most likely would have boundless accomplishments in the future, he… he's only nineteen of age! … Percy and you… this difference in seniority… we mustn't! Or else, wouldn't it confuse…"

"Silence!"

Hestia angrily rebuked, immediately scaring the elder who spoke which caused him to shake all over. As Hestia' gaze darkened, the entire Hall had also suddenly become overcast. "Good… how wonderful. Back then, when Ares's ambitions were clear as day, each and every one of you were scared witless, and none of you risked your life for me! All of you even went as far as to not hesitate to abandon me in order to save yourselves! But now, when i have already sat as Sect master for a hundred years, now, when i have finally decided to do something for myself, each and every one of you jump out to criticize me!

"Why did this I even bother with you filthy trash?!"

"This insignificant elder… this insignificant elder doesn't dare… this insignificant elder doesn't dare!" The two elders who had previously came forth to object immediately trembled all over as they pounded their heads on the ground, because that bone-piercing coldness was not merely Hestia' fury, it also carried a distinctly cold killing intent. "It's this insignificant elder's stupidity and ignorance, I beg Hestia for forgiveness… Hestia and Young master percy are… are… a golden couple, a… a match made in heaven… I beg Hestia for forgiveness… I beg Hestia for forgiveness…"

"Please calm your anger, Hestia." Everyone also quickly bowed, and no one dared to speak in dissent.

"Hmph!" Hestia' killing intent had not lessened, as she uttered with a bone-piercing coldness, "What I told Hephaestus to do earlier was an order to immediately inform the world, not a proposal for you to discuss! Yet there just has to be people who jump out in front of my eyes like houseflies. It seems like the amount of people that I have killed is not enough. There are still plenty who do not listen at all!"

"Have mercy, Hestia… this insignificant elder… is slow-witted, and accidentally blurted it out… Have mercy, Hestia…" The two elders kneeling on the floor shook all over like sieves. Everyone else within the great hall also stood in place, not daring to move. Many were drenched in sweat, secretly glad that they did not come forth to speak out earlier.

Hephaestus quickly stepped in front of the two elders and urgently said, "Please calm your anger, Hestia. The two elders were only worried that the reputation of Hestia and the Flame seed bloodline would be defiled, which is why they spoke such counsel. They definitely did not have any disrespectful intentions. I hope Hestia would pardon their indiscretion."

The two elders slightly raised their heads with faces full of gratitude. Within the group of Elders and disciples, the core disciples words undoubtedly possessed the greatest weight. Since he had personally stepped forth to defend them, it should be enough to preserve their lives.

"Hmph!" Hestia turned around. With her back facing the crowd, she said lowly, "Are there any other objections?"

The Hall was absolutely silent. Currently, forget about "objections," no one even dared to release a fart. They all clearly saw that Hestia regarded this matter with distinctively heavy importance. It was not simply "accepting a consort." Based on the word "husband" that she mentioned instead of "accepting a consort," they all should have noticed it… The two who didn't think much beneath their emotions had been placed at gunpoint.

After a long period of silence, Hestia continued, "I already knows what you all are thinking. You must think that my marrying Percy would break order, disturb ethics? Hmph, have you all forgotten what kind of bloodline my Flame seed bloodline is?! Currently aside from this sect master, isn't there another with this bloodline?!"

Hestia' words immediately caused many to regain their senses. Drew blurted, "That's right! On the day Percy Killed Ares, he used the Vermillion Bird flames… he possesses the Vermillion Bird bloodline that the Vermillion Bird Divine Spirit personally bestowed!"

"Ah… this elder actually forgot such an important matter. Young master percy also possesses the Vermillion Bird bloodline, huh."

"If Young master percy and Hestia came together… the later generation would also be one who possesses a pure Vermillion Bird bloodline… which is also the Flame Seed Sect's bloodline!

"This is the reason why Hestia wants Young master percy to join her in marriage?"

As everyone started discussing, under this "justification," the matter that was previously extremely shocking seemed to have become somewhat reasonable.

Percy still stayed in his own seat; his bottom hadn't shifted an inch since the very beginning. The clamor beside his ears was incredible, yet the roaring in his heart had long surpassed that by several fold:

Even if you are to say that women are fickle creatures… isn't this woman's change too exaggerated?!

And the most important thing...

For such a huge matter, why didn't she talk to me about this beforehand?!

I'm obviously here… why hasn't anyone asked about what I think! I'm one of the involved parties, you know!"

Are you all pretending that I'm see-through?!

At least someone ask me if I agree… ask me how I am, or at least how I feel!

Shouldn't someone here realize that I exist as well and I'm the one being married off? Shouldn't someone care about that and ask me how I feel about it?!

"Since no one has any objections, then it is decided. Hephaestus, you must remember to do what this Sect master had commanded." Hestia turned to Hephaestus… and still had yet to look at Percy.

"This humble disciple has remembered everything, but…" Hephaestus gulped down a mouthful of saliva, mustered up his courage, and said, "But deciding the engagement to be in seven days, this is simply too sudden. The honorable Hestia is Flame seed sect's sect master, and it's even the Vermillion Bird Divine Spirit's will… This kind of engagement should be universally celebrated, it should shake the world! Even if we were to use seven days to prepare it wouldn't be eno…"

"Since i have said seven days, so seven days!"

"Yes!" Hephaestus quickly assented, his head drenched in cold sweat, no longer daring to say anymore. After taking two steps backwards, he hurriedly left. As he ran, he groaned in his mind: My god… only seven days… If the entire city were to use all their efforts to prepare, seven days might barely be enough. But those big shots in the Southern Realm and Northern Realms… after receiving the sound transmission, they'll probably be scared shitless and rush over with swallowed tears… they might not even make it in time.

Hestia faced her subjects. "You may all put aside whatever you plan to do in the next seven days to prepare for this sect master and Percy's great wedding ceremony! Even if you only have seven days, you are not allowed to be careless or make any mistakes! It does not have to be world shaking, but it must be grand enough. You must not work half-heartedly…"

"Begin preparations immediately! You may all withdraw!"

This event was no doubt greater than the heavens, so the various Clans and sects working together to prepare for it was not the least bit exaggerated. The seven day time frame was just too rushed. Their retreating footsteps were all hurried, and once they exited the Hall, they had all swiftly flown away, fearing that their own preparations would be lesser than someone else's… This was not just Hestia' great wedding, it was the Continuation of the Flame Seed Sect's Bloodline!

The only person who had not left the great hall… was one of the involved parties who had no parallel in all of the God Realm's history, yet was somehow completely forgotten… Percy.

After everyone left, only Hestia and Percy were left in the Grand Hall. Hestia stood by her seat the whole time with her back facing Percy. The two of them did not move nor speaking at all.

This awkward situation lasted for a while, when finally Hestia turned around, stared at Percy indifferently, and then immediately looked away, "Are you satisfied now?"

"What do I have to be satisfied about!" Percy stood up and freaked out, "With something this big… something so big that it affects a lifetime! I can't believe you didn't discuss with me or even mention it to me beforehand! Forget that you forced yourself onto me in the courtyard last month, you're also going to force a great affair of marriage onto me! You-you-you-you… even if you're Hestia, you can't be this imperious and unreasonable!"

"...Hmph! Isn't this just as you wish?" Hestia turned away and she was somewhat avoiding making eye contact with Percy.

Hestia' reaction made Percy smile slightly in his heart. The way Hestia dealt with things was indeed imperious, but with this matter, she didn't discuss with Percy and even neglected to tell him beforehand, and it wasn't because she was "acting in an arbitrary fashion." With her personality, her lack of experience with relationships between a man and a woman, and her "indifference" towards Percy that was maintained for a long time made her not able to be frank with Percy… Her sudden big change with how she was treating Percy was already an overly great surprise to him.

Even though it kind of caught him by surprise… even until now he was still a bit dazzled.

After all, from the indifference, coldness, and absolute refusal to reveal any emotions to him… to suddenly announcing to the world that they were going to be married, and the engagement was going to be seven days later… No matter how powerful Percy's nerves were, he couldn't wrap his head around it.

He was certain that it was impossible to find another woman like Hestia all over the world.

Hestia was obviously panicking in her heart, and she had already confessed her feelings towards him, but she still acted as a cold, indifferent emperor… Only from her dodging gaze, drifting eyes, and slightly disordered breathing, was Percy able to clearly see a sweet, tender appearance of a normal young woman. He smiled slightly, and then used a displeased expression and yelled, "You finally admit that you liked me with honesty. In this regard, as your future husband, of course I should praise you highly. But, between husband and wife, there should be at least be some respect, tolerance, conjugal love, inseparable love, intimacy…"

"...What are you trying to say!" What Percy had said made Hestia' breathing even more uneven, and she interrupted him immediately.

"What I'm saying is, after you marry me, you can't be like before and now, pre~tend to be cold and distant towards me, instead you should…"

"wh-wh-wh-what do you mean by all that!" Hestia stuttered with great difficulty." I-i-I don't… pretend to be cold and distant!" Percy laughed." Oh please, you try hiding your emotions to such a great extent, it's almost absurd! Can't you just come out and say it?" Hestia's eyes were wide and her breathing was increasingly disordered. Her voice was soft to the point of whispering." S-s-say… say what?"

Percy leaned closer to her." say that you love me ofcourse."

Hestia's jaw dropped and she reacted instinctively, spinning and slapping his so hard, he was sent into the air, spinning twice before collapsing onto the ground in a messy heap. She was surprised for a few seconds and she half reached out for him. Then she shook her head and gave a small "hmph"." That serves you right for trying to take advantage of your master!" she said indifferently. Percy gave a small scowl as he raised his head." Do I look like your slave?" he cradled his cheek." You always seem to think im some desperate man hounding you. well, I'm not!"

Hestia stiffened and looked around at him. Her fiery eyes flickered and their brightness dimmed." Percy… i…."Hestia's chest was moving up and down as she stared at Percy. The expression in her eyes kept on changing, and then silently, she looked away and said slowly, "I already know that with your personality, doing this indeed would be unbearable to you… but, … This matter is beyond the control of this sect master…, now that it has been announced to the world, it is beyond your control as well!" she looked down at her feet.

Percy stood and dusted himself off." You already know about me and calypso." His scowl didn't soften as he turned and left the hall.

Neither Hestia nor Percy realized that they were being watched. Artemis gave a soft snort and shook her head." This big pervert is a danger to women all around. Earlier I could at least control him, but now I can't even do that much." She silently turned and watched as Percy flew away in the direction of his room. She pouted and looked at Hestia." And why did even Hestia fall for his charms!"

He headed back to his living quarters, silently avoiding everyone he met on the way. He expected the room to be packed with all his friends, all eager for details, but surprisingly, the place was empty, with only calypso standing in the middle of the room, back to the door and arms crossed over her chest.

"Percy you've returned." S he turned around and looked at him. Her expression was calm and composed and she seemed much more collected and cool than he did, as if she had been waiting for him.

Percy felt a hint of guilt and he stepped forward." Calypso…" she smiled softly and shook her head." Silly boy. Don't look so tense. I know my dearest has a charismatic and irresistible personality." Percy blushed slightly and lowered his head. Calypso stepped closer to him and hugged him.

" Percy… be honest with me." She drew back and looked at him earnestly with her soft eyes." Is this marriage being done just because you have the correct bloodline? Between you and Hestia, has there already been relationship between a man and a woman? The two of you wanting to be married, is it a mutual feeling?"

Percy thought silently for a while and said, "She does have a spot that cannot be replaced In my heart. After coming out of the Asura God Prison, I would miss everything about her every day. Only, I am too weak, but she, no matter in which aspect, is too strong. Even if I wanted to protect her, help her, or bear some of her burden, I wasn't able to. So all this time, I didn't know what I could do. Today she suddenly announced the wedding with me… I was just as surprised as you all were."

"If you want to help her and bear some of the burden on her shoulders, isn't this the best chance?" Calypso smiled and said.

Percy was stunned.

"If, you are only marrying her because it is the Sect master's command, then I will support the decision you've made just now and tell you not to marry her. But if you really like her, and want her to become your wife… then, I hope that you will do as she wishes and marry her." Calypso said calmly, "And Aphrodite thinks the same."

Percy was stunned into silence. After all his biggest worry was that the two of them would not approve of this sudden decision. Both of them were silent during the entire banquet and he was worried they were angry or jealous of her. he gave calypso a sheepish grin." You really love me don't you.". calypso blushed and winked at him."' I don't know where I got some bad taste from. But looks like all these girls have the same bad taste." Her expression grew a bit serious. "She is using the name of the Sect master, but is granting you the name of 'husband'... this word is normal to common people, but to Hestia, this means she values you extremely highly, and is telling the whole world that you will be the only one for her. After you, there will be no others. Moreover, she silently allows you having other wives… On this matter, almost any other woman from a slightly more powerful family wouldn't be able to do so. She is Hestia, but she go to this extent, even Aphrodite was moved… She used to be cold and indifferent, but this, is an expression even more precious than any sensational expression. Her feelings towards you may be even more serious than you imagined."

"..." Percy's breathing started to become uneven, and his eyes also showed excitement.

Calypso's tone was slightly harsher, "Or, in your world, is the tiny dignity of a man far more important than the woman you like?"

"Of course not!" Percy lifted his head abruptly, raised his hand and slammed it on his chest fiercely.

Percy cracked a smile at Calypso, turned around in quickly, became a flash of light with a "whoosh" and headed straight to the Flame seed Hall.

Percy returned as fast as possible, but by the time he got there, Hestia was already nowhere to be found; only a few maids were quietly sweeping away. Seeing Percy come in, they hurriedly put aside what they were doing and dropped down on their knees for a courtesy. News of Hestia and Percy's upcoming marriage had already been announced to all in the realm, and it also completely changed Percy's social status.

"Where's Hestia?" Percy asked in advance.

"Responding to Young master Percy, not long before you left, Hestia had already returned to her chambers," the frontmost maid respectfully replied.

Following an about face, Percy floated, then flew towards Hestia' chambers.

Hestia' chambers was without a sound. She silently stood alone in front of a window and was so quiet that she looked like an inanimate porcelain jade doll. Ever since coming back from the flame seed Hall, she had always been standing there, continuously maintaining that posture for a long period of time.

An aura came from afar and quickly approached her chambers. Upon closing in, it did not carefully slow down one bit nor did it restrain itself. Hestia' brows bunched together, but she quickly recognized the master of this aura. The voice she wanted to utter just a moment ago was swallowed down, and she didn't turn around either, making no movements; only that her crystal-like eyes tremored for a split second.

In all of the Realm of gods, only Percy would dare enter Hestia' chambers in such a direct way… If it were someone else, granted that they even dared, they would've already been burned to ashes by Hestia before even getting close.

Percy didn't deliberately lighten his footsteps as he straightforwardly entered. This was the flame seed sect's sect master's resting chambers, yet it was incredibly simple and could never be considered "luxurious"; it couldn't even be compared to the chambers of a common wealthy family's daughter. There was even a hint of deep coldness within, causing anyone who entered to subconsciously curb themselves.

This was not the first time Percy had charged in without announcing himself, but he was usually met with two consequences in his previous attempts: One was being blasted out by Hestia before entering, and the other was being blasted out by Hestia right after entering.

But this time, Hestia, who stood in front of the window, was silent and only gave Percy a view of her delicate silhouette as though she never even realized he had come.

Percy stood at the door to her chamber, silently watching her figure. Yet before she uttered a single word or turned her head, he vaguely sensed a desolate, hurt aura in the air which faintly stung his heart. He started walking slowly toward Hestia...

All the way until he reached behind her. Then, he opened his arms, looped them around her waist, and lightly hugged her against his chest...

Hestia' entire body violently trembled...

The gray colored gown was huge, but her body was incredibly thin, especially her delicate waist; it was as slim as a swaying willow. Forget about Percy's arms, even if he used both hands, it was enough for him to easily wrap around her.

Only, before Percy could even feel the temperature of a young woman's jade body, an enormous surge of power was blasted at his chest.

Bang!

With a huge sound, Percy's body immediately blasted out like a missile. His back firmly smashed into the wall, causing the entire chamber shake upon impact.

"Y-y-y-y-you… Can't you be less ruthless when attacking?!" Percy brushed aside the dust and shattered jade on his body and then unsteadily stood up as he gasped in cold air.

Over these hundred years, had made Hestia acquire an extremely powerful self-defense subconscious since a long time ago. Blasting Percy aside was completely an instinctive reaction… Even though she had regretted it the instant she blasted Percy away, Hestia still forcibly held onto her cold expression and said lowly, "You asked for it! If it were another person who dared to offend me like that, they would've died ten thousand times over! Hmph!"

"Hey! Am I really the same as "another person"? I'm someone who's about to be engaged to you, and you're the one who announced that we're marrying each other! Yet I can't even hug you a little?!" Percy angrily stated.

Perhaps it was because she felt like she was a little guilty, Hestia turned her head. She asked in a cold and stiff voice, "What are you coming back here to do!"

Percy finally patted off all the dust on his body and then answered with face full of innocence, "I only came back to tell you that I am willing to comply with your wishes, enter your Flame seed sect after getting engaged with you."

Hestia' gaze immediately turned around, "Are… you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious." Percy began to assume a wronged expression. "Before, when I was in the Flame seed Hall, I had instinctively rejected it without thinking too much about it. After I went back home and calmed down, I realized that, to me, you are above and beyond my so-called dignity of a man. If I don't have the resolve to bear the heavy burden of your Sect with you because of my ridiculous pride, then I wouldn't be qualified… to be your husband either."

"..." Hestia looked at him for a long time without saying anything. Then, she quickly turned her head, looked outside the window, and said with misty eyes, "Thank you."

If it were another man in the Realm of Gods, as long as they were able to receive Hestia' favor, even if he had to change his entire clan's surname he would be delighted to do so and would be wild with joy… However, she knew that Percy was different. He was someone who did not cower or retreat even in the face of someone far more powerful than him. How could he possibly covet the Flame seed sect's sect master's title?

This concession of his was beyond valuable.

"Hahaha." Percy laughed heartily. "You're the one who publicly announced to the world that I'm about to be your husband, what gratitude do you need to give me? Just that, in front of your future husband, your strikes are actually still as ruthless as before… It's fine if my body hurts, but my heart hurts even more. Oww…"

"..." Hestia' lips twitched. Even though she clearly knew that Percy's tone, expression, and sucking of cold air were all an act, her ruthlessly blasting Percy away was still a fact, so she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at heart.

"I'm heart broken right now, so… if you want me to marry into your Flame seed sect, you have to agree to an additional condition!"

"...What condition?"

Percy slightly narrowed his eyes and said with incomparable seriousness, "Very simple… Let me embrace you properly for a while—right now."

"..." Normally, if Percy were to say these kinds of words, he would definitely be blasted away by Hestia. However, since her public announcement of being engaged with Percy in seven days, their originally delicate relationship had already changed fundamentally due to this step that she took that exhausted all her courage and willpower. If they were husband and wife, hugging each other couldn't be something that was any more ordinary, and besides...

"I'm… not used to being touched by others." The gaze Hestia was shifting, and even her voice was already no longer stiff and cold.

"That's others… but I'm not others." Percy walked toward her. Following every step of his approach, he was able to sense that Hestia' breathing had become a bit more disordered. "I know that you've been bearing great pressure everyday for all these past years, and you had to be on guard of crisis that could come your way at any second. This is why your self-defense subconsciousness has long become instinctive. I also knew that you blasting me away a while ago… was not intentional."

Percy's understanding was not merely hot air, but was him completely understanding her. "But I'm about to be your husband, and from then on, I'll be your… Hestia's other half in life; a person willing to face and undertake everything together with you, who will always be good to you, will always strive to enter your world, and be the one who you'll never need to be on guard with… And I will also be the only person in this world who is allowed to embrace you."

"Just like back in the Asura God Burying Prison… At that time, when we faced the Horned Dragon side by side, I held you after we beat it together. At that time, you cuddled with me tightly and didn't want to struggle free either, nor did you feel like breaking loose… because at that time, our fates were tightly linked. If we lived, we'll live together. If we died, we'll die together… This linked fate between us was not merely that short moment in the Asura God Burying prison. From now on… it'll always be that way."

Unwittingly, Percy's voice had already closed in by her ears. Within the warm and gentle voice, two arms also slowly came together above her delicate waist. Snug on her back, was also a warm chest… this time, Hestia didn't struggle at all, nor did she freeze up for even an instant. Along with Percy's voice, her train of thoughts also returned to the moments in which she had been tightly embraced within the Asura God Burying Prison… Slowly, she realized that she was being gently embraced by Percy, yet her body didn't instinctively reject it, and furthermore, neither did her heart… The only thing she felt was a warm sensation that slowly relaxed both her body and soul.

Embraced within his bosom was a young girl's figure… it seemed as though it was even smaller than Artemis's. That heart-piercing cold intent no longer came from her body; a warm, yet somewhat frantic feeling of a young girl replaced it.

Even though they had become one within the Asura God Burying Prison, it was only until today... that his wish to just silently hug her like this was finally fulfilled.

Percy closed his eyes, smiled with satisfaction, and said, "Even though you suddenly announcing that you were going to marry me left me greatly shocked, it surprised me nicely even more. Looks like, it was fortunate for me to have 'bawled' at you that day… Otherwise, if you insisted on keeping me at a distance, I really might have regretted it all my life since I don't have the power to forcibly take you away."

Hestia, "..."

"From now on, you will no longer be alone. I'll bear all your responsibilities with you," softly said Percy. "back in the Asura God Burying Prison, the reason why I risked my life to save you is because you were my master. But from now on… I will do it because you're my wife. Even though I'm weak at the moment, I'll strive to grow, grow to a point where you'll feel at ease to rely on me and no longer have to bear any sort of pressure or danger… believe me, okay?"

"You're… at… it… again… Why does there have to be so many idiotic women who will fall for this sex fiend's tricks!" Artemis hatefully muttered. Then, with a cold snort, she simply sealed off her own sense of hearing and quickly swept away, not bothering to spy on them any further.

Hestia had never heard such words in her entire life. An extremely strange, indescribable feeling permeated her heart and soul, and also spread out through her entire body… It was seemingly a feeling that melted both her mind and body. Slowly, she felt her own body grow increasingly soft until it lost all strength, as she completely put all her weight onto the man's body she was nestling against behind her. A barely discernible low sound came from her lips, "Mn…"

"When you become my wife, I'll call you Hestia, okay?"

"...Mn…"

Percy drew in his arms, causing the girl's body within his embrace to stick even closer. "From now on, you'll let me embrace you like this everyday, okay?"

"...Mn…"

"Don't worry, from now on, your life will be my life."

Percy softly uttered beside Hestia' ears. Even though they were soft, each and every word was resolute and decisive. He felt the jade body within his embrace becoming more pliable and his hands also slowly moved up, which at the same time, covered onto her slightly bulging chest. He immediately felt a lump of soft and suppleness. Even though they were separated by two layers of clothing, the tender smoothness was still like stroking the purest of spring water. Two tiny buds timidly pressed against his palms and he couldn't help but fold his palms to softly knead them.

BOOM!

Three maids who were merrily talking and laughing just happened to walk by. Naturally, they were talking about Hestia and Percy's wedding. As the closest people to Hestia, they had long since sensed and guessed the subtle feelings between the two. Before they had even neared her chambers, they suddenly heard a loud thunderous sound come from ahead. A person's figure flew out with the loud noise and violently fell in front of them, startling them and causing them to cry out in shock.

Upon seeing the person who had landed in front of him, all three maids simultaneously laughed. The frontmost red-clothed maid stepped forward and said with a smile, "Young master Percy, how come you've been blasted out by Hestia yet again?"

"Hehe…" The other two maids giggled covering their mouths. Even though they were only maids, Percy had never shown any kind of attitude toward them. Instead, he called them "sister," which greatly improved their impression and respect of him, and also never needed to be cautious around him.

Percy got up from the ground. Wiping off the dust from his face, he responded with a serious expression, "Sisters, have you noticed that Hestia blows that she strikes me with have become increasingly lighter?"

"It's true! Back then, Young master Percy used to get blasted out several kilometers away, but this time…" the red-clothed maid's eyes roamed as she did her best to not laugh, "it seems like it's only a fourth of a kilometer."

"It's because Young master Percy is about to become Hestia' husband. Hestia obviously couldn't bear to be heavy-handed anymore," the blue-clothed maid said with a gentle laugh.

"Cough, as a respectable man, I can't be bothered get on the same level with women. Once she becomes my wife, if she dares to be this disobedient again, even if she's Hestia… she'll still be disciplined by family law!" Percy stated with a grandeur manner. Once he finished his speech, he even glanced at the chambers somewhat lacking in confidence. Then, he said with a wave, "Sisters, I still have things to attend to at home, so I'll have to leave first… Oh, Sister Yuyi, it seems like your chest has grown yet again!"

"Swish…"

Percy laughed lewdly, then disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

"Hmph… damn you!" The red-clothed girl lightly chided with a red face as her arms subconsciously covered her breasts. The other two maids had already laughed themselves into a curl… It was very evident that they had long since gotten used to Percy's obscene teasings.

Percy felt extremely light and happy as he headed back to his chambers. He had no idea how he had been embroiled in all of this, but in the end it had all worked out far better than he could have expected.

He was headed for his room, but even as he did, time seemed to slow down and space grew sticky, and the world seemed to grow dark as a heavy presence covered him. Percy felt his blood thicken and his heartbeat slow as the heavy pressure bore down on him. It felt like a gigantic malovent eye had opened in the sky and was looking down on him. And despite all his power, all his strength, he felt like a gnat in front of this eye. It looked down at him disdainfully and he felt like he would collapse under the strain of its gaze.

Percy trembled." This gaze…. This presence…."." you have not met a true dead end yet boy. I actually believed that when you went to fight the dragon and when you faced Ares, you had met your dead end. But you surprised me! How far does your limit lie? Hehehe. But the king has seen you now. You hold no chance of escape… Perseus jackson…. Son of Poseidon."

Percy's eyes grew sharp and he looked up." Athena? That's you?" the grey eyed woman suddenly appeared before Percy and the aura from her body was fathomless. Even if it was Hestia or Ares, they had never given him such a powerful pressure." You hid your true power?" Athena laughed when she heard Percy's question." I didn't hide it. they were simply too weak and they couldn't sense it. but you've grown strong enough to be able to sense my true power levels. Or at least realize that there is no way for you to kill me!" Percy scowled and reached out his hand, summoning riptide." That remains to be seen!"

Athena shook her head." Foolishness. You won't cry till you see your grave will you?" Percy's aura flared and the phantom of the Vermillion Bird appeared behind him, screeching as it spread it's wings, blanketing the skies with vermillion flames. He slashed out riptide, sending a wave of fire at her. it slashed through her and blood erupted like a fountain and she was cleaved into two.

Percy was stunned for a moment." i…I… killed her?" then was a peal of laughter and athena's ruined body was immediately restored back into perfect condition." Foolish boy. With such a large gap, you want to kill me? I am immortal foolish little child." Her grey eyes flashed." Soon I will become a true god, and then I will be invincible and everlasting!" she looked at Percy with a hideous grin. There was a sonic boom and a vermillion streak rushed up towards where Percy was standing. Hestia appeared beside Percy, holding a sword in her hand." Athena!" she growled as soon as she saw her. Athena gave a demure smile." Hello Hestia. Been a while." Percy held out his hand and pushed Hestia behind." Stay back. She's not the same person." Hestia glanced at him, surprised. Athena giggled and nodded." Indeed. With lord Kronos's help I have exceeded the limits of the human body, and soon I will exceed the limits of mortality itself!"

Percy tilted his head." You… you're an Overgod?" Athena tapped her chin with a finger." No not yet. I'm a half step Overgod, halfway between Olympian and Overgod! But even so, I am far beyond your reach! And soon I will break into the Overgod realm and then I will be surpassed and beyond you, a true god!" she looked at them." But master Kronos asked me to get r id of you Perseus. It seems your wise girl Annabeth fooled him, but she paid the price for shielding you." Percy's knuckles turned white as he squeezed the hilt of his sword." What did you do to her?" Athena laughed and raised her hand." Why don't you ask her yourself…. In the underworld!" before she could attack, there was another flash of vermillon. However, this was not from Percy or from Hestia. Athena stiffened and froze when she saw the flash.

Red hair fluterring in the wind, red dress rippling, jade like arm outstretched, Hong'er appeared. Her ruby like eyes flashed and she gave a small grin as she saw Athena." Scram before I kill you, half step goddess." Athena frowned." You're the sword god spirit?" Hong'er flipped her hair." I'm the God Slayer Princess. A mere Half step Goddess like you thinks she can fight me? Even Nyx would think twice. My title isn't for show you know. Ask Quetzalcoatl."

Athena laughed with a sneer." You're powerful indeed. Lord Kronos already warned me to keep an eye out for you. but unfortunately, your power depends on your wielder. With such a weak master, how can you unleash your true strength?" Hong'er twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, looking unconcerned." Indeed if you had become a true god, then I might not be your match. But as of now, you are still a half step Overgod. You will perish if struck by me." Athena faltered and she considered for a few moments before floating up." Your words have merit. As it is, I am about to break into the Overgod realm in a few days, so I'll come and deal with you then." She gave a small laugh and disappeared from sight.

Percy stared at the redhead." Hong'er?" she turned and gave him a look." What is it?" Percy opened and shut his mouth a few times." i…uh…" Hestia took over." Who are you?" Hong'er tilted her head." That doesn't matter now does it? you have a death sentence on you after all. She'll be back to kill you when she finishes breaking through." Percy and Hestia exchanged looks. The rest of the core disciples were beginning to emerge as well, and they quickly flew over. They had sensed the aura as well, but the aura had entirely frozen them in place. and now that she had left, they were quickly coming out to see what had happened.

Artemis dashed towards Percy." Idiot! What did you do now?" Percy gave a sigh." Well it looks like im in more trouble as usual." Hestia nodded." I never expected her to have increased her power to such a great extent." Artemis glared at her." who?" Percy gave her a contemplative look before replying." Athena."

Artemis grew silent." She's become an Overgod?" Percy shook his head." Almost. And soon she will. In fact she would have already killed us if not for…" his voice trailed off and he looked at Hong'er. Artemis frowned." Hong'er?' Hong'er giggled and nodded." Yes big sis artemis, Hong'er is taking good care of master, just like you told her to."

Percy stepped up to hong'er." Hong'er, what did you mean you're the God Slayer Princess". Hong'er tapped Percy's lips with a finger." Shush now master." Her ruby like eyes sparkled." If you want to know, take Hong'er out on a date!"

A.N.: I was confused about how to construct hestia's character, since I didn't want her to turn out too much like Artemis, so I decided on using Huan Caiyi's personality and made the romance the same as Yun che and Huan Caiyi from Against The Gods. Originally I had planned to make her more like yun che's master but I decided not to. Hestia already suited the character quite well.

So she's not a tsundere like artemis, rather she finds it hard to express her feelings to anyone.

Also, finally beginning the Hong'er part of it. I based her off the romance in Oreimo and you already know her childish personality. Don't worry, even if she has regained her memories, her personality around Percy will still stay the same.

Also if you're wondering why the update took so long, I had to plan out a proper romance between three heroines at the same time. Now I have to execute each one. And this chapter itself is pretty long. Well hope you enjoyed it. and keep waiting. After Hong'er we'll move onto the main girl Artemis!


	59. Date with Hong'er

**Eight Arc: Date with Hong'er**

A.N.: for those wondering about Percy and Hestia's marriage: you expect them to plan their engagement with Athena promising their death in a few days time?

Percy was stunned into silence for a few moments. Hestia and Artemis were likewise silent next to him. Finally Aphrodite cleared her throat and looked at Hong'er." Could this little sister tell me who she is?" Percy started with surprise. He suddenly remembered that except for Artemis no one else knew who Hong'er was. The core disciples had seen her after the first trial, after she had helped him break free from Ares's Asura bloodline contract. But even they had no idea exactly who she was.

Hong'er giggled and glanced at Aphrodite." Hong'er is Master's Favorite girl! Master told Hong'er she is his little beauty and he loves touching her forehead!" artemis burst into laughter, covering her mouth with one hand as her eyes sparkled with mirth. The other girls gave her wondering looks. She finally subsided, still smiling as she looked at Hong'er." Hong'er you naughty girl. what have you and your master done while I was gone?" Hong'er scrunched up her face, seeming to think about it carefully." Ummm.. Hong'er's master molested her, then let Hong'er molest him!" she blinked innocently. Percy shivered as he felt a dozen gazes pierce him." Why is staring at me with killing intent becoming a hobby for everyone?" he sighed and then looked at Hong'er.

"Hong'er what are you talking about!" he said sourly. Hong'er giggled and threw her arms around her neck. Then suddenly her bubbly aura turned into an ancient Desolate Aura, Timeless and eternal, shrouding all things alive. Everyone nearby trembled as they felt a sharp blade rest against their chest, right against there heart. And this terrifying aura came from the Little girl still hugging Percy." Perseus, if you want my help to deal with the Lord of Time and his Subordinates, you'll have to comply to my demands." Percy felt frozen with surprise." Hong'er?" the Ancient Aura suddenly disappeared and Hong'er's pressure disappeared." Master has to take Hong'er out on a date! Hong'er Insists on it!"

Percy gave a small nod as she released him, arms unwinding from around his neck." Of course, if hong'er wants to." She immediately grabbed his arm." Great master! Hong'er wants to go! Lets go! Lets go!" Percy stared at her with astonishment." Right now?" Hong'er tilted her head." Ehhh? No! Hong'er needs to go right now!" Percy hesitated for a few seconds. After all he was about to face a great crisis. Going on a date was hardly the most appropriate course of action at this time.

However, looking at Hong'er's wide eyes, there was no way he could refuse. And more importantly, this girl hid some deep secrets. She was the reason Athena had been scared off. If not, Percy had no doubt he would be dead by now, as well as Hestia and the rest of the Flame seed sect.

Percy nodded." Fine then Hong'er." She gave a wide grin and gripped his hand even tighter. Her ruby like eyes sparkled and suddenly space seemed to twist and distort around them, dragging them through the void. Percy felt his consciousness blur under the sudden strain, and he blacked out.

Percy felt heavy and tired, lying in a soft and comfortable bed, with a warm blanket tucked around him. He felt someone push him and he stirred. The nudging continued intently, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. For a few seconds, he was disoriented, lying in a warm and soft bed, and still feeling tired out. Then his attention focused and he looked up at the person waking him up. Hong'er eyes were still sparkling like jewels as she smiled at him. Her look was one of entire innocence. Percy couldn't help but smile back, then he remembered everything that had happened before. He sat up and glanced around.

"where am i? where is the sect? wher-" Percy was interrupted by Hong'er throwing her arms around him and tackling him. She straddled his hips and looked down at him with dissatisfaction." This princess told you to take her out on a date. So for this one day, no other girl is allowed in your thoughts. For this one day.." she blushed, her cheeks turning a rich shade of pink." For this one day… let Hong'er be selfish… and have Master for herself." She leaned and kissed Percy.

He reached up, gently cupping her cheek with one hand while the other pushed her hair back, smoothing it behind her ear. when she sat up, her face was flush and her cherry like lips were coated with saliva. She smiled mesmerizingly." For this date… Hong'er has brought you to a special place." she slipped off Percy and walked over to the door. Percy glanced around and immediately he was dumbfounded." Is that… is that… a t.v.?" Hong'er turned and glanced at the innocuous device sitting on the table." Oh that thing? I really don't know. but while I was using your memories through our soul bond, that thing featured many times so I supposed it must be something of importance, or it wouldn't turn up so many times. So I decided to replicate it in this world."

Percy stared at her." you created a new world?!" she giggled, then skipped over and tapped his forehead." A temporary pocket world inside your Styx Soul Inner World. But yes I created a new world. It has people, plants, animals, and the inanimate objects from your past life. And here, you will take me out on our date!" Percy stared at her for a second. She stared back, an eager smile on her lips. Percy could in no way relate this innocent bundle of joy with the Sword God Spirit who had chased Athena off just a while back. For a second, it was almost as if she were concealing her true personality from him.

Hong'er shook her head." Don't worry master, we're not really gone anywhere. It's inside your inner world, so this is just our consciousness. Hong'er already told big sis artemis so she'll explain what's going on to the others." She pouted with dissatisfaction. Percy stood up from bed and hugged her." don't worry Hong'er. I'm not thinking about anyone else except for you." her smile came back instantly, as if it had never disappeared." Really master? Hong'er is so glad!" she pulled away and rushed to the door."come on! We can't waste anytime!" she grabbed Percy's hand and they stormed out of the room.

Percy had another mini-heart attack when they went into an elevator and was still recovering from the shock when they stepped out of the hotel, which was where he had woken up. He instinctively tried taking flight, but to his chagrin, all he did was stand in place like a fool. Hong'er simply giggled and continued tugging at him." Come on master! This is a world of consciousness. All the rules here match the world you first lived in! you can't use your cultivation here!" Percy sighed." He had gotten so used to simple things like flying, that now not being able to surprised him." So Hong'er…. What do you want to do?" Hong'er thought, then looked at him." Uuuu… master… Hong'er… feels hungry. Lets go find some food first!" she squealed in delight of her idea and raced off like a bulldozer, dragging Percy along in the aftermath. There were countless people dressed like Percy remembered, people wearing jeans, denim, some wearing suits, and other various clothes he had taken for granted in the past. Now a wave of nostalgia struck Percy as he hurtled through the crowd, but with Hong'er's speed he didn't get any time to appreciate the sudden flashbacks he was having while remembering his past life.

She dragged Percy down into what Percy recognized as the shopping district. While Percy was unable to recognize the city itself, many other things were taken directly out of his memories. Hong'er left his hand and ran into the center of the street, arms raised up while she yelled. She spun and pointed at Percy." Come on master!" she ran towards a café and Percy reluctantly followed her. she sat slid into the booth and Percy glanced around while he sat next to her." Hong'er. You only eat swords don't you?" Hong'er snorted." Master! This is a soul world. It doesn't matter what Hong'er eats!" she handed him the menu." Order the most tasty and delicious food for Hong'er!" Percy sighed and accepted the menu." Please tell me that they won't ask me to pay?" Hong'er was swinging her legs as she propped her elbows on the table, holding her head up with both hands." Uuuuuu… master! Stop delaying and buy Hong'er something delicious to eat!"

Percy shrugged helplessly. This café was like any other he had seen in his past life. It was filled with people, all chattering and eating. It was almost as if everything that had happened since he had been reborn was nothing but a dream. It was a highly disorienting feeling. He glanced at the menu, skimming through it, then froze. He looked through the items again and his eyebrows twitched." Blue cake? Blue coke? Is this a blue food menu?" he swept through the items and all of them were blue. He flipped the menu and was dumbfounded to see different types of swords mentioned as dishes. He looked up at Hong'er, who flashed him a grin. He sighed and started ordering.

In no time, Hong'er was surrounded by swords, hungrily munching on the blades, before crumpling the hilts and eating them as well. Percy settled for Blue cake and blue coke. He had wondered over a blue hamburger but decided to take it carefully, just in case the food was made of metal. But he wasn't disappointed. The food tasted perfect and it reminded him of his past life. Hong'er scarfed down her swords, then proceeded to eat all of Percy's food as well. Like she had said, in a soul world, she could eat anything without worrying about it.

Percy didn't mind her eating up his share as well. She had the most ravenous surprise he had ever seen so it was entirely in his expectations that she could keep eating. In fact, once she was done, he expected her to curl up and go to sleep as she usually did. However, to his surprise, she simply wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, pearl like teeth flashing in her trademark grin as she finished off everything on the table. In fact, now that Percy thought about it, her eating swords was just like Grovers habit of eating tin cans. She beamed at him." Master! Hong'er is full! Now what should we do?" Percy stood and patted her head. She snuggled up against his palm, and Percy almost expected her to start purring with satisfaction.

Then she grabbed his hand and stood up. She intertwined her fingers with his and looked at him with adoration." Master! Tell me! Where? Where are we going now?" Percy thought for a second. He remembered back when he had planned to go out with Annabeth. They had planned to go to the movies and that was practically all the experience he had about going out with a girl. he shrugged and looked at Hong'er." Shall we go to a movie then?" Hong'er looked at him curiously." Ehhh? What's a movie?" Percy was dumbfounded for a second, then remembered she probably had no idea about anything in the human world. He wondered how to explain it to her, but then Hong'er hugged his arm." Ok! If master wants to take Hong'er there, Hong'er will follow him!" Percy smiled at her displays of affection and they headed out." Wait do they even have cinemas here?"

As Percy found out, they had everything, from malls to restaurants. This world Hong'er had created using their soul bond was unbelievably complicated and detailed. It had everything he could have imagined. And so he ended up with Hong'er, sitting in a cinema hall, her tiny form curled up against his. Arms hugging him. And soon she dozed off, gently snoring all the way through out the movie while Percy continued stroking her hair with one hand and held her against himself with the other.

Hong'er eventually slept through out the entire movie, which Percy expected to some extent. After all, her attention span wasn't exactly high and she probably didn't understand anything when she awoke at the end of the movie, she beamed at Percy like she was happy about having slept and missed the entire movie. Percy thought for a few moments as he tried figuring out what to do next. Hong'er tugged his arm." Lets just roam around master! Hong'er wants to eat all types of food!" Percy grumbled softly. This girls personality will never change! All she cares about is food and sleep! Hong'er blinked her wide eyes and Percy gave a helpless sigh." Are right. Lets go check out a food court. I suppose that should satisfy your appetite." Hong'er squealed." Thank you master! Let's go eat food!" she rushed off like a storm, dragging Percy, then paused." Um… master.. where is the food court?" Percy slapped his forehead and burst into laughter.

They headed for the mall, but Hong'er stopped in front of a small booth and looked at it curiously." Master… what is this?" Percy looked at it." oh. Hong'er this is a photo both." Hong'er touched her chin." Is it edible?" Percy laughed and shook his head." No, it's used to take pictures. So you can preserve memories." Hong'er brightened up." Really?" she dragged him in without hesitation.

He leapt up, arms twining around his neck as she kissed him again, catching him entirely by surprise. She flicked her tongue against his cheek with a smile. Then she backed out of the booth and picked up the photo strips." Master! Lets go!"

In sometime, she was at the food court, where she was like a fish in water, streaking around like a red comet, from one place to another, eating everything that was deemed edible. Percy was unwittingly a part of her rampage, made to eat everything she was having. If Percy was an ordinary human, he would have burst from overeating .as it was, even with a warrior's divine body, he was still feeling stuffed by the time Hong'er settled down, munching on an icecream.

Hong'er glanced at Percy."master… there's one last thing… you have to do for Hong'er." Percy smiled as he ruffled her hair." Yes, of course. What is it." Hong'er licked the wooden stick eyes boring into him, and her aura seemed to subtly change. Percy was surprised for a few seconds, then he looked at her carefully." Hong'er?" when he spoke, she shivered and her aura immediately turned back normal. She tossed the stick aside and the bustling food court suddenly went empty. All the people suddenly disappeared. Hong'er turned to him, a serious expression on her face." Hong'er wants…. You to become stronger." She stood, hands on her hips." This princess is the blade that wields power to destroy the gods and kill the immortals. But you can't use my God slayer power." Percy frowned." Wait, why is that?"

Hong'er sighed." You… are too weak! The Azure dragon god asked you to save his daughter, who is sealed in the most powerful blade in all of existence. I am nothing but a replica of that sword. I suppose you can say that a small fragment of the sword had shattered and I was made out of that tiny sliver." Percy nodded. The Azure dragon god had requested him to find the Hraven smiting ancestral sword, but all records of it stated that it had been lost. Hong'er looked at him." Do you want to know where the sword is kept?" Percy nodded." Yes, the Azure Dragon God requested me to find his daughter and set her free." She sighed." How easy it is to accept requests but how difficult it is to fulfill them. She is indeed trapped in the sword, but the place where the sword is hidden is far from being a place where you can go. At your level of power, the beasts that lurk there would tear you to shreds before you even reach anywhere near it". Percy frowned." Then how strong must I become?" Hong'er raised her palm and a small jade slip appeared over it, hovering above her silken skin." This is the Heavy sword Formula used to wield me. If you can use the fifth strike recorded in it. then you can be considered as barely having enough power to know where the heavenly blade is hidden."

Percy grabbed it from her and injected his perception in it. immediately information about sword stances, energy flows and the like filled his mind. He swept through the stages. Hong'ers voice echoed in his mind as she explained each step to him.

"First stage: Sword intent. The ability to manifest your Sword's power in your aura, forging your sword into your aura, and allowing your power to rise. The only way to do so is to resonate with your sword. Second stage: Sword Heart. When your heart affirms the path of the sword. You can manifest your path of the sword in each attack, bringing out power only you can wield. Third Stage: Sword Soul. The stage where you become one with the sword, fully bringing out each others potential, reaching a level of power where you can overpower an enemy far beyond your strength. The first stage carries the first strike, Undying Intent, as well as the second strike, Aura of the Sword. The second stage carries the third strike, way of the sword, as well as the fourth strike, Indomitable Slash. As for the Fifth strike, you must be perfect in all four previous strikes to be able to use it. the fifth strike is One Sword. The Third stage, sword soul carries the last three moves, but you are still far from being able to use them."

Percy stood and tossed the jade slip back to Hong'er. She grabbed it and it faded away." As of now, you can be said to have barely reached sword intent while using riptide. The same goes for when you're using me." Percy reached out his hand and Hong'er vibrated, rising into the air, then turning into her sword form and landing in Percy's grip. He closed his eyes and settled into the stance he'd learnt from the jade slip. He observed the pulse of power running through him. He followed the flow of energy as it cycled. Then his eyes opened and they flashed, his gaze domineering as he slashed, manifesting all his sword aura in a single strike. He didn't pause, swinging the blade back up as his battle qi roared and he swung again, executing a similar strike but one that had a completely different aura.

The first strike carried the power of a sword, and even after it landed, his sword intent would manifest and the opponent would be repeatedly struck by sword attacks on his wound. As for the second strike, it turned his slash into a true sword, making it capable for him to turn even his hand into a sword, or even the wind into a powerful sword. Percy released the heaven smiting devil slayer sword and it gave a Vermillion flash before turning back into Hong'er." Not bad. But this princess still isn't satisfied. You have power, the weapon to direct the power at, and an enemy. But you still do not have a heart of the sword. The heart of the sword requires you to grasp your inner path and your true essence and goals. An aimless sword that swings nowhere cannot kill an enemy, no matter how sharp it is or how much power it carries. Your heart of the sword is your collection of experiences. Only you can comprehend it. and if you do so, your sword will have a qualitative change in power."

Percy frowned as he digested her words. Hong'er shook her head." Forget it. to be able to manifest a sword intent within twenty years is already a great feat. To expect you to also form your heart of sword is a remarkably stupid thing." She turned around." But you must do it. because you're wielding the God Slayer princess as your weapon!"' her aura pressed down on Percy and he shivered." Y-yes." Hong'er turned and hugged him and the aura faded away." Hong'er knows her master will do it! because he is Hong'er's Master!" Percy laughed and hugged her back. Hong'er looked up at him." We're going back now. You should start preparing to break through to Olympian level." Percy nodded just as the void untwisted from around him and the two of them were expelled from his inner world.

A.N.: yes, a short chapter, and a really long break, but it was damn hard thinking up a meaningful date. Then I decided on the whole soul world idea so I didn't have to think too hard. The idea was taken from oreimo. Also I hope ya'll remember the whole Dragon God's daughter thing. He promises it to the Azure dragon god back in the Gaia stop hating artemis." You'll understand everything in the next few chapters, hopefully. I decided to postpone all the fights and let their romance develop instead.


	60. What the Heart Wants

**Eight Arc: What the Heart Wants**

Percy spent the next day meditating in seclusion. He used the energy flows as instructed by Hong'er's scroll as he meditated upon the Heart of the sword. He would occasionally stand up and summon the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword and slash out an attack, but none of them seemed to manifest his heart of the sword. Despite the power behind each attack, it seemed to lack a certain… charm. His attacks were just attacks. They could be performed by anyone with sufficient power. But what the Heart of the Sword meant was for him to manifest his Heart in his blade, using his ideals and his experiences to create a unique style that only he could wield, and a unique power that only he could create.

But despite trying his best, he failed to understand what it was that he lacked. Hong'er didn't give him any more pointers. When he did ask her, all she sad was." Your heart can only be manifested by you. nothing I say can influence it. there is no way to explain it to you. it is your experience that determines your heart, so even if I tried explaining it to you, it would be futile, since my experiences are not yours."

After spending a day while trying out different ways to manifest his heart, he gave up and exited seclusion. He decided to break through to Olympian realm once he finished manifesting his Heart of the Sword, but now it seemed it was not going to be so easy.

When he exited the room, calypso was seated outside, meditating by his door. He smiled when he saw her. she glanced up and nodded at him." How was it?" Percy shrugged." I'm stuck at a bottleneck. I feel like I'm missing something important, but I can't figure out what exactly that is." Calypso smiled." What did Hong'er say?"

Percy sighed." She said only I can figure out what my heart needs. Only through that can I manifest my heart." Calypso's smile widened." Is that so? I think I know what you want." Percy looked at her with surprise. Calypso stood and dusted herself. She glanced up at him and poked his forehead with a finger." Stop thinking with your mind." She pressed her palm against his chest, feeling his heartbeat." Feel it from your heart."

She turned away." If you need any help. I'll always be there for you." Percy hugged her from behind." Thank you so much calypso. That really means a lot." She laughed, then slapped his hand." Shoo now. Go get your work done."

Percy smiled at her words, then continued walking. He left the sect, walking around outside the sect and going through the markets in the city. He caught sight of Rachel and Aphrodite. They saw him as well and both headed over to speak with him." Percy! You're done with your seclusion?"

Percy gently shook his head." I failed." Aphrodite seemed surprised." Really? It's that difficult?" she found it hard to believe the Percy she idolized so much could have difficulty accomplishing something.

Percy smiled." Its to be expected. After all, im still not sure exactly what it means, to manifest your heart in your sword." Aphrodite gave a soft "oh". She slapped her palm against the air and it rippled, and a scythe appeared in her grasp." Perhaps it simply means. You have to wield your weapon with love!" she purred and swung her scythe, sending a gentle beam from it into the sky. Percy looked at her with surprise." Full god realm?" Aphrodite giggled and twisted her scythe." Sect master Hestia gave me a God Crystal to fuse with. We were a perfect match! Dear calypso refused to fuse with any god crystals though. She wanted to use her nirvana rebirth to raise her power." Percy nodded and recalled the times he had undergone nirvana alongside her. the first time was when her soul was being burnt to ashes, and he had forcefully absorbed the flames from her. the second time was when he had dual cultivated with her and they had undergone nirvana while being one. Then later after his Styx soul was stolen, he had used her flames to undergo a third nirvana. Then finally, the fourth time was when he had fought artemis. He was trapped in her absolute void. He had rebuilt himself from his very foundation, going from mortal till Full God Realm. Each time was an accident, but each time it gave him great benefits. No wonder Calypso wanted to try using the same power to advance her growth.

Rachel tilted her head as she looked at Percy. Her eyes glowed a faint shade of green and her red hair swirled in the breeze as a dry reptilian scent surrounded her." Percy. What I see is a cycle of karma. There is something you haven't completed, which is why you cannot manifest your heart. With this loose end hanging out, you can't be at peace." She grabbed Aphrodite's hand and tugged." Junior sister. Do not disturb him. He is on a critical breakthrough. Let us take our leave." Aphrodite giggled and kissed Percy's cheek." Yes, yes. I'll see you later then Percy!" her eyes sparkled and she turned away, dragging Rachel into the next store.

"something… I haven't completed? A loose end?" Percy mused over her words for a minute." Does she mean Kronos? I have to kill him before being able to manifest my heart? Isn't that absurd? I'm still far too weak."

He kept thinking over what he had left unfinished as he left the market. He strolled around the city, shoping for a few things, but nothing really caught his eye. He gave a sigh and converged his aura, turning himself nearly invisible. Then he streaked away, reveling in the exhilarating speed as he dashed out of the city.

He ran at high speed that even Olympians would be unable to see. In an instant he had left the city behind him. Before long he came upon a burnt wasteland and came to a sudden stop. He felt his lips curve as he walked in deeper, holding his aura in. in the middle of the wasteland was a small pool of water. And it was here that Hestia had once come to have her bath, resulting in Percy seeing her and her trying to kill him. He wasn't surprised when he saw Hestia sitting by the edge of the pool, soaking her legs in the water as she kicked it. he had already sensed her aura.

She didn't look back as she spoke." Remember how I tried killing you here?" Percy chuckled." If I hadn't been immune to fire, I would have died." She snorted." You deserved that for peeping on my body."

Percy shrugged." It was accidental. You suddenly came here and burnt your clothes off. What was I supposed to do? I had no idea what was going on!" Hestia snickered." But you are still such a pervert. Despite being roasted you still have designs on this Sect master's body."

"I can't help it. after all, the sect master wants to marry me." Percy walked over and sat down beside her. Hestia glanced at him." Percy… you want this power, so you can kill Athena, then go kill her master. Is that right?" Percy nodded. She turned back and continued splashing the lake water." You're lying." Percy froze and looked at her." let me tell you the history of the great war between the Gods and the Devils. Or more accurately, the war between the Gods and their Parents, the Titans."

" the gods had overthrown their predecessors, the titans, and had ruled over the entire universe. You already know the Twelve Celestial Gods, who were also known as Olympians. They ruled for a long time and during this time, humanity was widespread and thrived under their protection. Then the titan's struck back. They rose up and attacked the gods. There was a great battle between the two. In the end… the gods and the titans annihilated each other. Or at least that is what history teaches us. But my Patron, the Vermillion Bird God was one of the Four Divine Beasts, one that followed Zeus, the King of The Olympians. She told me that in fact, the titans were not killed. They were sealed. Zeus and Hades, the two sons of Kronos, lord of time, battled their father. In the end, they were far too weak to kill him. So Zeus and Hades sacrificed their soul, essence and Body. Using this great power, they formed a mighty seal that they placed upon Kronos and his brothers. And so they banished the titans from Earth, and into the endless void. But every seal has its limit. So Poseidon, the last of the Three great gods did not become a part of the seal. He instead hunted down the rest of the titans, and prepared a last bid to fight Kronos and his brothers when they escaped from their seal. This last bid method was… distilling his entire power into a single drop of Lifeblood!"

Percy's eyes flashed and he glanced up with surprise at Hestia. She nodded." Yes. I already guessed you must have fused with that drop of lifeblood. Artemis was rumored to have found that drop of lifeblood and so it made sense you might have been granted that drop. But Poseidon did not stand alone in his battle. He gathered many renegade gods and together they secured a measure of peace and safety for humanity. But unfortunately… Poseidon and his comrades perished as well." Percy was astonished." How did that happen?" Hestia shook her head." The Divine Bird did not know either. All it seems was that Poseidon and his Partner went away to seal a mysterious existence. And they never returned."

Hestia left him with that story and disappeared. It filled in the gaps in his knowledge. All he knew was from his death till his rebirth a great deal of time had passed, but there was no news of Kronos or the other titans. He had met Typhon, and even killed him, but he knew nothing of the other titans. And now he realized that this was the same as the last time he was alive. Once again Kronos was sealed, unable to kill him. But once he escaped, he would without a doubt destroy everything. This was what the fates meant. They had given him a second chance to fulfill the prophecy, to prevent Kronos from winning the great war. The gods had given their all and now it was all up to him.

Percy stood up and summoned riptide, recalling the feeling when he had become one with his blade, achieving what Hong'er had called the sword soul. He studied the blade curiously." What am I lacking in….?" riptide remained silent.

"talking to your sword? That's a sign of madness you know?" Percy spun around with surprise and saw figure in silver slowly floating down. "Artemis!?"

 **Artemis POV(third person):**

He was her disciple. It didn't matter even if he'd gotten himself a new master. She was his first master and he would always be her disciple. And it was totally normal for a master to be worried about her disciple right? And she wasn't stalking him! She was just keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't get himself into more trouble. He always found trouble whenever she moved her eyes off of him.

And so she had, unwillingly, stalked…. Ahem… followed him around the sect, keeping an eye on him at all times. She had watched him sparring with different disciples, helping younger disciples in their jobs, flirting with Hestia, the events of their engagement and all things that they spoke about.

She watched him during his seclusion and later when he had been roaming about, trying to figure out how to overcome his bottleneck.

She smirked as she saw him but her heart fluttered as she floated down."Talking to your sword? That's a sign of madness you know?" Percy was stunned to see her and the fluttering in her heart seemed to speed up as she saw him smile after seeing her." Artemis!?"

She landed down and swept her hair up with one hand." So.. I heard you failed in manifesting your heart?" Percy nodded and tilted his sword." Unfortunately. I just can't seem to manifest it." she snorted and waved her hand." Hmph. Idiot disciple. Don't disappoint me like that!" Percy's mouth twitched and his smile appeared again." Yes… master."

"ahh…ahh..? how dare you laugh!? I'm still your master you know!" Artemis felt her face flush and her cheeks burned. Percy stifled his smile and nodded." Yes. Of course." Artemis scowled and flipped up her hand. Her palm flashed with a silver glow and her sword appeared in her grip." Come. Let this princess beat some sense into your head."

Percy raised riptide and cocked an eyebrow." Do go easy on me." He chuckled. Artemis burst with silver light, hair fluttering and eyes glowing." Moon God's Celestial Transformation!" her yellow silver eyes flashed and she turned into a silver streak. Her sword weaved and struck.

Percy raised his sword, coolly countering her strike, then twisting his blade as he sent her flying backwards. She landed lightly, then raised her sword." Again!" she rushed forward. Percy sighed and blocked her strike, and he slid his sword towards her hilt, twisting and forcing all his weight down and forcing her sword out of her hand, causing it to clatter to the ground. He placed riptide's blade on his shoulder and shrugged." Enough of practice?"

Artemis scowled again and waved her hand, drawing the blade back to her hand." You're using sheer power." Her aura surged and tumbled and the phantom of the moon appeared behind her." what is your heart?" she drew a sharp breath, then slashed.

Immediately her presence disappeared. She suddenly appeared in front of Percy. Her sword slammed into riptide. The swords collided with a loud boom and the ground beneath them cratered. Sparks erupted and Percy was forced backwards." Your sword slash can't lie! When it holds your heart, it will speak the truth, all your experiences, your path, your determination! Your heart represents your essence!" her sword slashes increased in frequency and Percy's eyes widened as he was forced to seriously counter each of her strikes. The strikes seemed to meld together, rising in power. 96…97… 98… 99…. And then she slashed with all her force." Hundred Layered Waves! Hundred strikes in One!" their swords collided and her blade shattered, sending a shockwave of power exploding. Percy was sent skidding backwards, his feet leaving tracks in the ground. He looked up at her with surprise. She was panting heavily, still clutching the sword which was now nothing but a hilt connected to a jagged blade. She raised her head defiantly." That is my Heart! I… am your master!"

Percy lowered his sword. She suddenly realized how intently he was looking at her and blushed red." Idiot disciple! Stop staring at your master!" her face grew even redder as she suddenly thought of Hestia. She dropped her sword hilt and flapped her arms frantically." i.. uh… Idiot disciple! You already seduced one master!... now.. now… you're thinking…. Ahhhh!" she was blabbering so fast Percy couldn't catch even a single word of what she was saying." Artemis? What are you going on about?" he placed Riptide aside and stepped closer to her. she screamed shrilly and leapt into the air, soaring away.

Percy looked up, scratching his head." Artemis…." Inside his Inner world Hong'er was smiling." Interesting. She already manifested her heart, but my idiot of a master couldn't even understand it. anyhow. Big sis is the best person to teach Master." A ripple spread from within Percy's inner world, stretching out into the world and a new spatial and time lock suddenly imposed itself onto Percy.

Artemis was fleeing at high speed. When she was at a sufficient distance, she slowed and looked around." Hmph. Idiot disciple. Can't even respect his master." She held a strand of her hair and nervously twisted it around her fingers." And why is he such an oblivious idiot!" she yelled." who is?". She stiffened and turned with horror. Percy was standing on the ground behind her. she looked around, and she saw that she was back exactly where they had been fighting!

She looked around with surprise, but it was exactly the same place." what the hell?" she muttered and landed down. Hong'er's voice echoed in her head." Ehehehe. Big sis Artemis. Hong'er wants you to train Master. Since you have manifested your Heart of the Sword, you are the best teacher! And Hong'er knows that Master's Heart depends on you to a great extent. So she'll be locking you into this sealed dimension till you both finish comprehending his true determination." Hong'er withdrew her perception and went to sleep, leaving a very flustered Artemis with a very confused Percy.

"Artemis? You suddenly flew away. Then suddenly reappeared here. What's going on?" Artemis composed herself." We're training."

 _-Time skip: 2 days-_

They had battled countless times for two days in a row. Percy's sword skills continued to grow, but he was unable to make that final step to manifest his heart. Artemis was similarly unable to use the Heart in each attack. She found her Heart triggered only when she was willing to speak out the truth.

That was the way of the sword, one blade to drive forward, forging the truth in blood!

After repeated failures, the silent Hong'er decided to take matters into her own hands. She twisted the spatial laws, tuning it into a illusionary array and she did so without informing either Percy or Artemis.

Artemis and Percy were sparring yet again, and as they did so, suddenly the space around Percy thickened, turning into terrifyingly powerful shackles. His movements were restrained entirely. Artemis paused and looked around with worry. Anything capable of shackling Percy would be exceedingly powerful.

A cold aura, filled with killing intent and Bloodlust covered the entire area. Artemis trembled involuntarily and the sword in her grip shivered. She looked around, dreading what she would see. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath as a man appeared behind her, holding a heavy sword as he stepped towards her.

"Ares…" she was trembling as she backed away. The same dreadful voice rang out." Yes my dear daughter. It has been very long am I right?" Artemis was shaking her head as she backed away." No no no. this can't be real. You died. You're dead. You can't be here. This can't be real." Ares chuckled and his terrifying aura swept out." Oh really? But here I am." She backed away till his power descended over her, holding her in place.

Percy struggled against his constraints." Artemis! Artemis!"Ares gave him a disdainful look." You don't deserve to speak to my daughter. Silence!" his sword swept forward and Artemis struggled to raise her sword, blocking the attack. But she was already trembling and the attack entirely overwhelmed her, sending her flying while blood spurted from her shoulder. She collapsed at Percy's feet.

Ares didn't even spare her a glance." Stay down. A pathetic weakling like you isn't worth anything."

Artemis grit her teeth, then stabbed her sword into the ground. She forced herself to stand, steadying her trembling legs." i….i.." Ares smirked." What? You can't protect him. And anyone who associates with you will suffer the same fate." Artemis's eyes glowed." I… am his master!" she clenched her weapon with all her strength." I can't let him suffer before my eyes." Ares laughed like she was a retard." A weakling like you? you aren't worthy to call yourself a master!"

Artemis raised her sword, pointing it at Ares." That might be true." Her trembling stopped and her aura started surging." But in my heart… he will always be mine!" her sword roared as she slashed and the phantom of the moon merged into her attack, bringing the heavy moon to bear against her enemy.

Ares raised his own blade, and parried her blow with ease."is that all you have?" Artemis smirked." Who ever said I was attacking you?" she turned and looked at Percy. The spatial shackles tore as he ripped his wrists free.

He dropped to the ground and summoned the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword." Ares? How are you still alive?" Ares scowled." You have no reason to know." Percy stepped before Artemis." So then Hong'er is up to her games as usual?" Percy chuckled." But I think I finally understood. What my heart wants."

Percy's form darted forward and he clashed with Ares. Heavy sword against Heavy Sword, the two clashed with full fury.

Artemis saw that, although Percy's sword attacks were terrifying, Ares's sword beams were overwhelming. Every strike was extremely precise and every parry was perfectly done. There was no wasted movement.

Percy's attacks failed to even touch Ares.

And in the Battle, Percy obviously knew that better than anyone else.

Ares's offense and defense were impeccable, without even a single flaw. All of Percy's strikes were easily parried by Ares, forcing him to be on the defense as every part of his body was being struck.

As the battle raged on, Percy felt that he was bound to lose.

For the first time, Percy had encountered an opponent that he felt there was no way he could deal with.

The Heavy sword appeared to be everywhere as if it had transformed into thousands of sword shadows.

"Percy, can you not withstand it anymore?" Ares's voice was heard. "Although your talent is astonishing, your Heart of the Sword is too weak!"

Heart of the Sword?

Percy looked at the sword beams, seeing Ares's figure appearing in them.

His eyes only seemed to be filled with swords, making his entire demeanor completely different.

At that moment, he seemed to be one with the Heavy sword.

"Your attacks may be strong, but you haven't cultivated nearly enough. You have ultimately failed to merge with the sword. As such, you are unable to grasp your moves as you truly wish. As for the Heart of the Sword, it can be used to cleave through mountains and it can be a gentle breeze that cannot even cut through a strand of hair."

Ares's sword beam came striking at him once again, instantly sealing off every angle.

Percy immediately felt the surrounding space around him constrict. His breathing was completely suffocated as well.

"Due to the gap in the Heart of the Sword, I am able to use the same move at a much higher level than yours. That is why my Sword is stronger than yours," said Ares.

"You have lost!"

Sou!

Suddenly, countless densely-packed sword beams appeared around Percy before simultaneously stabbing at him!

Percy's pupils constricted as he roared loudly. The Heaven smiting Devil Slayer sword shook violently in response.

Heart of the Sword!

What was the Heart of the Sword?

Was dedication to martial arts in order to pursue the Origins of the Universe with the sword in hand considered the Heart of the Sword?

Pressing forward with indomitable will and never retreating. Was that the Heart of the Sword?

The three great realms of the sword began with gaining insight into Sword Intent, followed by condensing one's Heart of the Sword, then tempering one's Sword Soul, and finally reaching the peak of Sword wielding.

Percy had long gained insights into Sword Intent but why could he not condense the Heart of the Sword? His Heart of the Sword didn't seem blatantly weaker than others.

Suddenly, in front of Percy's eyes, an image of Piper flashed. The Azure Dragon God had once asked him, why he wanted a Heavy sword. Was it to crush all enemies before him with ease, decimating all foes? Hestia had asked him if he sought power to defeat Athena and Kronos. But now the attack Ares had launched was heading straight at him. He could not parry, nor could he block. He had to dodge. But behind him, Artemis was still standing, not moving, placing her trust in him.

Percy's Heart of the Sword was to defend his friends and those dear to him!

Weng!

The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword resonated with a high-pitched hum!

"My heart of the sword is to become a shield for my Artemis! My sword is wielded so that I may protect what is dear to me!" The Azure Dragon Roared and the Vermillion Bird Screeched. Twin phantoms appearing behind Percy as he slashed." My way of the Sword: Dragon Flame Intent!"

Artemis clutched at the neck of her dress as Percy and Ares clashed." Big brother… I've… found the man who loves me enough to protect me." She whispered softly.

The phantom of Ares was torn to shreds under the sheer power of Percy's strike, disintegrating until nothing was left behind. The power of the Heart manifested in the sword slash! Percy's power had grown impossibly efficient!

He spun, steps sure as he walked over to Artemis. She stared at him, heart pounding as he drew closer." Artemis… my heart…" he suddenly hugged her. her heart felt like it was going to burst and her face turned a deep shade of red that she had never managed before. She was frozen for three seconds after which she screamed, exploding with aura and launching Percy away.

"i-i-i-idiot! H-h-h-how can you just c-c-come and hug me!?" she stomped her foot and turned to go. Percy chuckled then called out." can I have you… with me.. for sometime?" she paused, then turned to him." What do you mean?"

He sat up and rubbed his head." Well… while I was in the market… I picked up a few things. So I was wondering if you'd be willing?" he summoned a few things out of his inner world and showed them to Artemis." What are those?" she asked. He dropped them down onto the ground." Well they're supposed to be fireworks…" Artemis bit her lip, then hesitantly nodded.

She raised her hand and her night domain spread out. Percy glanced at her with surprise." Idiot disciple. It would obviously look better at night wouldn't it?" she grumbled and he nodded in understanding." I see."

She picked up one of the fireworks and glanced at it." how do these work?" Percy started laughing and she chucked the fireworks at him." Hey! Do you want me here or not?" Percy quickly pacified her and soon they were burning fireworks, spinning and laughing.

The domain of night was filled with colorful sparkles of light that reflected off both their smiles.

When they were done, Artemis gave Percy a hesitant look, struggling with herself. Finally she gave him a smile and left, taking off her domain as she did.

Percy watched her leave, then he went back to the city, heading back to the sect. after non stop training, he was quite drained and sleepy. he reached back without incident. Night had fallen and the even the usually bustling city was now silent. He found his room empty, which was surprising since calypso usually spent the night there. He shrugged and didn't think too much about it.

He went to sleep, quickly sinking deep into sleep. His sleep was light and dreamless, but he was awoken when suddenly in the middle of the night, his cheek stinging. His eyes snapped open, muscles tensing instantly as he started to summon the Heaven Smiting sword. Then he saw the figure straddling his hips, her familiar scent swirling around him and he froze." Artemis?! What are you doing here? In the middle of- oof!" artemis drove her elbow into his chest and he instantly shut up. She glared at him." Idiot! Don't be so loud!"

She was dressed in a simple sleeping clothes and was hugging a pillow with one arm as she pouted." i…i… " she took a deep breath." Can I sleep here!" she nearly shouted in one quick breath. Percy blinked at her, astonished. Then he nodded." Ok." Artemis opened her mouth, ready with an explanation, then froze." Huh?" Percy smiled." Of course you can sleep here.". Artemis chewed on her lip." Don't you… like… need an explanation… or some reason…?" Percy shrugged." Not really. If you want to I really don't mind letting you."

Artemis shook her head, letting her hair cover her face." Ok then turn over." She slipped of his waist. Percy looked at her." wha-" she caught his shoulder and forced him to turn over and slipped under his blanket, resting her arms against his back." You're the worlds biggest idiot. But I'm… glad to have you. if not for you… I'd never understand how it feels to be free." Percy silently listened to her speak. Then he turned around. She gaped for a second then started scrambling backwards. Percy grabbed her, embracing her." Artemis, I want you to listen." She was panicking as she beat his chest with her fists." Artemis! I'm speaking not as your disciple, nor as a core disciple of the flame seed sect, nor as the successor of Poseidon. As of now, I'm speaking as Percy jackson." She paused and looked up at him, eyes wide and her breathing unsteady." What is it? please… I have to know…"." artemis. I love you." Percy blurted in a single breath and braced himself for her strike, but it never arrived. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down.

Her eyes were filled with tears and she hugged him." Idiot… how long does it take for you to say that?" he stared at her for a second, feeling astonishment, shock and finally joy. They both laughed. Artemis closed her eyes and her grip around him tightened." Please don't ever leave me again." Percy rubbed her head." Shouldn't I be saying that?" she hit him again and he nodded hurriedly." Yes yes. I'll never leave you again." Artemis hid her smile against him and closed her eyes." Then let me enjoy this night with you." she sighed softly.

In the morning Artemis awoke before Percy. She blinked and looked around blearily. She saw Percy asleep beside her, and she sprang up with surprise, almost screaming with surprise. She looked around. Then she looked back at Percy, who was sound asleep. Her thoughts raced and she blushed, then rubbed her cheeks with both hands." How can I be so cowardly!" she clapped her face with both hands and shook her head, clearing it. She giggled softly and bent, tucking her hair behind her ear." I love you too, Percy." She kissed him softly, then raised her head and screamed out loud.

Hestia, Calypso and Aphrodite were all standing at the door, knowing smiles on their faces. Hestia tilted her head." So it is true that the Asura Blood Contract can be broken by love. First when Apollo did it for you and second when you broke it for him." Aphrodite laughed." Oh my! No wonder you didn't want him to marry Piper!" Calypso smiled gently." Percy is really lucky to have you."

Percy was woken by the scream and opened his eyes in time to see Artemis scream again, shaking her head." N-n-no! i-i-I never planned all this!" Calypso and the rest all tackled her, pushing her down onto Percy, while her screams echoed across the room.

A.N.:Pertemis! Pertemis! Pertemis! Hope I satisfied all the fans who have no doubt been dying for their feelings to make an appearance! Well so was I, which is why I spent all day planning and typing out this chapter! Also sorry if you were expecting a smut. The moment was so cute it would ruin it to put a smut there between their romance.

And I have an exam next week so I don't know what will happen all of next week. Just warning you guys. Also I started reading the stories that ya'll reviewed. Most of you said my story sounded like the Percy jackson fanfic in which he's reborn and stuff. And yes it does seem quite similar. BBwulf your review is right I suppose, but I really don't have much experience writing out such fanfics. This is my first attempt actually. So well I suppose there are many mistakes and hopefully I'll correct them and improve in the future.

I suppose I can improve my writing, but fast updates equals lesser planning time. So I tend to cram everything together and just go with it. after all, I don't have enough time to plan everything, type proofread and then post.

And seriously, give me some decent response. Its boring writing other wise. Yes review and pm and stuff. Ciao with peace from Manhattan.


	61. Trouble Strikes

**Eight Arc: Trouble Strikes**

After having Manifested his heart, Percy realized exactly why it was so valuable. Suddenly his strikes seemed to come to life, each slash carrying immense vitality and meaning behind it. and using this you could even figure out a person's personality, simply by observing the meaning hidden in their sword. When Percy wielded his sword while manifesting his sword, his entire style seemed to subtly change, utilizing his swords full force to simply protect the people standing behind him. That was the manifestation of his Sword Heart: Heavy Sword Shield. The only problem Percy faced was that Riptide seemed to have fallen asleep ever since he defeated Artemis. The once arrogant sword was now completely silent and subdued, with no sign of its sword God Spirit like it had previously shown.

And though Percy should have been relieved that it wasn't trying to control or backstab him anymore, he couldn't help but feel a measure of unease and worry at its silence. It was one of his trump cards, but now it was completely silent. Naturally this was a great loss to Percy. And this blade had accompanied him from his previous life and in a way it was one of the few people who actually understood what was going on in his new life. And even his sword Heart seemed to grow weak when he used it with Riptide. It was showcased with all it's might only when he used it while wielding the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. He had considered giving the sword to Hong'er to eat, but had not done so out of sentimental reason's.

And now having mastered the Heart of the Sword, he was finally ready to break into the Olympian realm. He secluded himself once again, meditating for an entire day to prepare his mindset.

Some people meditated for years to reach their peak, but for a twenty year old like Percy, that was too long. Once was completely prepared, his mind resonated with the power of a peak full god. The space around him trembled and rumbled. The presence off the three Overgods appeared." Perseus Jackson. You seek to defy the heavens? You wish for power that no mortal should ever wield? You shall challenge the Power of the Olympians?" Percy gave a silent nod, seated cross-legged on the ground as his eyes remained shut, breathing calm.

" You wish to defy the heavens! To stand Against The Gods! Then face the punishment the heavens give those who defy it! Face the Nine Elements Heavenly Tribulation!"

Space trembled and tore, revealing the dark void behind it. the void exerted pressure upon Percy, sucking him in.

Percy hung in the endless darkness, all alone except for the three Overgods. Then the void itself trembled and suddenly gigantic pillars erupted from nothingness, rising from under Percy and striking at him. He snorted and his aura erupted, terrifying pressure that no ordinary Olympian could withstand. The Thunder pillars stalled for a second, then sharpened into gigantic spikes and pierced through his pressure, driving straight at him.

Percy stood and the Sword tattoo oon his wrist flashed, and the Heaven Smiting Sword appeared in his grasp. He held the hilt securely and the blade hummed with power as he lashed out.

The terrifying lightning spikes were shredded to pieces with that single slash!

The shredded energy turned into ropes that snaked at him. He swung again, destroying all the fragments. but a few reached him, binding around his wrists and slowing his slashes.

Just as they did, the void trembled again and gigantic stone warriors appeared around Percy, wielding gigantic stone blades. They moved in unison, striking at Percy. If it was anyone else, the lightning would have overloaded their bodies, slowing their attacks and defense. But to Percy, who had previously absorbed the same Lighting tribulation, this was nothing but nourishment!

The Tree of Enlightenment Bloomed behind Percy, Branches rising to the sky as they held up the heavens! Percy erupted with ThunderFire and slashed out!

The gigantic stone guardians had no chance to dodge. They were directly melted into molten rock and decimated in one stroke!

There were Dragon roars that surrounded Percy, and twin Dragons of Flame and Water appeared on either side of him. Percy smirked." Really?" there was a Roar and a Screech as Two of the Four Divine beasts appeared behind Percy! The Azure Dragon, General of the Seas! And The Vermillion Bird, Sovereign of the Skies!

The twin phantoms overshadowed the two elements and they were immediately subdued. They meekly bowed before Percy. He stretched out his hand and absorbed the Fire dragon and Water dragon, draining their powers for himself.

There was silence for a moment, then suddenly the space around Percy began spinning with blades of air. The Tribulation of wind began!

Blades of wind struck at him from all directions and Percy moved in unison with the wind, his heavy sword spinning like a feather as it countered each strike. He coolly built up the rhythm of his strikes, all his strikes melding together till they exploded out with force!" thousand Layered Waves!"

The hurricane around him was instantly shredded by the countless sword blades he released. He smirked and looked around." Is this just me, or is there no difficulty?"

The Overgod of Death scowled." Punk let me show you difficulty."

Light flashed and Darkness screamed. The twins powers suddenly erupted, twisting into thin threads that surrounded Percy. Percy's eyes flashed." Divine Sea Transformation!" the Blue Green Trident Blazed to life above his head and then thrust forward! It slashed through all obstructions like they didn't exist, a deadly arc or destruction!

The Power of light and darkness was instantly decimated before its force. Percy's sword blazed with a mixture of Crimson, Golden and Vermillion flames and followed suit, burning away the last bits of resistance and completely crushing the power of the two elements that surrounded him. The Overgod of death fell silent." This damn punk is simply too good."

The Overgod of fate sighed." That is to be expected. He is already as powerful as a Mid stage Olympian. This trial is nothing to him." The Overgod of life nodded in agreement.

The three Overgods swept their arms out and a wave of tumultuous power erupted." The last two elements shall stand in place, gate to guard and weapons bared!"

There was a light hum and suddenly Percy's Poseidon bloodline was sealed. He frowned as all is bloodline were sealed one by one." Tribulation of Yin and Yang!"

Percy felt sudden heat surround him. He started to raise his sword, when suddenly coldness spread all over him at the same time. He looked around cautiously." Pure heat. Pure cold. Pure Yang. Pure Yin." He murmured to himself. Hestia had already warned him that the last trial would seal his bloodlines. And she had explained to him about the Concept Behind Yin and Yang.

But to pass the trial required him to grasp the concepts by himself." The two extremes. Heat and Cold. Light and Darkness. Life and Death. Yin and Yang were the basis of everything, but to comprehend it required high perceptivity!

Percy closed his eyes, letting the two laws resonate through him. He could feel the sheer power and vitality of Pure Yang, rushing through his veins, a segment of new life itself. Yin on the Other hand, representing decay and death was far too difficult to sense.

It carried the power of destruction, but it wasn't destruction.

Hestia had told Percy, that it was easy to pass the last trial, since most people would somehow manage to get some understanding of the true laws. But to perfectly pass the trial was nigh impossible. But perfectly passing the trial meant being able to breakthrough perfectly!

And understanding these laws was beneficial to him as well. If he couldn't understand them, he would lose a valuable opportunity to get stronger.

He could sense pure yang entirely, but it wasn't perfect. He could barely sense pure yin and it was far too weak.

He calmly focused his mind, letting their truths resonate through him, letting the light be revealed little by little.

Why was he unable to grasp the Perfect Yang Law? He used Poseidon's Powers so he understood the laws quite well. He had the Vermillion Bird bloodline so he was naturally connected to Yang. But there was still a portion missing. And Yin was almost entirely out of his reach!

In the endless darkness of the void, suddenly a silver glow shone out. His eyelids twitched and he opened his eyes, looking down at his chest. There was the faint crescent moon Artemis had left on him when she had first formed the bond of blood with him. He stared at the crescent tattoo, feeling the resonance it held with yin.

The laws resonated and the Tree of Enlightenment Bloomed again, digging its roots into the nothingness of the void, raising its branches to support the heavens!

In his mind he recalled the story Annabeth had once told him." At first, there was nothing but chaos, chaos that gave birth to the first primordial Gods. The embodiment of Chaos then gave birth to the lesser primordials, Gaia, Nyx, Tartarus, Ouranus and Pontus. Nyx was night, the absolute embodiment of Darkness. But darkness could not exist alone, and she gave birth to Hemera, the Goddess of the Day. Mother and daughter together , embodied Night and Day, Darkness and Light, Yin and Yang."

Percy shivered as realization surged through him. Indeed a piece of understanding was missing in his understanding of Yang. And this gap was exactly as big as how much he understood Yin. If he were to add that 1% of yin to the 99% of yang… his eyes glowed blue green, then a hint of silvery threads began mixing in them.

A sudden vortex opened up around him, like an unending whirlpool. Immediately all the law fragments that surrounded him were sucked into his body and were imprinted onto the Mighty tree that stood in his inner world!

The void crackled and bent, being sucked into the whirlpool as well. The Overgods were silent as they watched the entire scene play out." A perfect completion. Truly unexpected. But then again… we were all expecting him to do that weren't we?"

The Overgods bowed their heads silently as the entire void itself crumbled and was torn to shreds before being imbued into Percy. It was drawn into his inner world and the previously well developed inner world was suddenly surrounded by space. All the law fragments swirled in this space, then began fusing together, starting to form their own stars. And with that, Percy's inner world developed even further, extending beyond the sky and into space as stars began forming, twinkling in the sky.

The Overgods exchanged wry glances." If the trial ground is destroyed…" the Overgod of death spoke up. The Overgod of fate nodded."we can no longer hold a test or stop the full god's from reaching Olympian Realm." The three Overgods sighed." Just like the Three mistresses of fate had warned. He breaks all the rules, wherever he goes."

Percy opened his eyes as he floated down and landed down in his room. He stretched our his hand and the heaven smiting sword appeared in his hand, blade glinting coldly in his grasp. He closed his eyes and activated his sword intent.

Sou!

The room trembled and the wall was blasted open without him moving even an inch. He flipped his palm, storing his sword into his inner world. Hestia floated down the sky." That aura. I presume you broke through?" Percy nodded." Perfect breakthrough." Hestia sighed and clasped her face." You can't do anything like normal people can you?" Percy shrugged with a smirk." Oh I cant help it. after all I tend to…" Hestia raised an eyebrow." I tend to sweep people off their feet." She shook her head." How long did you work on that line?" Percy tapped his chin with a finger." A few…. Hundred times?"

Hestia nodded." Well it did seem quite… polished… to say the least." He stuck his tongue out at her." well I'm sorry. At least I have a decent sense of humor unlike you. oh and lets not forget that with my breakthrough, im officially an Olympian, so I exceed you in power now!" Hestia scowled and her palm was set on fire." Is that so? Let me verify that."

Calypso smiled when she saw Percy exit his chamber. Then her smile faltered." Percy… why are all your hair half-burnt?" Hestia followed him out. She gave a light laugh." Oh no. well I was disciplining him.i hope you don't mind calypso." Calypso smiled gently and shook her head." No of course not. He definitely needs some disciplining, that's for sure." The two girls giggled and looked back at Percy. Calypso blushed." Oh dear. Your hairstyle really is nice you know. it suits you quite well."

Percy grimaced and brushed at his singed hair." Good to know my immunity to fire doesn't protect my hair from Hestia." The two girls burst into laughter.

 _-Time Skip-_

The flame seed sect set up its defensive arrays and protective barriers, all in preparation for Athena's attack. All disciples were ordered to stay within the Defensive arrays at all times and full God disciples were appointed to keep watch over the Barrier and prevent any chances of her sneaking in without anyone's notice.

Percy began consolidating his foundation, while the other peak god's continued guarding the sect along with Hestia.

Artemis was busy practicing her swordsmanship skills on her time off, busy in the arena. When she was done, she sheathed her blade, turning around to leave. Suddenly she her body tremble and a cold shiver ran down her spine. The world seemed to slow down around her and space compressed, constricting her body into place. she grit her teeth and forced her aura to explode, freeing herself.

Still trembling, she turned and drew in a sharp breath. Behind her someone was practicing with a simple wooden sword, slashing and hacking a wooden dummy.

Each blow seemed crafted and seemed to contain profound laws that carried tremendous power. A natural suppression due to the absolute difference in power spread throughout her and she struggled to stay on her feet, to stop herself from dropping to her knees.

The person practicing ignored her entirely, as if unaware of her existence. Artemis grit her teeth and summoned her strength and frantically sent Percy a Mental Transmission, asking him to come immediately.

Space beside her tore open almost immediately and Percy appeared from within the void, eyes sharp and alert. An instant later, Hestia Appeared, Protectively standing in front of Artemis. Percy looked at her and nodded." The two of you. get out of here. Now!" Artemis widened her eyes." But Percy! We cant leave you alone to fight her!" she protested immediately. Hestia scowled and grabbed her wrist before flitting away into the sky, dragging her along.

Percy turned back to the person." Thanks for waiting." The person pulled her helmet off, letting her long blonde hair free. Her Grey eyes locked onto Percy and a cold smile spread over her face." Done saying goodbye?"

Percy smirked and the heaven smiting Sword appeared in his grasp." You must be really worried about me, coming here right after you broke through to Overgod realm." Athena giggled." Well I must say. Your rate of growth exceeds most freaks even a freak like me, who is able to break into the Overgod realm cannot take you too lightly. Master Kronos wanted you finished off as soon as possible, to ensure no mistakes. I can't afford to let him down this time."

Percy laughed and is clothes crackled as his aura exploded." You're really so confident about being able to defeat me?" Athena's eyebrow twitched." A perfect breakthrough eh? Just as I thought! You cannot be allowed to live!"

Percy raised his sword and Athena moved, thrusting her palm out. The skies darkened and the very ground trembled. Her palm seemed to become gigantic, larger than an entire mountain as it bore down on Percy.

His chest tightened and his heart seemed to be getting Squeezed, his pupils shrank to pinpoints, then widened to the limit and his Aura raged and accumulated over his sword. The Blood of Poseidon burnt with fury and the flames of the divine birds exploded all over him. The Dragon God's Strength surged into his body and he sucked in a sharp breath and swung, letting all his power explode out in one single motion.

Her palm and His sword blade collided and blood spurted out from all over his arm, exploding from the burst vessels. His bones creaked and he was sent flying backwards, skidding and digging gouges in the earth as he went backwards.

Athena pulled her hand back and examined it with a bit of surprise." Oh, you managed to cut me! But don't worry it's almost healed up already. If you do it another hundred times, you might draw blood!" Percy scowled and forced himself to straighten up, ignoring the pain from all over his body.

 _-Meanwhile-_

Artemis struggled free from Hestia's grip before darting away from her." what are you doing! We have to go back there and help Percy! We can't let him fight her by himself!" Hestia's scowl grew and she waved her hand, surrounding them with a sphere of fire. " are you a fool? We're nothing but burdens to him! He can take care of himself! If we get involved, he'll be distracted and he won't be able to focus on his battle with her! you want him to worry about us while he fights!?"

Artemis's eyes flashed coldly and her bow appeared in her hand." If you're so foolish, then go ahead and run. But I know Percy. Even if he doesn't want me there, I'll never leave his side again! If he wants to protect me, then he'll have to win. I'll be his reason to fight, I will be his sword." Hestia grit her teeth." Just speaking like that doesn't mean you being there will be any help to him!."

Artemis laughed coldly, then snorted derisively." Haven't you ever felt his Sword heart? The reason he wields that sword is not for himself. He chose that sword for the same reason as my brother, to protect the people he loves."

Percy struggled to hold his sword up. Athena smiled as she turned back to him." How many times can you hold off my attack? It doesn't seem likely your healing can keep up with your injuries for much longer am I right?" Percy was silent, suddenly he saw a silver and vermillion flash that headed towards him from either side, coming to stop right beside him. He tensed and glanced at Hestia." Hestia! Why are you here?" Hestia raised her sword." Unfortunately, you're master makes a good point while arguing." Artemis laughed." And your master is smart enough to listen to me when I give her advice." Percy glanced at her." Artemis! Why did you come back!? And why didn't you stop her Hestia?" the two girls smiled at each other." We decided that we trust you enough to defeat her." Athena's eyebrow twitched and she smirked." Oh really? I was planning on leaving you two alive, but now I have a better idea. I'll kill the two of you, right in front of Percy!"

Percy sighed and glanced over at Artemis." If I beat her, do I get a kiss?"

Artemis blushed and glared at him." If you don't beat her, I will stab you with a thousand swords! And if you do, then I won't." Percy shrugged." It was worth a try wasn't it?"

Athena stepped forward." Enough of your nonsense. Now die!"

The Phantom of the Azure dragon appeared behind Percy, wings spreading as it defied the heavens. A Thunderous roar shook the world as the Dragon God Phantom seemed to attack Athena." Dragon God's Soul Domain!" Athena flinched and her eyes clouded over, but then cleared in an instant." Hmph. Are you trying to use a mental domain on a master of the mind? Even if your attack is impressive, your power itself is far too weak. Plus, once you reach the Overgod realm, mental attacks become common. So dealing with this one wasn't so difficult."

Percy scowled then sent a mental transmission to Artemis and Hestia, explaining his plan to them." We have only one shot at this, so listen carefully….."

Athena lifted the sword she had been practicing with from the ground. It was a simple sword, made for simply training. But in her hands, it became a deadly weapon that could cause the earth to shatter in a single blow. Even her palm was something far beyond a normal Olympians level. She smirked and raised the weapon. Percy grit his teeth, then spoke in a measured voice." The Dragon God's soul domain was an attack to suppress a person's soul using the Dragon God's Aura." Athena nodded." Indeed. But your own power is simply far too weak." Percy understood the logic behind his attack. If an enemy's power was simply too high, then his Dragon aura would be destroyed before even reaching them. But of course, that was when he used the Dragon Soul Domain. Previously, this was an extremely difficult attack that used up most of his mental energy. But now he found it quite easy to use. Of course that wasn't the only attack the dragon soul gave him.

Percy inhaled deeply, his ribs creaking as he sucked in all the air around him. Athena frowned as she saw the Phantom of the Azure dragon shrink and get sucked into his body. The Phantom entered his body and suddenly the wings of the dragon erupted from his back, large enough to wrap all the way around him.

Azure blue scales sparkled over his skin and his eyes turned a solid Blue green. his chest rumbled and he sucked in even more air. He straightened compressing all the air inside his lungs. Athena stared at him, dumbfounded. Then Percy stepped forward, foot smashing into the ground before Roaring!

"Roaaar!"

The phantom of the Azure Dragon was reflected in him as the terrifying Dragon roar tore open the void as it smashed into Athena. She trembled and Blood seeped from her eyes and nose. Her face went red and she dropped to her knees.

Artemis and Hestia had to resist the urge to cover their ears, letting the blood seep freely from their ears as they moved in unison.

Artemis raised her bow and split into 29 forms, surrounding Athena." Twenty nine dances of the Moon!" she fired a blanket of arrows, all that smashed into Athena while she was dazed. Right as soon as he attack finished, Hestia followed up behind her, her Flame Princess sword erupting into vermillion flames as she struck, pouring all her power into that single sword slash. A screeching bird of fire flew out of her sword and smashed directly into Athena's chest. The world around her erupted into a mix of silvery and Vermillion flames.

Hestia dropped to her knees, panting and wheezing. Percy wasn't in much better shape. He slammed the sword blade into the ground, because he doubted he could hold it up for that long anyway. Artemis grabbed his shoulder as she raised her bow, scanning the flames and smoke for any sign of Athena. She didn't find any and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She turned to Percy, smiling. Percy started smiling back, then froze. Artemis spun around, raising her bow towards the inferno. The flames were spinning and rising up, quickly scattering. Percy scowled as Athena stepped out, her hair burnt and clothes tattered, his skin red and raw in some areas, but none of the wounds were lethal. She smiled cruelly as she saw them." Surprise. Did you think you'd killed me?"

She raised her hand and pushed her palm out. Percy grit his teeth and struggled to bring his sword up in time. But the strike directly blew apart his defense, forcefully throwing him backwards till he smashed into the ground behind him, bleeding profusely. Athena laughed hysterically." Wait right there! I'll kill these two right in front of you in the most painful way possible!"

A.N.: guys I am so sorry and ashamed for what happened these past two weeks. I had to quickly prepare this chapter, so there might be a few mistakes. My laptop is mostly back to normal so there shouldn't be any future problems, so hopefully I can keep up my regular updates. Also I hope you enjoyed the new battle, after such a long time of peace. The return to earth is imminent!


	62. Path of a Divine True God

**Eight Arc: Path of a Divine True God**

Athena laughed hysterically, then raised her hand and a sword of pure energy appeared in her grasp. Percy knew without a doubt, that even at peak performance. He would be severely wounded if he was hit by that sword while defending. He shot to his feet, ignoring the wounds that ripped open as his already damaged body started moving without recuperating.

He stretched out his free arm and Riptide appeared in his hand, but the blade felt empty, devoid of its spirit. He grit his teeth and gave a desperate shout as he swung both swords at her. Athena ignored him as she swung her sword in a horizontal arc at Artemis and Hestia. The sword glowed and a wave of pure destructive power was emitted from it, hurtling at the two of them.

There was a burst of sudden light and space between Athena and the Two girls was torn open. It exploded and swallowed her entire attack. Percy and the others stared at the tear in disbelief. There a rustling sound and three people dressed in heavy gowns stepped out from within. Percy's eyes widened." The Three Overgods!?" the Overgod of Fate flung her arms open and a shimmering field of green spread from her, covering the three of them. The Overgod of Life shimmered and appeared by Percy's side." Wait. Let me heal your wounds first."

Athena Glared at the three of them." What is this?! The Overgods are forbidden from interfering!" the Overgod of Fate chuckled." Indeed, our hands are tied when it comes to the Affairs of mortals. We aren't allowed to interfere because our power is simply too great and we can unbalance everything if we did. However, this Realm is under our supervision, and we were given this responsibility by the Three mistresses of Fate! As such,an outsider like you is forbidden from acting in our territory!"

Athena growled with frustration." I was born inside this subrealm and I was raised here as well. I am not an outsider! I have come to finish my enmity!" the Overgod shook her head." Your excuses do not hold any merit. You broke through to Overgod realm, by borrowing the power of Kronos. That makes you his follower! Only those who borrow the Power of the Fates to breakthrough are considered Natives of this land! Hence I Shall stop you if you try acting any further."

Athena's features twisted with rage." So that's how you want to play it huh?" The Overgod of Death moved closer to Percy, assuming a Protective Stance." Begone, follower of Kronos! Or do you think, that in an injured state, you can take on three older and more powerful and experienced Overgods?" Athena lifted her hand a grayish black jade slip appeared in her grasp." I didn't want to use this, since Kronos would punish me for wasting his essence. But he commanded that the Death of Perseus Jackson takes precedence over all else. So now I give you a choice. Step aside. Or die alongside him."

Percy was entirely healed now and he stood and glanced at the jade slip. He immediately recognized the aura. A heavy presence that made space sticky and heavy, slowing the very time around it. it was very faint, but there was no doubting it." Kronos…."

The three Overgods stepped back with surprise. Then the Overgod of fate laughed." I'm an old lady now. I have faithfully served the Fates for so long, Dying for them isn't such a big deal for me." She held her arm out and a Green sphere materialized above her palm. The Overgod of life appeared beside her and a shield appeared in her hand, large enough to cover both of them. The Overgod of Life set the shield down and turned around." Death! Take them and go!"

The Overgod of Death spun around, letting his robes explode outwards. Athena realized what they were doing and crushed down. The Aura of Kronos exploded outwards, directed at Percy. But as soon as it struck the gigantic shield, the weapon trembled and emitted a deep gong and the Overgod of Life turned pale.

That was the last thing Percy saw before the world around him turned black as they were all covered by the Overgod of Deaths Robes and were spatially transported away from there.

Percy felt his organs wrench and twist as the slightest wisp of Kronos's Aura reached him, worming into his body, down to his soul. He felt his face turn pale and he spat a mouthful of blood as the wisp started eating him up from inside. He was unable to put up any defense and the power rampaged around his body. Even the Blood of Poseidon dimmed and seemed powerless against it. it reached the devil orb buried inside him and the power of wisp grew even stronger.

No one else seemed to notice the power eating him up from inside. His condition worsened and he knew it was only a matter of time before his body collapsed. Due to the spatial tunnel, no one could hear him even if he were to scream.

The power burrowed deeper into him, reaching the very core of his body, but then bounced off the core. The power swirled, as if angry at being stopped. It gathered more force, then attacked the barrier again. Each crash made Percy grimace as more and more damage piled onto him.

Then suddenly there was a crisp cracking sound as the power finally cracked the barrier. But before anything more could happen, a pure wave of power erupted from the crack, instantly destroying the wisp of power. The power circulated around Percy's body, healing all the damage and strengthening it. then a conscending voice rang out in his mind." How pathetic. You aren't qualified to use my power. Go train and come back again." Then the presence in his mind disappeared a nd he looked around with surprise. The presence had destroyed Kronos's Aura like it was nothing. Of course, it w as just a small wisp, but even that was beyond most Olympians level. And that was just a small bit of power that had leaked from a tiny crack. Then how powerful was the entire being?

Percy wondered about it for a period of time then shook his head as the spatial fluctuations grew weaker, indicating the tunnel was coming to an end. The tunnel shook, then spat them out. The four of them slammed into the ground, skidding across the sandy ground. Percy sat up and spat out a mouthful sand, before turning to look at the other two beside him. Artemis brushed his concerned hand away impatiently." I'm fine. But are we sure she can't follow us here?"

The Overgod stood up." No she can't follow us. And even if she could, in her current condition it would be suicide." He sighed and pulled off the hood from his. Percy and Artemis both sat up with surprise. The Overgod had young features, with long black hair that hung down till his shoulders. He had dark eyes and pale olive skin. Percy gulped. Those familiar features. There was no mistaking it." Nico!?"

Nico smiled tiredly and nodded." I imagine you would have quite a lot of questions."

 _-a while later-_

" so you didn't die during the second Great war. But the Fates took you in and trained you." Percy said finally after hearing his explanation. Nico nodded again." Yes. Most of the time I was in a time frozen trance, so I didn't age that much. They had planned to train me to work under them. The Previous me you met, was an avatar I created so I could keep an eye on you and protect you if necessary." Percy frowned." If Kronos is such a big problem, then why don't the fates personally kill him?"

Nico shook his head." There are divine rules constraining the Fates. And even if they were free to act, there is no Guarantee that in a battle between the Fates and the Titans, the Fates would win. The Titans are also direct Descendants of the Primordial Gaia, while the Fates are Children of Nyx. But they are outnumbered by the Titans by a large amount. " Percy was stunned." Wait, so the Titans are on Par with the Fates?" Nico shook his head." No a single ordinary titan is no match for one of the Fates. But there are powerful Titans like Hyperion, krios and oceanus, who are quite close to them in power,as well as Kronos himself, who might be able to fight one of the fates. Therefore, the Fates cannot recklessly try and battle them." Percy nodded with understanding." So where are we now?"

Nico stood up and looked around." This is one of the Original Dimensions created by Chaos. But you know it as the Gaia Continent." Percy sat up with surprise." Wait I'm back home?!" Nico chuckled." Yes, but not for long I'm afraid. We do have too many enemies to deal with. I've simply brought you here to meet with one of the Primordial Godesses, who is on the verge of death."

" a primordial goddess… on the verge of death?"

Nico gave a solemn nod." Even god's cannot live forever. When what they stand for is destroyed, they fade. You already know that. Usually that isn't the case with Primordials, but things are different now."

"different? How?". Percy asked. " the balance held between the Primordials is under threat. And so they have been fighting. However, over these many many eons, this war has weakened the Primordials as well. Now this particular goddess is on the verge of Eternal Sleep. Once that happens, she will be lost to the world." Artemis shivered." Who is it?" Nico bowed his head." It is the Mother of all life. Gaia, Goddess of the Earth."

 _-the Realm of the Gods-_

Athena was roaring with frustration as she tried tracing the destination of the tunnel. The two Overgods of Fate and Life were lying in crumpled heaps, their broken forms devoid of life. She screamed with abject rage as her probes failed to bring back any results. She sneered and smashed her palm onto the two Overgods." Dead! You're both dead, but im still not satisfied! Grrrr I will find that boy, and I'll teach him a good lesson!" she swept her arm out and a small fortress floated out from her palm. Then she disappeared into the mini sized floating residence with a burst of light. The castle warped space around it, then disappeared.

 _-center of the Gaia Continent: deep fire Grotto-_

Percy and Nico had already spent almost an entire week in a deep grotto that had been hidden deep underground. The Grotto was Large, as Large as the Throne Room of Olympus. But it was entirely empty, devoid of any decoration. The bare rock pulsed with gentle eddy's of power that swirled and wrapped around the two of them.

Percy paced the length of the grotto, feeling worried. Nico had insisted that Artemis and Hestia would be safe in this realm. After all, they were the absolute powerhouses in this land. And he was unsure if Gaia would appear in the presence of so many outsiders.

" its Already been a week Nico! How much longer?" Percy snapped at him.

Nico shrugged." To a primordial this week is less than a single breath. They can spend entire years before uttering a single word. But of course, since she's so injured, she should contact us soon enough."

Percy was just about to snap at him again, but suddenly the entire place trembled slightly." Hmmmm? You ask me for an audience, then have the gall to be impatient?" a deep voice that seemed to reverberate from the depths of the Earth echoed across the Grotto." The children of the sea have always been so Unruly." Nico stood up and Bowed." Lady Gaia. The Son of Hades greets you."

Percy looked and blinked with surprise as the ground rumbled and rose up. The figure of a woman emerged from the dirt, her features emerging from the earth. She was tall, taller than the god's in their God Form. Her eyes were Green, but a Bright green of the new leaves and fresh plants." So…. This is the boy?" Percy felt an overpowering sense of oppression suddenly engulf him as her eyes landed on him. His legs buckled and he was forced into a kneeling position." Hmph. I may be benevolent, but I still have my dignity. A mortal must bow upon seeing me. Even your father wouldn't be as arrogant as you are." Percy raised his head with great difficulty." So you force me to kneel?" Nico immediately rebuked him." Percy!"

Gaia laughed, like the rumbling of an Avalanche. The force binding Percy disappeared and he sprang to his feet." Hahahaha! You truly are bold boy. No wonder that old monster thought you could be of use to you, when even Primordials like us are helpless." Percy frowned." Old monster?" Gaia waved her hand." Enough of that. Why are you here?" Nico stepped forward." My lady. The Three mistresses asked me to bring him here, so you could grant him your seal."

Percy looked at Nico." Seal?" Gaia nodded." I understand. But if I'm going to do this, I should probably explain it to him." She turned to Percy, and raised her hand. Her palm began glowing and the glow seemed to expand till it engulfed him.

" On earth, the laws binding Mortals still exist! The only way to overcome these laws would be to break through the limits of your mortality and become a True God! That is the Realm of the Overgods! But to break through on your own is extremely difficult! That is because no matter how much you train, making your human body into a Divine one might be easy, but to change your mortal soul into a Divine Soul is Extremely difficult! So to break through from your Human form and into a Divine God, you must accept the power of another god! And depending on the power of the god you follow, your own power will be decided! For those who follow Kronos and the Fates, they can only reach the realm of Overgod. That is because, the Kronos and the Fates are Celestial Realm existences. So their followers cannot break into Celestial Realm. But if I grant you my power, you can reach the Celestial realm, since I am an Extinction realm Being. That is even higher than celestial realm! But…" the glow faded and she looked at Percy with a strange look." If you want to, you can try to break into Overgod Realm by yourself."

"Huh? Lady Gaia, but-" Nico interrupted frantically, but Gaia cut him off in between." The benefits to breaking through on your own should be more than just a little apparent. Look at Hercules and Dionysus. Hercules was one of the most powerful heroes, with unmatched power. But when he died and became a god, he was simply a minor god. He is forever stuck in the Overgod realm. But Dionysus on the other hand, broke through to Overgod realm on his own, and raised his power by himself all the way to the Celestial realm, and even became one of the Olympians. He did so because he broke through by relying only on his own power. The path to becoming a True god is very difficult if you walk on it alone. But if you can overcome those barriers, you can become a Major force, one to be reckoned with."

Gaia shrugged." I cannot decide for you. only you can decide on your path. But is almost impossible to break through without another divinity's help."

Percy silently contemplated. Though it seemed noble and brave to simply refuse her offer and try to breakthrough by his own strength, he wasn't a fool. He could clearly feel exactly how difficult it would be to try and break through without help. If he simply tried showing off, then he would be a fool and perhaps remain stuck in the Olympian realm for ever. He swallowed with a bit of worry. Gaia withdrew her hand and the light faded away. He blinked to clear his eyes." I'll give you a day. Decide on your path. Will you follow my power, use it for propel yourself forward? Or will you smelt your own soul through hardship and suffering, and become a true Divine God?"

Gaia smiled and sank into the ground." Nico. Leave him to his thoughts. Do not influence him." Nico bowed and backed out of the chamber.

Percy was left alone, to his thoughts. He quietly contemplated what each option would entail. As he did, he quietly probed the small sphere hidden in the core of his soul. The words it had said continued to bug him. There was a sudden flash of vermillion and Hong'er appeared beside him." Hong'er?" she flipped her hair and glared at him." Master. When have you ever been so indecisive. You became a Demigod, when legend realm was the limit of the Gaia continent. A kid like you joined the Championship, despite being a demigod, and you defeated all your opponents and won the championship! You challenged Ares and saved Big Sis Artemis from him! Your Heart should never waver. Believe in yourself, and rely on yourself!" Percy smiled and ruffled her hair." Hong'er… thank you as always." Hong'er snorted and crossed her arms." Hong'er's master will be the greatest warrior! She knows it for sure! She'll always be by his side and support him!"

Percy closed his eyes." I will rely on myself. I will seek the heights of power, challenge and defeat Kronos, and protect what is dear to me. And through all this, I shall rely on my power!"

A.N.: review characters who you want to see when Percy returns back to earth. That's all for today.


	63. True Power of the Primordials

**Ninth Arc: Return to Earth**

 **True Power of The Primordials**

" to decide to walk your own path. If it was anyone else, I would call them self deluded, as well Over confident. But you are someone that Old Monster thinks highly of. If its you… you might have a small chance." Gaia's voice echoed across the Grotto in a weirdly disconcerting manner. Percy bowed his head." Thank you for your advice, as well as your offer for helping me breakthrough."

Gaia's figure once again rose out of the ground." You are brave. At least I hope that was bravery, and not foolishness." Percy chuckled." I hope so too. It would be highly embarrassing to make such a decision and end up failing." Gaia nodded." My time has come to an end. Since you carry so many hopes with you into the future, let me tell a few things. Most of the primordials are in bad shape. That is solely because of one primordial. Because of the Eternal Pit, Tartarus!"

Percy shivered when he heard the name. the entire grotto turned icy cold and the air turned sticky and heavy. Gaia shook her head." He has worked with Apophis, the Ancient Snake of Chaos in order to undermine and Defeat the Primordials. He already held an advantage, since unlike the rest of us, he was always awake. So he was free to gather his strength and attack us. With the help of the serpent, he even managed to put all of us in severely injured states. And even now, my time of Eternal sleep keeps coming closer. My lifespan is almost finished." Then her eyes began glowing." But my power has not diminished! Even this close to death, I still wield the immense power of the Earth! This is the power of a true Primordial Goddess, a force even Beasts like the Serpent of Chaos, Apophis and the Eternal Pit Tartarus Fear!"

She slammed both her palms together and Her rich green and brown aura spilled out, covering everything in the Grotto. Percy gaped at her. this was the most powerful Aura he had ever seen. He had no doubt this aura could cover everything in the Gaia Continent if she allowed it to leak out. The aura started revolving with her at the center. It twisted in a tornado and collapsed into itself. Percy raised his arm, letting his own power spill out to counter the pressure he felt from her aura. He skidded backwards, feet digging into the ground. The Aura suddenly exploded with energy and compressed into itself. It twisted and squeezed into itself. It turned into a small sphere that floated over Gaia's hand, then started wiggling. It stretched and grew, finally turning into a tiny girl, the length of Percy's arm. She floated over Gaia's hand, then suddenly her eyes opened. They were Pure Brown and Gaia's rich aura radiated from her body.

"the compression of all my power. This is the spirit of the Earth, Gnome!"Gaia suddenly announced."My life has come to its end, but the earth will live on. This power will live on. But she's a newborn, and will never be able to seek my revenge for me. But!" Gaia looked at Percy, her eyes flashing with bloodlust." Perseus Jackson, Tartarus will be an enemy to you as well! My power shall be your ally, yours to wield. Of course, you must master it in order to use it! but it carries the power of the Immense Earth! If you will it, you can use this power to Aid you. but you must promise me, to chop off the head of Tartarus and end him for me!"

Percy bowed his head." I am weak as of now. But I can promise you that I will do my best in order to carry on your dreams and accomplish your revenge on your behalf."

Gaia smiled." I can see the determination in your eyes. Go seek out Pontus. He should still be slumbering in the heart of the Pontus empires capital. Seek him out and ask for his power. He was the first to suffer when Tartarus ambushed us. He Sacrificed most of his Vitality in order to Protect me while we retreated back to this Reality from earth. When we arrived here, he quietly settled down and helped a few of the humans here form an empire. This was the Pontus empire, the largest empire of all Humanity itself. He personally protected it from monsters, but some 6,000 years back he fell into a deep slumber. At that time, Tartarus sent one of his Children, a Wyrm to this reality. This monster, the Tartarus Envoy attacked your empire and destroyed it, massacring all the humans who prayed to Pontus. This was to reduce the energy he gained for healing."

Percy's eyes widened as he realized what all this meant. Everything suddenly made sense. The sudden appearance of a monster who had killed off all the human legends. The title he gave himself. he could never have guessed all this had such a deep past.

Gaia nodded." It was all predetermined so we both were injured. But now you've freed humanity from that oppression. And Tartarus won't bother sending any other of his warriors here now, since it would be meaningless to both sides. So you must go find Pontus, and convince him to share his power with you. even though you already wield great power over Oceans, Oceanus the titan of the seas is a power even Poseidon would have to fight seriously." Gaia dropped her hand and the Girl, dressed in earthen Armor and wielding a stout staff slowly floated down. She glanced at Percy and nodded." Master. I am Gnome, Spirit of the Earth." Gaia sighed, almost painfully, and started sinking into the ground." Pontus lies slumbering in the heart of the Capital of the Pontus Empire. Use Gnome to get there. Her power really speeds up travel."

Then she turned to sand and disappeared before he could say anything. His audience with the Primordial Goddess of Earth was over.

When Percy left the Grotto, Nico was pacing about outside. Beside him Hestia and Artemis were also seated. When they saw him, they sprang to their feet." Percy! What happened?" Artemis asked while rushing up to him.

Nico looked at him, then sighed." I Can't sense any Seal. You refused her offer?" Percy coughed awkwardly, then shrugged. Nico sighed and shook his head." I don't suppose I can blame you. Lady Gaia was right about one thing, you've never been one to depend on others. You managed to break through to the Divine realm while battling Chiron, and did that on Gaia continent, with its almost non existent energy. And you even made Aphrodite and Calypso Break through with you. I hope you can manage another miracle."

Percy was about to reply, but Artemis suddenly noticed Gnome floating behind Percy." Who's that girl?"

Percy turned to Gnome." Oh, this is Gnome. Gaia Lent her power to me and….." his voice trailed off when he saw Nico staring at him with an odd expression on his face." What's wrong Nico?"

Nico stared at him." A Primordial Goddess gave you her power! And you ask me what's wrong?" Percy shrugged, feeling embarrassed." Well she wanted a request so-". " Even for a request, she gave you all her Power! Under any circumstances, even a minor god would think a hundred times before giving up his measly bit of power. A major god would probably give you a tiny portion of his power. But a Primordial Goddess basically Handed you all of her power!" Nico sighed and looked away.

Hestia nodded." Obviously, my husband would be deserving of that." Percy gave her a helpless glance." I don't think that's such a big deal." Artemis looked at her." Oi He's not your's." Gnome stayed silent, then reached out and tugged at Percy's hair. He turned around." What is it Gnome?" Gnome stared at him, then turned into a sparkling Brown Crystal and flew into his chest. He instinctively reached up and clutched his chest, but it was perfectly fine. He felt her enter his inner world and suddenly the power of the Earth rushed into his body.

He felt immense power flow through him and he felt one with the earth itself." This power…. The Power of the Earth!" he closed his eyes, feeling the earth through his senses. Gnome's voice rang in his mind."Initiating Earthwalking. Power level, Adequate. Executing Skill. Target Predetermined. Central Pontus Empire. Execute." Percy opened his eyes." Huh? Wait what?" suddenly he sank into the earth. He seemed to merge into the ground, becoming one with the immense land, then moved almost instantaneously, swiftly moving through the earth, then springing out.

"whoa… where the hell am i?" he was standing in the midst of a ruined city." Wait…" he recalled what Gnome had said." Am I in the Pontus empire?" he closed his eyes and felt his mind touch his inner world.

Hong'er was staring at Gnome." Uwaaaah? Who are you? do you taste good?" Gnome remained silent. Hong'er:" Can I take a bite of you to see if you taste any good? " Hong'er leaned forward, then Gnome punched her." Ugah!" Hong'er fell onto her butt.

Percy appeared between the two." Hong'er stop it. and Gnome, don't hit Hong'er." Hong'er jumped up teary eyed and leaped onto Percy." Uuuuuuuu Master! Hong'er was hit by that strange girl!"

Percy gave her a knock on the head." You idiot, if you try biting her, she'll obviously retaliate." Hong'er sniffled." Hong'er is hungry." Percy slapped his face and set her down." You annoying little girl, stop thinking about food all the time!" she groaned, then ran off.

Percy turned to Gnome." Sorry about that Gnome." Gnome stayed silent. Percy waited, then when she didn't reply, he continued." How did I get here?" Gnome finally raised her head and looked at him." Replying to Master. You have executed skill, Earthwalk. Target Destination Set by mistress Gaia. Location, Central Capital Of the Pontus Empire, Shrine of Pontus."

Percy Stared at her." so basically I travelled all the way from the Central Grotto in the middle of the Gaia Continent to the Capital in an instant?" Gnome nodded." Affirmative. Earthwalker uses Earth Element Energy to move through the earth at high speeds. Higher speeds leads to higher energy consumption, and longer distances also consume more energy. Currently, Master has Highly Limited energy levels, hence, you cannot use this skill repeatedly without rest."

Percy started to understand." So this was the power of the Earth?" Gnome nodded." With your limited power, and skill, you can only use the skill Earthwalker as well as use the Power of the Earth, the Earth Stance."

Percy left his inner world and looked around. The place he stood looked like a ruined city. He tapped his foot against the ground and flew up. It was a large sprawling city, the largest he had ever seen before. Back on earth, this city probably would have been a monstrosity beyond imagination. But now it was empty, and an eerie ruin. The building were shells of their former selves and most were collapsed, with nature having reclaimed it. it was astonishing that this city even existed anymore. After thousands of years, even the most powerful empires would have vanished into dust, but this city still stood. And Percy could distinctly sense why. A strong Power radiated from the Heart of the city, where a Gigantic Temple pierced into the skies! This power maintained the city, even now.

He flew over to the temple, feeling a sense of awe come over him. He felt puny and dwarfed beforethis mighty structure. It was a mammoth that rose to the heavens, overshadowing mountains and piercing to the heavens. He could scarcely imagine how many Legends must have worked together to raise such a huge Structure, how many thousand years they must have toiled, trying to raise this magnificent structure that still stood today, a pristine remnant of the peak of the Human empire. He slowed and landed at the door of the gigantic temple. The doors themselves were large skyscrapers and Percy shuddered as he tried to imagine how heavy they must be. They were covered with murals and large depictions of the Ocean and Sea Monsters. At the heart of the Drawings, there was the depiction of a man, who was surrounded by the power of the Oceans. The doors were constructed out of heavy stone, dark and coarse, but Percy felt the power of the oceans within them.

He reached out and placed one hand oneach door. The power of the earth filled him and he grunted as he pushed. The doors remained silent for a moment, then with a thunderous creak, they slowly began swinging. As they swung open, a gust of salty air blew out, carrying the scent of the ocean with it. Percy frowned. "An ocean breeze?" he stepped in and froze.

The entire temple was filled with Water. A huge expanse of Water spread out as far as he could see. It was a Pocket Dimension! Small waves spread out towards him as he watched. He stared at them, then bent and touched the water. He could feel that it wasn't fresh water. It was salty water, ocean water in the middle of land!" this is where… Pontus lives? His resting place…. makes sense it would be an ocean. No other place would suit the Primordial God of Water."

Percy stepped onto the water and a deep gong seemed to sound out, reverberating through the water and through his legs, going all the way straight to his mind. He stumbled as another gong occurred, even stronger than the last, followed by another, then another. He collapsed onto his knees as a barrage of powerful gongs battered his mind. They seemed to shake him up to the very core. Sending powerful attacks down to his very soul. He felt Gnome stir inside and suddenly his body surged with her power.

He grit his teeth as his condition stabilized with Gnome's help, and he got to his feet." Steady Like a Mountain, Earth Stance!"

He stood up and his aura pulsed against the attacking vibrations. His face twisted and he growled as the ocean under his feet collapsed into a crater. The vibrations attacking him ceased. He sighed and sank to his knees. Then his eyes opened as he sensed a powerful presence all around him. Just like Gaia, this presence seemed all encompassing, capable of consuming and destroying everything. He looked up." Lord Pontus?" he called out respectfully. The Presence locked onto him." A human? With Gaia's power? Huhuhu. So that old hag finally chose a successor? And sent him here to me? Hahaha! Such a weakling, what was she thinking? Giving her power to a weakling like this! And she wants me to do the same?"

Sea water rose, forming a gigantic indistinct face." Who are you boy? To garner her attention, you must have some skill."

Percy bowed his head." I am Perseus Jackson, Successor of the sea god Poseidon." Pontus guffawed." Child of Poseidon? You're that kid? No wonder she deemed you worthy of her power. But simply handing away her power without testing the successor is foolish." The voice fell silent as it mused over something. Finally it spoke." I shall give you my power as well." Percy bowed." I am grateful and thankful." Pontus laughed." Not so fast boy. I shall test you. no matter how strong you may be, I will push you beyond your limits, and only if you can endure will I grant you my power."

Percy looked at the face suspiciously." It will be my honour." Pontus chuckled." You can use any power to resist. But not the power of the Earth."

Percy felt his connection to Gnome suddenly seal away and then he felt a powerful pressure filled with vibrations attack him!

He immediately sank to his knees, feeling as though his head would explode under the pressure. He roared and the blood of Poseidon roared with him, flaring to life and flooding him with power. There were screeches as the three Divine Birds awoke and their power exploded out of him, furiously burning away everything around him to ashes, evaporating the ocean itself. But the Vibrations continued growing stronger and Percy felt his power wane as his soul itself was compressed under the pressure of the vibrations.

He summoned the Divine Trident Hologram and rose to his feet, forcing his mind to endure. The Divine soul of Poseidon and the Three divine Birds were also being crushed under this pressure, almost being squeezed into his soul, melding them together.

His mind began falling apart, confused memories flitting around as his soul started fracturing under the strain. He felt a silent rumble within his soul, and suddenly he felt the Azure Dragon Soul Domain suddenly cover him, momentarily covering him and shielding him.

His eyes opened." Yes… the….Dragon…..soul…." a vague thought drifted along his mind."Azure Dragon….soul…" his eyes opened, Blazing Azure blue. He inhaled, forming a a vortex of air as he sucked in all the air around him." Azure Dragon God Roar!" gigantic wings spread from his back and he roared at the Ocean. The Azure Dragon Phantom Appeared with him, a claw smashing down, carrying ruin and destruction with it. Percy stumbled, eyes going blank after overusing his mental strength.

"How Curious. Using the Dragon God's Power to fight eh? But you want to use his power to clash with me head on? Are you insane puny mortal?" the Dragon Phantom was torn apart by blades of vibrations that all tore at it, ripping It into tiny pieces. Then all the blades turned on Percy, even more ferociously.

Blood dripped from his nose and ears, even the corner of his eyes as he collapsed onto the ocean. Pontus hummed." Like I anticipated. A Weakling." Nothing can be done. He is only a mortal and a foolish one too."

Percy felt his consciousness dim as the pressure crushed his soul together into the other souls. They slowly started to meld together and Percy felt himself stir." …a meta….morphesis…..? but…its…..too…late…. to help me…." He shivered and his mind went blank.

Pontus reached out with his mind." Time to clear this trash out of my temple." He sent a wave of vibrations at Percy. But Percy suddenly twisted, dodging the attack. Pontus turned his attention back to Percy." Hmmm? You're still alive?" Percy tottered to his feet, eyes closed.

Pontus snorted." Very well, let us continue then." The barrage of Vibrations all struck at Percy. The Blood of Poseidon roared with fury and the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword Appeared in his hand.

His eyes still shut, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, he moved,the heavy sword dancing on his fingers as it spun, covered with multicolored flames. The Vibrations and the Sword clashed!" Flow like silk!"

The vibrations clashed and countered before disappearing." Hmmm? He actually managed to use vibrations to counter me? Then lets see you deal with this!"

Multiple vibrations spread like ripples at Percy. They spread, some merging with the others, forming a varied symphony that rushed at Percy from all directions!

Percy twisted, his sword tapping out in rapid succession, each tap sending out a different wave of power. "The power of the Ocean Waves! Thousand Layered waves, Third move! Endless Tides!"

The two powers clashed and perfectly merged into one another, completely dissipating after contact. Pontus stared at the bizarre spectacle with amazement." Perfect control? No this isn't a human's power! Who are you?" Percy silently held his sword at his side, half swaying in the air. Pontus Growled." Alright then!" His power congealed and suddenly exploded towards Percy. he didn't even flinch as he raised his sword and swung. Suddenly the void around him turned black and the Howling Phantom of an Asura Appeared Behind Percy, Maw Gaping wide like a never ending Blackhole that sucked in all of existence. It was a Gigantic Black shade, made of twisted shadows and was corroding the reality surrounding it simply by existing.

Pontus started with Surprise." That power? Tartarus?"

The evil Looking Phantom stretched out Gigantic claw like finger that tore open space all around it as it grasped the Powerful Vibration attack Pontus had sent out. The vibrations were all firmly held in place by the demonic phantom. The Asura inhaled and all the vibrations suddenly lost their strength and collapsed before Percy's sword slash. Pontus was stunned into silence. The amount of power in that slash was almost insignificant, less than his breath. But it was enough to kill a normal peak Olympian a million times over. Even an Overgod would die under that attack. But he had so coolly countered and neutralized it!

Pontus frowned." That Power was… a devil orb? A human with a devil orb? That's impossible! Only the direct descendants of Tartarus can carry devil orbs and if anyone else even absorbs one, they would be corroded and killed from within! This human is truly very interesting. I see now what games chaos is playing." Pontus laughed and his power slowly dissipated." Very well then. I shall do as you want Gaia. I will grant this boy my Power. And heal his life as well. After all, he is a son of the sea's."

Percy's unconscious form slowly floated up he shivered as a cocoon of water curled around him, pure water surrounding him. It sank into him, washing off all traces of blood and flushing out all the impurities from his body. The water soon turned a murky red as all the impurities in him were drawn. Then the cocoon of water around him collapsed, leaving his body in pristine condition. Pontus rose out of the water, then looked at Percy." hmmm he used his life to execute an attack of powerful magnitude. So his vitality itself was used up in exchange for breaking the rules of the heavens. Hmm, but the sea is the mother of all life, carrier of eternal vitality. So all I need do is…" he stretched out his hand and a small drop fo water formed over his palm, dancing and floating. He smirked and flicked his hand, letting the drop fly out and burrow into his heart. Percy's face tensed up, then eased up as his face was suffused with ruddiness. A groan escaped his lips as he trembled.

He had used his life to execute the Sea Wave Restoration to save Hestia. He had only a few more years left to his life. But now Pontus Gave him a drop of his Lifeblood, containing the endless vitality of the sea.

Percy's body started glowing, a deep glow emanating from within him as his naturally Sea Attribute Body absorbed Pontus's Lifeblood. His Cultivation, still stuck at the initial level of Olympian Realm suddenly shot up as Energy surged into him and coursed through his veins. It rose directly to the peak of Olympian Realm, and even started to break through. But suddenly, his soul trembled and his breakthrough failed.

"He Doesn't have a seal? Is he trying to walk on a path of his own? Hahahaha! This boy gets even more interesting, the longer I look at him." He tilted his head and looked around, where his power had separated from his body and congealed into a tiny spirit." What do you think Undine? Is he worthy to wield you?" The tiny Girl made of water shrugged, her liquid body jiggling and bouncing." Since you selected him for me master, he must be worthy to wield my power." She turned her gaze to Percy, eyes flashing." Of course, if he is unworthy to wield me, I'll eat him up from within. No weakling can hold back the impatient seas~! Im not the silent type like gnome after all~!"

A.N.: so my schedule is messed up. Like seriously. Im just spending all my time sleeping and wasting it. I know really irresponsible and whatnot, but I'll try sorting it out once im back home. Also if you didn't get any thing, ask in the reviews and I'll clear out your doubts on how the new system works.

And yeah about those saying Gaia was a villain. Unfortunately, Kronos won the war, the giants were never summoned and Gaia never bothered awakening. Plus she didn't become enemies with Percy and the rest. Also, this thing is a request from Nyx, so Gaia would be a bit respectful when dealing with someone who Nyx and Chaos are supporting. Plus, as I mentioned in this chapter, Tartarus is pretty much a common enemy with everyone now. You want to know why he attacked his ex lover and the other primordials? Well read on. I made this with a plot in mind, so many revelations happen later on.

And finally, the loose ends are being tied up. I did mention a whole bunch of hints when artemis fought the Envoy of Tartarus. I hope this explains why the reality was over run by monsters and why all this stuff happened. If you forgot, go re read the story, because it might help understand the next few arcs and battles. Also Piper. Yes. He'll go see her alright. Damn, all these piper fans after me. And yes, he'll take the whole harem with him to earth. Earth has a new system that will be explained by Hong'er later. So enjoy.

Also my last exam this Sunday. Just warning.


	64. Mastery of the Elements

**Eight Arc: Mastery of the Elements**

 **A.N: Decided to change my writing style. Maybe I've been focusing on Light novels so much that I'm missing out the original Percy Jackson Writing Style. I've seen all the complains in the reviews and reread my story. Like you pointed out, there are many flaws and mistakes, and I tend to ramble and make needless fight scenes. Hence I will try to correct these mistakes. Thank you guys for your support.**

Percy awoke, feeling weakness spreading through out his body." Ohhh shit." He groaned slightly and sat up, raising his hand to his head and struggling to regain his bearings. He lay in a large bed, large enough to hold even a dozen people. It was ornate and made of decorated and intricately crafted wood. It seemed immensely fragile and the mattress was soft, and seemed undulating, as if filled with water. The bed was so comfortable, Percy felt as if he would sink into a deep endless sleep if he were to relax his mind for even a moment. Sitting up straight, he looked around carefully as his memories returned.

The bed itself was floating in the middle of the expansive ocean in which he had encountered Pontus. But he had lost, failing in Pontus's trial. After that he had blacked out and couldn't remember anything else. Had Pontus ended the trial? Was he supposed to leave the Temple? It seemed a shame. Gaia had entrusted her hopes to him, and yet he had failed to get Pontus to acknowledge him. And water was the power he wielded best. If he was unable and unworthy of the Spirit of Water, what chance did he ever have of being able to master the Spirit of Earth?

As he pondered over this, the water near the foot of his bed suddenly rippled. He suddenly sensed the power of the oceans stir and Gather, endless energy condensing and coalescing.

A spout of water exploded upwards and Percy tensed, rising to his feet. The pillar of water exploded, sending out droplets of water like bullets. He winced and raised his hand, shielding his face from them. The Drops seemed unnaturally dense and heavy, each strike leaving him with piercing pain over his body. The remaining drops turned to mist and hung in the air around him. In the heart of the explosion, where the Pillar of Water had once stood, a Girl stood, a figure made of water.

She was Percy's height, and her Face was expressionless, her build light and supple. Her body was see through, but seemed solid. She stood on the water, her feet merging with the sea under her, as if it were a part of her body. She stood motionless, looking almost like a Ice figurine. Percy couldn't make out if her eyes were open or closed, as her entire body was made of only water, unlike Gnome, who's body had seemed flesh and blood.

" I….. am Undine. Spirit of Water, and Embodiment of Pontus's power over the element of Water. But you…. do not seem like a son of the sea." As she spoke , Percy watched her cautiously. She radiated a serene atmosphere, but her power naturally placed immense pressure upon him. He licked his dry lips, feeling nervous, then spoke." What… what do you mean?"

She raised her arm and pointed at him. Immediately a spear of water erupted from beside her, hurtling at him. Percy's Instincts Kicked in and the Devil Slayer Sword appeared in his hands, gigantic blade blocking the spear, sending Percy flipping backwards. He landed on the edge of the bed and looked at her with a hint of worry. That attack had carried no killing intent, but the sheer difference in power would be enough to guarantee his accidental death. He took up defensive stance." Why are you attacking me? Am I supposed to leave the Temple because of my failing the test?" he called out tersely.

Undine coolly regarded him, then shook her head." No. You passed the Trial, all while being Unconscious."

Percy stared at her." are you being serious with me?"he asked bluntly. Undine stepped off the water, and onto the bed." I wish I could say it was a joke, but my master rarely humors anyone. I myself fail to understand how someone like….like ….you…. could ever manage to pass my master's test." She spoke coldy as she moved closer to him, and the water around the bed began to boil and froth.

Percy looked around Nervously and quickly spoke up." Um…. Honestly I have no idea what I did while I was unconscious." Undine nodded and raised her Arm again. Percy immediately grew stiff and tense, raising his blade again." Master seems to consider you quite interesting and possibly a candidate for his successor. But you must realize something. The spirits serve no one weaker than themselves. Who ever is weak, we consume them and turn them into nutrition to further our growth. Just because our Masters gave us to you, does not mean you can wield us without restraint." Sheets of water began rising around the bed as Undine spoke." I will keep watching. And the day your heart wavers, I will swallow you up from within. That is the Price of wielding my powers. Do you still dare to try to Conquer me?"

Percy pointed his sword at her." I get the feeling, you really don't like me." He chuckled. He sent out his mind and forced the water around the bed to turn calm. Undine's gaze grew colder and Percy felt shivers running down his spine." Are you really such an idiot?" the water surrounding them, which Percy had just calmed, suddenly rebelled and erupted with a frenzy." Do you even understand why Gaia wanted you to Wield the spirits? Or are you naively believing we're just some other power up or special ability like the other divine powers you have? You really are a fool."

A gigantic hand made entirely made of water suddenly burst out of the Water and snatched up Percy. without any chance to resist, he was immediately bound and immobilized." W-w-what?" Percy shouted out, entirely surprised.

Undine paced back and forth on the bed before him, as if lecturing him." Silly boy. We Spirits are the embodiments of our elements, and almost unmatched in control over them! The reason Gaia wanted you to gather the spirits is because we allow you to access the heart of control over the Element! What would otherwise take you years or decades to learn, you can do it in days! If you can truly sync with a spirit, your control over the element will be unparalleled among all others! I am the Spirit of all Water, as Pontus is the Primordial God of the Oceans! Your puny control over water could never exceed the limit you naturally bear by talent and aptitude. But with me, you can reach the level of a Primordial in your control over Water! This is the true reason Gaia wanted you to Borrow Pontus's Power. Of course, whether you can wield it depends solely on you."

When she was finished talking, she waved her hand, releasing him from his constraints. He dropped to the bed, still holding his sword. He stored it back into his Styx soul inner world and looked back at the gigantic hand still hovering menacingly over him.

Undine smirked." Because of my masters control, in here I am undefeatable! Of course, once I leave the temple with you, my powers will be severely limited, since you are far too weak to display even a billionth of what I'm truly capable of. Just remember however, the power of water depends on your heart. Therefore, to master my abilities, you must calm your heart till it resembles a still lake, and then use my abilities to draw their true power forth!"

Percy nodded as he carefully listened to her explanation on how to use her abilities." So I can borrow your power to improve my control over water?" he asked her. she gave a nod." That is correct. However…." She gave a grudging smile." Your control over the element of water is quite remarkable for someone so young and weak. Your Sword Heart must be quite strong. So my improvement in your control over water won't be so noticeable unless you come face to face with any opponent who also uses water type Abilities. My best enhancement to you, would probably be in allowing you to unlock my 'Heart Still as a Pond' State. It's a projection of your Sword heart, forming a Domain Around you, within which your Sword Heart's ability Drastically improves."

Percy was morethan a little surprised." There's actually such a technique?". Undine rose into the Air and started shrinking till she was nearly as large as Gnome had been." Gnome must have already told you. the amount of magic in your body, as of now, is pathetically low. You'll barely be able to use any of our Powers. Plus, our powers also require a great deal of mental energy in order to be used, hence if you lose your concentration in the middle of a battle, the powers you borrow from us will immediately be disabled."

She turned into a stream of water and shot into his body. He jerked backward in surprise, but as before, there was no sign of how she entered his body.

He closed his eyes and saw her materialize in his inner world. Gnome had already hollowed out a mountain and made a small dwelling place in the heart of the mountain. She saw the Mountain, then settled down at the peak. As her feet touched the ground, the clouds around the mountain began condensing and all formed trickles of water that pooled together and froze, forming an ice cap, then a tiny spring bubbled up from between the ice and started forming a pool of crystalline water. Undine gave a soft sigh and sank into the small pond.

Hong'er amazingly managed to sleep through the entire thing, her bed located at the foot of the steep mountain.

Undine looked up as Percy's form materialized at the peak as well." Well Percy, your Inner world is quite well developed. I'm honestly very surprised. Even a Minor god would be very powerful if he had this type of an Inner world. Of course, you're still very far from developing it as much as a major god. Aren't I right Gnome?" Gnome remained silent within the mountain.

Percy smiled." Thanks for the praise. By quite a few accidents, I've managed to develop my Inner world quite far." Undine nodded." I'll say. I can sense Styx essence sealed in the very heart of your inner world. Plus there is quite a bit of molten magma as well, which I can assume was due to Phoenix Nirvana's…. Probably four. Plus you managed to plant a tree of Enlightenment in your Inner world, which shows your Peaceful Heart and Unshakeable Will. Then you also managed to expand outside your world, forming even space as well as Law Fragments that are developing into Yang stars and Yin space. Which are Probably because you broke through Perfectly into Olympian Realm. No wonder master was impressed by you. I cannot believe you're a Twenty year old human, especially one born in a Lower Realm! Even on Earth, you would be considered a Prodigy of immense proportions! All the Demons would want to kill you, and every human faction would want you to join them."

Percy raised both his hands." wait what?" Undine gasped." Oh. You don't know very much do you? That is a Problem. I can't let you be so weak and clueless, or everyone back on earth would swallow you up without even needing to chew." Percy stared at her with a blank expression." What the hell does that mean?" Undine sighed Dramatically." It means I'll be your teacher, and teach you how to train and practice. It has been quite a while, but I and Salamander are two of the greatest teachers! We've even taught Primordials. Of course, I only teach the very best, so do not disappoint me under any circumstances! "

Percy took nearly a minute to process what the hell she was saying. Then the entire thing hit home and he bowed almost Frantically." Yes! That would be great!" Undine Smirked." My best student was Old man Nereus of the sea. You must know him." Percy stared at her Blankly. She sighed." Oh how bothersome. He's the Great Lord of the Oceans? Unfailing Seer of the heart?" Percy continued staring blankly." Oh darn it. He's the father of the Nereids." She said finally. Percy's expression cleared."Ohhhhh."

" why would you be impressed by that? Didn't his other titles sound way more impressive?" undine grumbled under her breath." Anyways, he was a Master over the still Heart, and using this ability, he even learnt how to peer past the mysteries of fate itself, solving the puzzles of the universe."

Percy clapped his hands together as a memory of his past life wafted to the fore front of his mind." Yes I've met him! While travelling to Rescue Annabeth from the Titan Atlas!" Undine nodded wisely." So you've met him? I'm sure his great personality and his sage like abilities must have shone through."

Percy shook his head." Nah. He had this weird stink around him and he was wearing an old bathrobe while lounging around with homeless people at the corner of the sea."

She dropped her head into her hands." Oh Mother Chaos. Kill me now." She cleared her throat and looked up." Well enough about my past students. You are willing to study under me are you not?"

Percy nodded excitedly." Yes, yes, Of course!" she snorted." Fine then, that's a wise decision. I an serious, you know. the spirits have their own thoughts and emotions. We aren't tools to be used. We lend you our power because we believe in what you're fighting for, or because we want to see how far you can go. But if you show any weakness, or your heart wavers, we have no problem swallowing you whole and ending your life." Undine gave him a disdainful look as she spoke, then waved her hand." Go now. Master Pontus Wanted me to inform you that the temple contains an Array Portal to transfer you to Earth. Go gather who ever you're bringing with you to Earth and return here in two days time. This Portal is the most secure one present and there is no chance of interruption even if you were to use it and Tartarus tried intercepting you. go gather all your friends and come back."

Percy withdrew his consciousness from within his inner world and opened his eyes. He looked around the tranquil ocean, seeing the water stretch out till infinity itself. Then he turned back to the massive doors standing in midair and leapt towards them. He reached out and tapped them. They rumbled and then slowly swung open, a deafening crash shaking the entire ocean around. He watched them swing open, then calmly stepped outside.

As soon as he was outside, the doors shivered and automatically swung shut by themselves.

Percy touched his mind to gnome, feeling her steady presence within him. Through her, he could sense the Earth under him, feeling it extend to the edge of the Gaia Continent itself.

"Execute Skill Earthwalk? Please confirm your decision." Gnome spoke into his consciousness." Yes, take me back to where Artemis and Hestia are." Percy submerged into the Earth as before and raced through it, like a fish in water, headed directly for the people he had left behind.

It took him a while to explain exactly what had taken place while he had been gone, but they soon understood everything and their questions ceased. Nico pulled his hood over his head." As it appears Pontus is willing to grant you safe passage, there is no need for me to accompany you any longer." He announced solemnly. Percy immediately stood." B-but Nico-" he was cut off by a wave of Nico's hand." Don't bother Percy. I understand you want me along, but our times are different. I am one of the past. I'm still alive only because of the fates and their meddling. But even so, my life is still waning. I wish to devote what is left of it to serving them in their long battles. You are younger, and your battles more significant. Even more so, you have the potential to far exceed me. My power has reached it's peak and will never increase again. But this power itself is quite insignificant in the larger scheme of things." He reached out and clasped Percy's shoulder. His eyes were burning with furious passion." Once you asked me to convince me father and bring the Armies of the underworld to your aid. Today I need you to Return to Earth. Return there and unite the remaining forces of Humanity, Nature spirits and the other people who lie there. Unite them against the Forces of Tartarus and free the Earth from the Threat he and Kronos pose."

Percy nodded with as much determination as he could muster." Of course. I have my own Grudges to settle. Both with Kronos of my Past life, as well as the Athena in this new one." Nico looked at him, then nodded at the determination he saw in his eyes." I believe in you." Then he turned to Artemis and Hestia." Please make sure he doesn't get lost or get eaten by a monster." Artemis nodded." Absolutely. You can trust us." Hestia hummed in agreement." Yep. We'll try our best. You can't let your guard down around an idiot like him"'

Percy choked and started to protest, but before he could, space tore and twisted and Nico disappeared into the darkness of the Void.

Percy started preparations to Earthwalk over to Hope city, planning to take Artemis and Hestia along with him.

"Assessing Energy Levels. Please Assign your Target." Gnome's voice immediately appeared inside Percy's head." Take me to Hope City!" Percy immediately thought back. Gnome went silent." Energy Levels Dangerously Low. Do you still Wish to Use Earthwalk?" she asked finally. Percy Immediately nodded in Assent. He reached out and took a firm hold of his companions hands.

He felt a surge of power rush through his body, a shivering sensation that seemed to fuse him with the Earth itself. His vision went Dark, then he felt himself sink into the Earth and he shot forward, almost being dragged along through the earth. But it almost felt as if he were submerged in water, easily slipping through the material with almost no resistance. Even as he moved, he could still observe above ground in an almost disembodied manner. He quickly passed through the distance and finally emerged above ground, appearing in the middle of Familiar mountains he had seen almost all his life. It was then that he realized that he was still holding onto both Artemis and Hestia's hands. He had successfully executed Earthwalk with them!

However he soon realized the price it carried. He started to step forward, but his feet buckled and he almost tumbled to the ground with exhaustion. Both Hestia and Artemis Yelped with surprise and held him up." What's wrong Percy?" Artemis asked with a hint of Concern." Did that skill drain out too much of your energy?" Percy shook his head and straightened. He let go of them and stretched." Physically I feel perfectly fine. Im not mentally drained either. Truthfully I'm in tip top condition right now. I don't understand what happened to weaken me like that." Artemis and Hestia shot him strange looks. Hestia waved her hand over him and a comfortable rush of energy surged through his body without warning.

" Hmmmm. It appears that he has no health issues. He has all his energy. His vitality is perfect as well." Hestia dropped her hand after speaking and Percy felt the warmth of her healing Flames disappear. Even now he didn't understand exactly how she used her flames for healing, though he knew that the Vermillion Flames were imbued with Powerful Healing magic. He himself couldn't use that particular power. But Hestia's observation was right. He was indeed perfectly fine. There was no harm to him at all. But something in him did feel off.

As he and the girls puzzled over it, Undine sighed and spoke up." Oh you idiot. Just ask me." Percy's mind snapped to attention as soon as he heard her voice." Oh Yeah Undine! What was that?" he asked her eagerly.

" Don't suddenly jump with excitement as if you had forgotten about my existence you idiot." She sighed again." Whatever, I'll just explain this once, so listen up carefully." Percy nodded as he listened with rapt attention." The Power of the Four elements flows through out the world, passing through all objects and Beings. Therefore, all objects store varying amounts of this energy. Each Element has its own unique signature of energy, but usually there's not much difference. Of course, each object has it's own affinities, so… a glass of water would store more Water element Energy, and less Fire element Energy. On the other hand, a Dry piece of wood would store a great deal of Fire element Energy but Quite a small Portion of Water element Energy. Hence every living creature also carries this varying amount of energy. With me so far?" Percy nodded

" When you utilize Gnome's Earthwalk, You subconsciously draw out that elemental energy within you and use it to execute her ability. Same goes for if you use my Domain." Undine finished her explanation and crossed her arms." So any questions for me?" Percy hesitated, then nodded." So when I use Earthwalk, I use up Earth Element Energy?" Undine sat up and rubbed her hands with glee. She was a teacher, through and through." No. inside your body, you only store it as Elemental energy. When you use it, you transform it into that particular energy type and use it. and of course, your efficiency in storing and using depends on natural Affinities. You have a powerful Affinity for Water so you can absorb Water Element Energy fastest and transform it the fastest as well. Hence, you will have a smaller strain while using my abilities. You have developed a bit of affinity for fire as well, so if you were to Meet Salamander, or any other Fire Spirit, you could use their skills without too much difficulty as well." Percy understood her words." So that's how it is."

" so basically, you have a basic amount of elemental energy in your body. Using any skills depletes that. You can replenish your energy by simply meditating on the world around you and absorbing the power, or let it naturally flow back into you. I'll teach you how to sense and absorb the Energy as well, once we've reached Earth, so you can replenish your energy faster in case you need it. Also if you train and increase your affinities with each spirit, your ability to store and use the elemental energy will naturally increase by itself. Then you can support more powerful skills of ours and execute them faster. You can combine our skills, or use them with other skills, but in the end it all depends on your affinity and understanding for each spirit. The deeper and more powerful your understanding, the more natural our powers become for you to use. Our original masters, the Primordials can use our powers without even our presence. Because our affinity is so powerful, we are nearly one and the same person!"

Percy opened his eyes. Though it had seemed like a long exchange, it was in fact quite short outside his mind. Due to the simple contract binding them, their minds could converse almost instantaneously, without any delays or misunderstandings. Hence it had taken her mere seconds to explain everything to him. He nodded, then saw Artemis and Hestia looking at him." What is it?" he asked, confused." You were talking with her weren't you? one of the spirits?" Hestia asked curiously. Percy nodded his head and spoke." Yeah, Undine was explaining about my limits on using the powers of the spirits. Though I myself can't sense my limits, I'm sure gnome would tell me if I asked her." Artemis opened her mouth to speak, then stopped, a frown creasing her forehead." I sense fluctuations and pulses." Hestia narrowed her eyes." Now that you mention it, so do i." Percy's eyes widened." The city! There's a battle going on there!"

The three of them Flashed, moving almost instantaneously from where they had arrived towards the city."

After the defeat and death of the Tartarus envoy at the hands of the exceedingly powerful artemis, humanity was no longer oppressed by the fear of monsters. While they were outnumbered, there was no longer any monster capable of entirely wiping them out. The Ancient societies and Hope city had planned to combine forces and Explore the Gaia Continent, slowly repopulating the Area, as well as rebuild the lost Pontus Empire.

However, this idea was cut short a few years after Percy had left. The monsters had all gathered together, forming a giant army and had assaulted Hope city and the Ancient Societies. The Humans were shocked by the Unexpected attack, but they stood their ground and fought back. Despite the disadvantage due to sheer difference in numbers, the humans were well organized and had great advancements in defensive strategy as well as technology the monsters could never use. Hence, they held their own. However, the sheer difference in numbers was too large a distance to be bridged by ingenuity alone. And so it fell onto to the Powerful Level Nine Warriors as well as the Legends to battle and keep their city safe from harm.

Piper blew a strand of hair out of her face as she regarded the maps placed in front of her, indicating the paths taken by each of the approaching reinforcements. She ran a few calculations in her head, then turned to the general standing beside her." Qin Wuzong, How long can the Alchemist Societies Stocks hold out for?" the previously young and energetic head of the Alchemist society sighed as he thought." If we stretch ourselves thin, we can hold out for another three weeks. But even our reserve supplies are running low, so stretching for three weeks would be dangerous."

Piper nodded absentmindedly." Alright. So what if we divert all our troops towards protecting the third crossing, and allow the manpower sent by the Pontus Grand Society to arrive here two days later. Then we can retake the mountain pass with the fresh forces and let the cargo supplies reach Hope city. If it's all executed well, we can retrieve all the medicinal herb stock in around two weeks of time." Qin wuzong pondered over this plan of action, then started to nod hesitantly, but before he could, there was a shrill screech that tore through the city. Piper and Wuzong both stood up, concern flashing across their faces. As if on cue, a messenger ran into the room, without bothering to knock or show any formality. His eyes were wide with terror and he shivered slightly before speaking." Reporting to City Lord's Daughter. There is a group of Monsters approaching the city fortifications!" Piper narrowed her eyes." How many? And what Level?"

"Our scouts have confirmed there to be almost a hundred, composed mainly of Level Eight and Level Nine Warriors. In addition, they are led by a Trio of Late stage Legends, as well as five, initial Stage Legends." Piper winced." That's absurd! Eight legend Rank Monsters? Dammit!"

The messenger Hesitated." City lord has come out of seclusion and requested you join him in battle mi'lady.". Piper smiled when she heard him, then nodded." Call Alex Thundre, and the Council of the Aristocratic Families. Ask them to send all Legends and Rank nine's they can spare. That will be all." The messenger bowed and swept out of the room. Qin Wuzong Glanced at Piper, half amused at her reaction." The city Lord. It's been a very long time since he returned home. He's usually out on his crazy adventures, patrolling the entire mountain range and searching old ruins." Piper smiled eagerly." Yes it's been some time since i saw him fight."

She pulled her dagger out of it's sheathe and glanced at the cold blade." Well, it's time for me to head out as well."

Piper breathed in as she stepped onto the city walls. She could see the rising duct cloud as the Horde of monsters approached. Then with a loud boom, a monster leapt free of the rest, landing a dozen meters ahead of his companions. He roared at them to quiet down, then looked at the city. There was a flash and a burst of wind erupted beside piper. She turned around, just in time to see her Father leap onto the wall beside her. before she could say anything, he leapt forward again, hand raising his Gigantic Battle axe as he flew through the air.

Piper Grinned and leapt after him, flying quickly. Eight monsters lifted into the air as well, all preparing to meet them head on. Piper smiled wickedly as her dagger appeared in one hand, her whip in the other. The monsters all grouped together as the Father-Daughter duo shot towards them. The city lord flashed a smile as he swung his battle axe, setting up a storm of howling wind. A blade of killing intent coalesced on his axe and then burst out, tearing the closest monster's body into shreds. In terms of physical Defense and strength, monsters far exceeded humans, due to their powerful Bodies. But a single slash was enough to tear them apart, revealing the power the City Lord Wielded. This was the strength of a Peak Legend!

He twirled the gigantic axe between his fingers as if it weighed nothing, tilting his head with a smile. At his side, Piper slashed out again, sending a number of slashes flying against her own opponent. The beasts screamed in pain and rage and it was lacerated by cuts., disabling tendons and tearing muscles, blood exploding from his ruined body. The monster, though not dead, was fatally wounded and collapsed from the sky. Just like that, two Initial stage Legend Monsters were easily killed by the Two Peak Legends!

Piper smirked and her whips whistled through the wind and a sharp crack rang out. The six monsters shuffled nervously. She swung and a blade of wind ripped through the air and slashed into the battalion of monsters rushing at the city. They all exploded into bits of flesh and showers of blood. She twisted and her whips swung again, but a monster, plated with heavy armour like scales and twice her height reached out and grabbed her whip. It was one of the Late Stage legend monsters." Foolish girl. we are your opponents today." Piper smirked." Then Die! Frost Fairy Priestess, Incant Ice!"

Ice crystals bloomed over the monster from the whip and with a crisp sound of crackling, he was sealed in ice. His eyes wide, he fell from the skies, shattering as he hit the ground. The city Lord twirled the Battle axe in his hand as he leapt forward, whirling and dancing in a dance of death. The remaining Five monsters roared in desperation as they were brutally and mercilessly sliced apart.

He laughed wildly as he broke bones and shredded one of the largest monsters, a giant humanoid who tried his best to bowl him over with a slash of his own giant sword.

One of the monsters who had been struck down by Pipers whip glanced up. There was a sharp whine and suddenly he launched upwards, his aura concealed perfectly. He slashed, appearing behind the city Lord before he could even react! His back was torn open, the muscles in his shoulders tearing open at the precise attack. He roared out and swung around, his Battle Axe smashing towards the assassin.

The assassin blocked with ease , but his aura spilled out, freezing cold and terrifying. The Aura of a Peak Legend! Piper screamed with rage and started her own attack, but another attack whistled at her from behind." Ice Priestess! Dance With Me!" her Ice Domain expanded, forming an ice Armor around her, barely fending off the attack. She jerked backwards, blood spilling from the edge of her lips as she glanced at the enemy who had surprise attacked her. her eyes widened with despair and terror. Five monsters flew up from the rest of the shredded corpses, each one radiating the aura of a Peak legend.

"S-Six Peak Legends?" she growled as she retreated to her father's side. He glanced around, a grim smile touching his lips." Well, I never expected this. That's almost half of all the peak legends the Monsters have. Why would they send them here?" the City Lord threw down his tattered cloak and gripped his Axe with both hands." Piper. Get out of here." She shook her head adamantly." No way father. There's no way you can take them on alone." He chuckled." Your presence here will just distract me. And they've obviously planned this out. They planned to get rid of the two Peak Legends of Hope city at one go, without losing even one. You are now the City Lord. My injury is far too serious, even if I were to escape, I won't live long." Piper's eyes teared up but she kept her voice steady." But Father-".

"Piper DeGrest! This is the Final Order from the City Lord Tristan. You are Hereby Appointed my successor and ordered to retreat and lock down the city! Do not Fail your people when they need you!" He roared and his aura turned crystal Blue. Piper bit back her words, feeling her throat thicken with rage and sorrow." Y-yes f-father." She sobbed and turned slightly. The monsters chuckled." Who said we're going to let you leave?" they encircled the two of them, smirking as their aura pressed down on the two of them.

Tristan's eyes went pure blue and his hair froze, the crystals spreading down, sealing away all his wounds and covering almost all his skin. He moved and a crackle of shattering ice followed.

"My beloved Priestess. Let us dance together, one last time!"

The air trembled as the temperature dropped and the moisture in the air froze. Tristan raised his axe, and the shimmering form of the Ice priestess appeared beside him, one hand embracing him, the other holding a sword.

The monsters tensed, all attention focused on him. Dying or not, he was a Peak Legend, a figure feared by all. A Mournful song floated through the air and the monsters shivered as they realized the Ice priestess had begun singing. They felt their body's seize up with fear, a bone chilling, mind numbing fear, an irrational fear of the song.

Piper turned into a blue streak and broke through the confinement. She didn't look back as she directly flew at towards the city. Alex Thundre and her Grandfather, Grandholme DeGrest stood on the walls, their faces filed with sorrow. They were just Late stage Legends, far from being able to enter such a dangerous battle. She dove into her grandfather's arms, burying her face as she felt tears flood down her face.

Tristan gave a satisfied smile." She's out of range. Come now my beloved. Our last Dance! Eternal Threnody of Ice!"All his aura converged, condensing into his body. The ice priestess held up her staff, and a blizzard exploded to life around her. she twisted her staff and the snowflakes turned razor sharp, crystals of death. The paralyzed monsters finally realized they were under attack. The final desperate all out attack of a Peak legend!

They tried dodging, but in the storm, under the innumerable crystals, that was nothing but wishful thinking. As they kept up their futile attempts, they didn't even realize that Tristan's aura had faded away entirely.

He flashed through the storm and suddenly appeared behind a monster. His Axe sang through the air and the monster didn't even feel the ice cold slash that ended its life. He flashed through the storm again, Axe swinging to a melody of death, each swing claiming a new life.

Then he collapsed onto the ground. He had utterly squeezed out all his potential for this attack, pouring everything he had to manage to trap and disorient s o many monsters, and continually execute instant kills, all while suffering from a fatal wound. He felt the Ice Storm begin to slow down and collapse on itself. There was a series of loud crunches and he struggled to raise himself. He rose to a kneeling position, then raised his head, feeling hopelessness course through him as he watched three of the monsters stand up, wounded, but still very much alive. They looked at him with Rage." You puny human! You killed three of our Brethern!" Tristan managed a smile." I was just…. Cleaning up the trash…." The monster roared with anger and rushed at him, swinging down his clawed hand." After you, I'll kill your daughter and Father! Then slaughter your entire city!" Tristan closed his eyes as the claw slammed down.

Clang!

His eyes opened as he jerked backwards at the crisp sound of metal. A Young boy stood before him, an oversized Vermillion sword easily gripped in one hand, blocking the claw. The void tore open and two more people stepped out, standing on either side of him. He'd heard the stories enough number of times after he had returned to his city. The Young boy, wielding a Vermillion Heavy sword, with a deadly auburn haired master."P-perseus… Jackson?" Percy looked around at him and smiled." Really have to change my habit of arriving on the nick of time." Percy's grin grew wider and he looked at the terrifying monster before him." Who are you? a puny little boy? Out of my way human!" the giant monster, covered in scales and spikes reared back to smash another blow.

Percy easily blocked it again, using a single arm as he twirled the heavy sword, blocking each slash perfectly. Hestia and Artemis turned towards Tristan. Hestia's palm filled with Vermillion flames and she thrust it out at him." Sleep." He couldn't even react as the flames invaded him, filling him with a fiery heat that chased away the chill of death. His eyes rolled up and he collapsed onto the ground." I've put him to sleep. But those are quite some injuries he has piled onto himself." Hestia murmured as she carefully examined him.

Percy stepped back and forth, weaving between slashes. Then he coolly stepped forward and caught the monster's claw with his bare hand. The monsters eyes widened with terror and he tried backing away, but Percy held on easily.

" Oh this brings back memories. So many, many memories. But for now, Shoo!" Percy's sword erupted with fire and he slashed, clashing with the monster. The monster was instantly engulfed and burnt to ashes before he even realized what was happening. The other two monsters stiffened with fear and started backing away. Percy glanced at them disdainfully, then took a deep breath and roared at them. A small roar like this wouldn't even faze a demigod. But to the Monsters, it was instant kill. They gurgled as blood erupted from their eyes and ears, internal organs rupturing and they all collapsed onto the ground, falling in their own pool of blood.

He sighed." What a huge difference, in just a few years." He turned around and knelt by the injured man's side." Is he alright?"

there was a streak and Piper appeared out of nowhere, tackling Percy." Percy!" her eyes were a puffy red as she held his shirt with both hands, babbling indiscriminately between her sobs." Percy! T-That's m-my F-father s-s-so can you please h-heal him?" she sat up and wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands, shaking and shivering as sobs wracked her body. Percy held her shoulders." It's alright, calm down. I'm sure I can do something."

He picked her up, standing and glancing at Hestia and Artemis." Let's get him inside the city first. Then we'll patch him up. The two of them nodded at him and Tristan slowly floated up, supported by their powers. There was a rumbling shudder and Percy glanced around." We need to organize the city, then go get Calypso and Aphrodite and the rest from the Realm of Gods. After that we can move to the Temple of Pontus and leave to Earth. Bu we have to be careful. Tartarus has no doubt fixed his eyes on me, and either he or his minions will turn up to deal with me, sooner or later. If not, there is no reason for the monsters to suddenly wage war with humanity. It gives them no advantage to sacrifice so many of their kind, pointlessly trying to eradicate Hope city and the Ancient Societies. Without the Monster Lord, they could never hope to kill off all the human experts gathered in these places. It's a war of mutual destruction."

Undine opened her eyes and her mind touched Percy's." there is much you still don't know. but we'll have to discuss this later. But Tartarus has personal reasons to have humanity weakened and subjugated under his rule. It has to do with his war with Gaia. I'll explain further once you're free."

A.N.: yes. It felt so good to plan a proper chapter and type it out! My schedule is still out of whack, but I'm back home for sometime, so it worked out. Hope you prefer the new style of writing. Also I'll be gone again in a couple of days, so I'll try updating by tomorrow. But if I don't then sorry guys. I wont be able to type out anything while im gone this time.

Anyway, we're tying up all loose ends. Finally back home, to plan and regroup. Then Percy and the Harem shall set off to earth! I was wondering about how things would work out. You know, with ability to fly and crazy superpower. Plus piper and the rest are way falling behind Percy. only Hestia is equal to him, and soon even she'll be blown away. So I decided to make earth a reset button. Wondering how? Keep reading.

Also, I need me some character ideas. I mean out of PJo books. So I started reading up random mythology and stuff. Also started reading a bunch of Korean manhwa where I got the idea for the Spirits of Nature. Also, introducing overpowered characters who can match Percy in power once he reaches Earth. Their identities are a secret however. Also started working on Demigod Desires and Sleepover with Forbidden Sins as well as Sally's Sex Life. So I'll finally update my older works as well!

Ciao with peace from Manhattan.


	65. Mastering the Heart

**Eight Arc: Mastering the Heart**

The city of hope was in military mode when Percy arrived. There were soldiers everywhere, many many more Level Nine warriors than Percy remembered. And there were even quite a few legends standing watch over the City Lords mansion. It seemed astonishing, being back at the place where he was born, seeing it so changed, and realizing exactly how much he himself had changed in these past few years.

The wall around the city was even higher than he last remembered, now a towering behemoth. But when he considered it, it actually made sense to Percy. Previously, there were very few monster attacks, and the real threat was the Tartarus Envoy, and no wall would be enough to stop him. But now, Humans were under the threat of the Monster Horde that threatened to Over run them with the help of sheer numbers. Without a doubt, the wall was now integral to the city's defense.

When Percy arrived at the city, City Lord and Piper in tow, he was met by people he remembered quite well. Alex Thundre, Grandholme DeGrest, President of the Alchemist Society and an assortment of other people he knew all too well. He smiled as he met them, but he could sense something was off. He could see the tightness in their faces, the worry and fear in their eyes. At first he was far too concerned about the condition of the city Lord and so he ignored the warning signs as he headed to the City Lords Mansion to treat him. He failed to realize that among the people who came up to greet him, there was no one from the Grand Jackson Aristocratic family.

When inside the City Lords mansion, everyone except for Grandholme and Piper was chased away by Hestia. Percy stood nervously at her side." How is his condition?" Hestia ran a fiery palm over his forehead, eyes closed as she concentrated.

Tristan's eyes were shut, his face pale and drawn with blood loss. His hair had even grayed in patches, all over his head, and his skin seemed to have grown loose over him, as if he was losing weight. He seemed to have aged over a hundred years in just that short battle, having entirely overdrawn his Vitality and blood essence in order to forcibly push his body past it's limits in a fatally injured state.

Finally, once she was finished, she extinguished the flames from her palm and withdrew it with a sigh." His condition is critical. His Profound veins are wrecked and broken, he has lost a great deal of Blood essence and Life Blood, and he has injuries upon his soul due to overdrawing the power of the Ice Priestess his bloodline carries. In his current condition, he must be wracked with severe pain even while unconscious." Piper covered her mouth with both hands as she stared at her." Please… is there no hope?" she spoke in a muffled voice as her eyes watered.

Hestia's palm lit up with fire." I am an Olympian, girl. Saving him is no difficult task with my power of healing flames…. But…" she grimaced. Percy could sense her indecision as he reached out and held her hand." What is it?" he asked her gently.

" Even if I can heal his Physical injuries, I cannot be sure about the ones his soul has received. If those are not healed, he may remain in a coma. And even if I do heal his Physical and Soul injuries…. His attribute is Ice. Mine is Fire. The two naturally clash and repel. No power can prevent that. It is a fundamental law that causes it, and hence despite my best efforts, even if I precisely use the Vermillion flames to heal him… his Profound veins will be completely destroyed, and his cultivation lost forever. And as for his soul injuries… even his soul carries a fragment of the Ice priestess in it, and so if I were to heal it using my flames… in the best case scenario, he might wake up from his injuries, but with mental damage. Worst case… his soul might be unable to take the strain and disperse entirely."

Piper froze at her words, then collapsed. Grandholme caught her before she fell down and carefully held her up. His eyes were full of grief at seeing his son in such a situation, but even then his composure stayed firm. He held a grim expression as he regarded what she had told them. After a short moment, he spoke." Is there absolutely no way to heal him?" Hestia hesitated." I'm sorry, but to heal him would require healing flames compatible to ice, which is impossible, even for me." Artemis's eyes flashed with a hint of smugness as she turned and looked at Percy. He felt confused, then it suddenly hit him, knocking the wind out of him.

Percy's eyes widened and he looked up at Hestia. his right fist filled with Crimson flames and the left with Crystalline ice. He quietly held up both hands and brought them together. After fifteen minutes, he was done fusing both of them, holding the paradoxical Ice Flame in his hand. Hestia stared dumbfounded at him. She felt a fiery heat, and a bone chilling cold, both radiating from the Ice Flame." W-what is that thing?" she asked finally. Percy's eyes locked onto hers, dead serious." Hestia, if I can fuse my Vermillion Bird's flames with Ice, then can I use it to heal him?" Hestia seemed disgruntled, but she nodded." In theory. However, you still can't even use the healing ability of the vermillion Flames!"

Undine, who had been quietly listening all this while, piped up." There is a way to learn how to use the healing ability of the Vermillion flames." Percy raised both hands, motioning for everyone to go silent. Grandholme looked at Percy with renewed hope in his eyes, while holding up the half conscious piper. He knelt and lay her down onto a couch. Then he stood and turned to Percy, who silently stood, conversing with Undine.

"So technically, the healing is from your Fire abilities, so I can't forcefully awaken them." Undine was on one of her lectures." But even so, the power of healing requires concentration and focus. While I watched and sensed your girlfriend at work, she was in a state of immense focus as she used her healing abilities. So basically, you need to reach the state of perfect meditation. If so, you should be able to sense the power of healing contained in the Vermillion flames."

Percy felt understanding rush through him." Oh so it's like that? But how do I achieve that state of meditation?"

"the state of Meditation is where I come in." Undine continued." I already told you that currently, the ability you can borrow from me would be 'Heart like Still Water'. In this state, your heart connects with the entire world around you, achieving perfect balance. Similarly, even your mind would calm down and be easier to focus."

Percy quickly caught on." So if I Used ' Heart like Still Water' then I can achieve the state needed to unlock my healing fire?"

Undine nodded as she spoke." Exactly. Glad I don't have to repeat to an idiot like you." Percy ignored the insult, feeling a sense of excitement rush through him. Then Undine splashed a bucket of water over it." but with your current abilities, you can maintain the state for about seven minutes, after which you will run out of Elemental energy and slip out of that state. And most probably, you will also lose your meditative mind. So you must finish this within seven minutes, am I clear?" Percy had no choice but to nod in assent." I'll try my best."

He opened his eyes." I think I can do it." he raised his hand up to stop them before they could speak or ask anything." I have a chance of being able to do it, and at the very least, I'll probably be able to heal most of the damage. But I need you guys to leave the room while I concentrate." Hestia nodded with understanding and walked out. Grandholme seemed worried, but he nodded as well." I place all my hope and faith in you Percy." he lifted Piper and slowly left the room. Finally he was left in the room with Tristan and Artemis. Artemis glanced at him coolly.

"Artemis. Stop playing around, I need to concentrate, so please leave for a while." He muttered irritably. She snorted softly, then stepped closer to Percy, raising her hand up, palm facing Percy's heart, where her Crescent moon tattoo for their 'Bond of Blood' was imprinted. He felt the tattoo sting slightly, a burning sensation spreading throughout his body without warning.

"Bond of Life." Artemis whispered under her breath, then turned into a silver streak of light that sank into Percy. he reached up with surprise, clutching at his chest. He felt her re-enter his inner world, which was impossible. Living things with bodies couldn't enter his inner world. Earlier she was a spirit, but after she regained her body, she was unable to enter again. Hong'er and the Spirits had a contract with him, and hence were granted permission to stay in his Inner world. And they weren't exactly flesh and blood humans with life either!

He felt a headache start up as he wondered what she was up to this time around, but he didn't have any time to try and figure it out. As of now, Tristan needed his total focus and attention. Percy calmed his breathing and stilled his thoughts as he quietly stood before his prone body, palm outstretched.

He sank into his own body, feeling the rhythmic pulse of his heart and the unending flow of blood through his body. Even as he did, he sensed the fluctuations of energy all around him, different organisms and their connections to the energy web. Percy focused even harder, trying to connect with undine and draw out her power.

" You idiot disciple. Calm down. Stop trying so hard. You need to let yourself sink into the flow, become one with everything surrounding you." suddenly artemis's voice rang out, breaking him away from his efforts at trying to connect with undine.

He felt a tinge of impatience, annoyed at her distracting him at such a crucial moment. Then Undine spoke." She's right you know? You can't accomplish anything by being impatient and trying to force my power to emerge. You must ease yourself into the flow, another drop of water merging with the puddle, another river joining the endless ocean. You must stop trying to be you, and just give yourself up to the flow of your heart." Percy silently berated himself, suddenly feeling ashamed at having doubted artemis. She had taught him everything he knew, and so far he hadn't gone wrong.

Percy emptied his mind, but he couldn't quite understand what it meant to clear his heart. How should he become one with the flow?

" you dummy. Undine says this skill is a domain that projects your sword heart out into the world. So all you need to do now, is simply focus on your sword heart and let it become everything in you. fuse with it and let it spill out from every part of you. Become your sword, and bare your heart, emptying it of everything but your purpose. A sword with a single point, a single purpose." Artemis contimued speaking, her soothing voice guiding Percy. he focused on her voice, sinking into it and letting it become everything as her face materialized in his mind." My sword heart, to protect." Percy's heart stilled and his aura converged into himself. He felt himself sink into the world and a barrage of new information pounded him as he reached the pinnacle in his concentration.

"One with the flow. Heart like Still Water!" Undine murmured and suddenly her power flooded into Percy. his eyes opened and he held up his hand. With a soft crackle, vermillion flames burst to life on his hand.

He frowned at the flames, trying to feel the healing power locked within them. He sensed a hint of vitality flowing through the fire and grasped onto that feeling, trying to expand and understand that feeling. He focused, trying his best to draw out more of it, when suddenly, with a soft "fwump" the flames suddenly lost their excess heat.

He felt the healing power of vitality radiate out from the flames and felt a smile touch his lips. He held his concentration together, trying to maintain the flames. Then he twisted and summoned more flames onto both hands, then thrust them out at the still form of Tristan. The flames bent and turned into a small flame bird that darted into his body.

Percy closed his eyes, guiding the healing flames through his Profound veins, slowly healing all the physical damage. He felt his flames slowly heal all the damage and then let them spread down into his soul. The flames flickered and Percy winced with concentration. He felt his insides start to burn with the effort of maintaining his state of high concentration.

He had to hold his min together with a great deal of effort as he carefully spread the healing flames over his soul, letting the damage and lacerations slowly mend together. Undine's voice softly spread through his mind." Your state of meditation is reaching it's limit! Pull away your flames before that happens! Or else, you might lose control and damage his soul!"

Percy grit his teeth and forcefully summoned all his concentration before spreading the flames over every wound on his soul. Then with a gasp, he sat back and released his flames. He felt sweat bead all over his face and a sense of tiredness spread all over him.

Percy looked down and saw that some color had returned to the city lord's face. His breathing had grown steady and he could sense his vitality recovering with each breath that he took." Hmph. Well that was good enough I suppose. You did well enough for your fist time using my power." Undine snapped. He smiled tiredly and nodded." Thanks for the praise. Anything you've got to add Artemis?" Artemis blushed." You did okay. I Knew you would."

He stood up, feeling unsteady, then walked over to the door and pushed it open. Hestia and Grandholme stood outside, their faces tense with worry. As soon as he saw Percy, Grandholme stood up, eyes filled with hope. Percy gave a half smile and nodded tiredly before stepping away." He's healed and he should wake up in a days time. But he will suffer some pain and needs rest for a month to recover his soul strength and let his injuries heal entirely."

Grandholme rushed inside, smile breaking onto his face as he caught sight of his son. Hestia stepped closer to Percy and kissed him without any warning before he could react." Hehe. I knew my darling would be able to do it." Percy chuckled and scratched his head as he looked around." I should go look for my family. It would be nice to introduce all of you to them before heading back to the realm of gods." He pushed off the ground and rose into the air, heading directly for his Family's residence, Hestia right behind him.

He reached the Jackson family residence in a few seconds, but frowned as he landed down. The entire place was deserted, completely empty. There was not a single person nearby, and the buildings were overgrown with weeds and looked abandoned. He felt a chill run down his spine as he rushed towards the center of the Living area, where the patriarch's Meeting hall would be, but slammed into a heavy wall as he ran. He bounced back and fell onto his back.

Hestia rushed to his side and held his hand and pulled him up, sword in hand." An invisible barrier?" she slashed out with her weapon and the blade gave a clear ringing sound as it collided with the barrier." A very powerful barrier!" Percy looked around, a deep sense of foreboding filling him as he looked at the barrier." A barrier even a peak Olympian cannot break. How could such a barrier exist here?" Hestia's Flame princess sword blazed with flames and she slashed out again, letting the red hot sword collide with the unmoving barrier again. But again, it was stopped with a clear ringing sound.

"How can this be?" she muttered under her breath." This is far too powerful for me to break, even if I used all my power! Such a barrier should not exist!" Percy felt a solemn sense of realization overcome him." Unless, this was a barrier created to stop Overgods or even more powerful beings. A barrier created by Tartarus."

Percy ended up finding out the horrifying truth from the council of the Aristocrats. Three months back, his family had vanished. Disappeared without a trace in the middle of the night. Every single person of his family was gone. The guards stationed around the perimeter, ones from other families were all safe. Only the people of his family were targeted. Then two days later, the barrier had appeared, sealing away the central hall for some unknown reason.

Percy couldn't bear to think as he shut himself into his room. Bear to think what might have happened to them. What Tartarus might be doing to them at this very moment. Whether they were still alive even. Or perhaps… already dead. He shivered at the terrifying thought. He still remembered his parents telling him that he was bound for great things, but that he would always remain their child, a son of the Jackson family. But he had failed them so miserably, leaving them alone to suffer such a horrible fate.

He didn't want to hear the sympathizing words he knew they would give him. See the looks of pity in their eyes when they looked at him. He didn't want any of that. He just wanted to be alone in his misery.

Then Artemis finally grew fed up." You damn idiot. Stop whining and feeling sorry for yourself. What do you think will happen if you sit here like a cry baby?" Percy didn't feel any sense of irritation even at her harsh words. They felt needless. Anger was useless to him right now.

" I shouldn't have left them here alone." He whispered, half to himself." Then what were you planning? To leave me to die back there after the Grand Championship?" she snapped back at him.

"No… but my parents… I failed them…." He shuddered and clutched at his head." Percy! you're a loser and an idiot! I got it! but now for god's sake, stop staying shut up in here like this! How is that going to save your parents!"

Percy suddenly exploded with rage." Shut up! You don't understand what I'm going through right now! I should have kept them safe! I failed them and that caused them to die! How can I ever live with myself now that I know that?"

" you damned Bastard! You're the one leaving them to die right now! If you care about them, then get off your ass and go save them! Tartarus has them? Then go chop his head off and take them back! If he wanted to kill them, obviously, he would have hung their lifeless corpses right here for you to see! Why bother snatching them away like this? He's challenging you to come and take them back! Then accept the challenge and go get rid of him!"her chest heaved up and down with passionate rage as she roared at him.

Percy flinched as her words shook him out of his reverie. With a sheepish grin slowly appearing on his face, he suddenly felt a rush of affection for his master. He could hear the worry and concern in every insult she was flinging at him, and surprisingly, it cleared his mind of his grief and feelings of hopelessness." Thanks artemis." He mumbled as he stood up and walked towards the door." Hmph, you can't do anything without me can you." she crossed her arms, but her face held a delighted smile as she saw him completely recovered from his previous shock.

Percy opened the door and started with surprise when he saw Hestia, piper and calypso seated on the sides of the door." C-calypso?" he stammered with a hint of surprise. The girl stood up, joy flooding her face as she tackled Percy. Piper stood up and exchanged knowing smiles with Hestia." She came back through a portal Nico arranged for. As did many other disciples. But I've already sent most of them to head over to the Pontus empire ruins so they can be waiting at the capital when we arrive." Hestia said. " how do you feel Percy?" Calypso asked with concern, looking up at him. Percy chuckled and pointed at his head." My master cheered me up with her common sense."

Hestia seemed perturbed." So Artemis did make a contract with you. I was wondering where she had run off to." Calypso ignored her and snuggled her face into Percy's chest." I want to enjoy all my time with you." Piper pouted and grabbed her arm." At least spare some time for an old friend calypso!" she laughed and pulled calypso away, before turning to percy." Percy, thank you so much for healing my father. I'd have been lost without him."

Percy shook his head." It was no problem. And more importantly calypso, shouldn't you go see your family?" calypso giggled with a hint of mischief." I can't get my eyes of you. if I do, ypu end up in new trouble every time!" she grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him down, kissing him. " but I'll leave you in Piper's care. You two have a lot of catching up to do after all!" she winked at the red faced piper before skipping away, grabbing Hestia and dragging her along.

Once the two were out of earshot, calypso leaned closer to Hestia." So…. Goddess. Have you regained any memories?" Hestia stiffened and looked around towards calypso." W-what are you talking about?"

Calypso flapped her hand." Oh hush, don't act. The more time I spent with Percy, the more my memories of my past life came back, after we shared our nirvana's. so I expect you must have had a similar experience." Hestia blinked with surprise, the hesitantly nodded." After he healed me….. my memories started coming back, in jagged bits and pieces." She said softly, as if worried they would be overheard.

Calypso nodded." So I'm not the only one hallucinating. Even Aphrodite regained quite a few memories, so it seems that Percy ended up unlocking our memories." Hestia turned and looked at the black haired boy, busy talking with piper." Yes… he is indeed quite unique. But my memories don't change my feelings for him" she added hastily." Who I was and who I am are different people."

Calypso chuckled." Chill. I'm just worried… what this entire business with Kronos might mean to our young hero." Hestia nodded gravely." But this sudden enmity with Tartarus is what troubles me even more. That is the main danger he faces."

A.N.: a quick update. Because im working on sleepover with forbidden sins along with this. Well that's all for now. Maybe the chapter was a bit rushed through at the end though. The problem is all my chapters need a lot of planning out now, since the story line is getting more complex. So it's a lot more difficult for me to be able to update the story as fast as I used to.

Ciao, with peace from Manhattan.

P.s: the story will pick up and get more interesting once we reach earth, so hang on peeps.


	66. New Rules on a New Battlefield

**Eight Arc: New Rules on a New Battlefield**

 **A.N.:** firstly to Mitsake who pointed out Percy didn't use ice flames while healing. That would be impossible, since he can only maintain Undine's domain for around seven minutes, and the time required to fuse the ice and fire is a lot more than that. Rather, he was able to heal him because, his fire doesn't react with ice, the two simply meld and fuse together. Secondly to XoverFan4evaaaa, Piper and Percy never met in their first lives, since Percy died in the battle against Kronos. Hence they share no memories. She will regain a few memories of earth, but nothing major, like the other harem members. And Lastly, Molleybrat93, thanks for all your reviews!

Percy and Hestia, the two peak Olympians spent the rest of the day, combining their powers and knowledge, creating a powerful barrier.

Percy summoned the power of Gnome, imbuing the immovable firmness of the earth into the barrier, then setting up a cycle of endlessly looping power that drew out energy from the earth to power the barrier surrounding the city. He knew that somewhere Tartarus was watching, planning to strike at all his weaknesses. He wanted to weaken and break him down by hurting the people closest to him. But Percy was determined he would do his best to protect them, and personally hunt down Tartarus if necessary.

He clenched his fist and all the runes floating before him all coalesced together, forming a defensive array that fused into the ground. He looked around, watching Hestia lower her hands, laying down burning symbols onto the city's walls. A barrier created by two peak Level Olympians, utilizing all their knowledge and all their power, even a hastily put together barrier like this one was no longer one to be trifled with. Once it was activated, even a full god would have difficulty breaking through it. for the weak Legend Monsters on the Gaia continent, there was no hope of ever breaking through such a powerful barrier, even if every monster pooled together all their power to attack the barrier.

Percy brushed his hair back and channeled the last bit of his energy into the runic inscriptions now adorning the city walls. Hestia stretched out her own palms, doing the same. There was a crackle, then the symbols began glowing with a soft yellow light before dying down and fading away.

Hestia stepped closer to the wall and ran a hand over the rough stone." From what I can see, the array has perfectly merged into the walls. In case of an attack, the barrier will seal the city, and form a self regenerating system of defense around the city." Percy nodded in agreement. In terms of arrays and alchemy, he was far outclassed and outmatched by Hestia, who had a far larger experience dealing with such things. The only knowledge he had was the basic training Artemis had given him while they were together on the Gaia continent. But she herself was quite lacking compared to Hestia.

Percy floated up and headed into the city, Hestia following behind him. He instinctively started to head for where his family's living area had been, but then he stopped and turned towards the City lord's mansion, where Piper was still tending to her unconscious father, with Artemis keeping an eye on his condition. He had been assigned a room there and so he directly headed for there. He felt like going and checking up on the city lord's condition, but he forced himself not to. He was tired and he had to trust Artemis's judgment. He needed to regain all his energy if he was going to be ready for Pontus's teleportation gateway to Earth.

He had specifically requested for the room with a courtyard with a small pond. It would help him restore his energy, and rest yawned slightly as he landed before his door, then realized Hestia was still floating behind him." Eh? H-hestia? It's alright, you can go rest now. I'm tired too, but I'll be alright once I get some sleep."

Hestia smiled and darted forward, hand grabbing his collar as she pushed him backwards, propelling him through the door. Without taking her eyes off him, she swung her foot around, kicking the door shut. She smirked at the confusion on Percy's face, then pushed him down onto the bed, reaching down and pulling off her top in one fluid motion.

"h-hestia? What are you up to now?" Percy asked weakly as he leaned back onto his hands as she licked her lips, regarding him like a predator would a prey." I've been waiting for quite some time, so I could have some alone time with my darling!" her eyes sparkled mischievously as she watched him, hands slipping down to her waist and quickly unbuckling and undoing the rest of her clothes and letting them all drop to the floor in a small heap.

"so…" Percy chuckled "I suppose you won't let me go tonight?". Hestia's eyes glinted as she kicked away the clothes piled around her feet. "exactly my dear husband. I was waiting for so long. The least you could do is pay me back for all my patience, isn't that right?" she reached down and brushed her fingers between her thighs, caressing the moist fabric of her innerwear. "I seem to have gotten my hands in the wrong area by mistake. Was quite sticky." She held up fingers that were dry except for her love juice. "help me clean off?" Hestia asked him sweetly.

Percy shivered at the lust that lay barely concealed under her tone. She was completely unlike the severe and strict front she usually put up. Every time they were alone, she didn't bother concealing any of her thoughts, freely admitting exactly how much she wanted him. "y-yeah…..yeah I'd love to help you" Percy said uncertainly. He grasped her hand gingerly, then leaned forward, feeling her fiery eyes swirl and rise mesmerizingly as she watched him closely.

He lifted her dainty hand up to his mouth and sucked a finger into his mouth, running his tongue all the way from base to its tip. Hestia's juices tasted tangy, or maybe that was just the lust hanging in the air. So thick he could actually taste it.

He licked all her fingers clean, savoring every bit of the taste. When her hand was clean, he continued to lick it, while allowing his free hand to slowly explore. It crept up her arm, tickling her skin. Her skin was cool to touch and he felt her shiver as his hand crossed over her shoulder and onto her bare collar bone. They both drew away for a moment.

"Well aren't you a feisty little kid" Hestia murmured in a husky voice, fidgeting with the collar of the shirt he was wearing. At the movement of her fingers, Percy felt his gaze being drawn up to the two lovely globes that were jiggling and swinging with every movement of her hands. He moved closer instinctively, raising his arm to run his fingers along her pale neck.

She shuddered with unrestrained passion and her soft breasts swung and bounced with her. Percy could easily see see that her previously well rounded breasts had grown a bit, maturing a bit along with her attitude. "Go ahead" she said softly, clasping his hand and pulling it down to her breasts. " I'm yours and yours alone. Ravish me as you wish."

That was all the invitation Percy needed. He hurriedly grabbed his clothes and quickly started pulling them off. His frenzy seemed to infect Hestia as well who started pulling at his clothes as well, each of her movements filled with needy urgency. There were loud rips and tears as she tore his clothes away, without any care for reason or thought. Then she pushed Percy back into the bed and leapt onto him, embracing him while her lips sought out his, meeting him in a passionate kiss. Then she broke away, face red and hair scaterred, breathing heavy as she licked her lips hungrily.

Percy lay back, admiring the lovely graceful form of the woman in front of him. Her dark ruler straight bangs fell over her face, framing the sultry smile that peeked out from underneath. Percy's breath caught in his throat as his cock surged to life as her hands, still wet from his saliva, reached down and took a hold of it. it hardened almost instantly, raging to force its way in between her legs and into her womb.

Hestia rolled over and hooked her thumbs into the elastic band of her panties, then pulled down on them, easily slipping them off and tossing them over her head. He licked his lips with anticipation as she uncrossed her legs, revealing her perfectly shaven pink pussy. Percy ran an eye over the puckered lips that were quivering in anticipation for him, a few drops of her love juice already beginning to form around them.

Percy lunged at Hestia and buried his face into her neck, kissing and sucking at her pale and perfect skin. Hestia groaned in appreciation as he left a trail of flaming red hickies all over her unmarked skin. She couldn't wait to be ravished and broken before being put together just so he could break her again.

She got down off the bed and hurriedly pulled him over to the edge of the bed, then kneeled between his legs.. His hard on sprang out, slapping her in the face. Hestia giggled and grasped it, peering at it as she admired her lover and his build.

" mmmmmhhhmm~ my favorite weapon!" Hestia purred before giving his member a hard lingering lick, snaking her tongue all the way from his balls to the sensitive tip.

It twitched as her tongue came in contact with it. Hestia made sure to make maximum contact as she dragged her tongue over his member.

He spurted precum right all over her tongue, startling her. Hestia sat back and licked her lips with relish. " you seem pretty eager to get your hands over me and make me yours" Hestia leaned forward and her soft tongue swirled around the tip of his member in quick, smooth motions. She gripped it with both her hands then started sucking on it for earnest, sucking the length into her mouth and all the way down to her throat, her small face turning red with the effort of taking in his thick cock into her mouth. Then she pulled away, trailing her tongue along the hard, throbbing length of his cock.

Percy slipped his hands under her arms and pulled her up, leaning backwards onto the bed as he pulled her up to his lips. They locked lips passionately as he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted up her petite form, and slowly carried her out of the room, directly heading for the small pond outside his room. He didn't hesitate as he held her tightly and propelled both her and himself off the edge of the pool and directly into the water. They crashed into the freezing water but Percy didn't mind it as he felt the rush of energy flow through him. His cock twitched in approval and he felt it thicken a bit more. Percy lay on his back on the water, holding Hestia on top as they kissed.

They stayed in that position for almost ten minutes, their tongues wrapping around each other, wrestling for dominance and control. By the end of it, Hestia's eyes had rolled into her head with pleasure and loss of air . Her struggles grew weaker and soon she lay limp and unresisting in his arms as he pinned her tongue down triumphantly. He slowly drew away from her, their lips connected by a strand of spit. He watched as she stirred softly and swallowed his spit before looking up at him with desperate yearning in her eyes.

"more….." she whispered softly. "give me more…". Percy smirked at her. "of course dear. I intend to"

Percy reached down, his fingers seeking the soft warm flesh off her pussy. Hestia opened her legs up, inviting him to go deeper into her, to explore the depths of her nether regions to his hearts content, to scout out every inch of her flesh from inside. His fingers brushed her sticky lips and she arched her back and hissed in approval as the water spun in miniature whirlpools around her clit.

It hardened almost instantly and she winced as Percy pinched the hard nub with a smirk at her reaction.

His member was throbbing, begging for some attention, so Hestia gripped it as well, swirling her hand around it, mimicking the miniature whirlpool Percy had summoned around her clit, using her power to forcefully stir the water into a rough whirlpool of warm water. Percy had to fight to hold in a groan, but he wouldn't give in so easily.

He launched his attack on her glorious boobs, filling both his hands with the softness of each. The nipples were both already erect, no doubt because of the excitement and the way he had worked on her clitoris.

He admired the perfection that were her breasts, small, white and soft globes that beckoned him to come get her. The nipple were pink and despite being hard, they still seemed puffy. Such a soft shade of pink, Percy had never seen such a lovely and pure color before, despite having screwed countless virgins.

He bent and pursed his lips around the nipples and started suckling. Hestia moaned as his to tongue stroked all over her sensitive nipples, agitating her from the inside using a thin tendril of water. Her legs shook under her weight, unable to bear the pleasure. It felt like her muscles were jelly under his illustrations. She was putty in his hands, for him to do whatever he pleased.

Her legs finally gave out and she fell to her knees, bringing her face to the tip of his cock.a small bubble of air slowly gathered and surrounded her head as Percy smirked and brushed the throbbing hot rod into her face, smearing some of his precum against her cheek.

She opened her mouth and got to work sucking on his cock, one hand working on his balls while the other was buried in between her thighs, steadily working herself up into a frenzy of lust.

She uttered a groan as Percy willed the water into another twister around her clit. He grabbed the back of her head with the help of a handful of hair and shoved his manhood in all the way down her throat. He could feel her groans ricocheting along his rock hard member, all the way to his brain and back again.

He left out a deep groan despite himself, and started thrusting into her throat. Her tongue worked its way all around his shaft, somehow wrapping around all the way around and around it. She swirled her tongue around a few more times, the walls of her throat constricting around the swollen tip of his manhood. She started humming as well and Percy literally felt like his soul might float out of his body at any given moment. He picked up the pace, speeding up, no longer caring about trying to be gentle.

And Hestia loved every moment of abuse that he spent on her, the feeling of his rough member scraping all the way into her throat and then scraping out again.

She felt as if she might end up orgasming from the mere pleasure she was feeling from being abused. Her fingers were pumping hard now, three fingers moving in and out of her tight pussy. She needed more pain, more pleasure for her to finally feel satisfied. She closed her eyes, focusing her energy on grasping at his tip with her throat. Percy let out a strangled gasp that made him warm up inside as he was assaulted by even more pleasure. He managed a few more thrusts before blowing his load into her throat. His cock pulsed, pumping rope after rope of thick, hot, steaming cum down to her stomach, painting her throat white with his seed.

They broke away, gasping and panting. Percy felt the cold water swirl around his suddenly free cock. It felt rejuvenating and he sighed in pleasure as the cool water soothed his raw member, bringing him back to maximum performance.

She seemed done swallowing the last few remnants of cum he had left in her mouth. She looked up to Percy and gave him a beaming smile. "ready for round two?" she asked "you bet!" Percy said, waving his aroused member in her face. She grinned and sat up again, lifting both her lovely boobs and bringing them to give his member a warm embrace of flesh. Percy groaned out loud as the soft flesh blanketed his hard member sending electric tingles up his length and all the way up his spine, leaving him hopping uncomfortably at the sudden wave of pleasure. His cock was still pretty sensitive after the way he'd rubbed it into her rough throat, and now this silky stimulation almost made him blow his load again.

"nuh-uh big boy" Hestia smiled, shaking her head. "not so fast!"

She started moving her boobs over her young charge's enormous manhood. She went slowly, letting him get used to the sensation of her cool slippery skin moving up and down his member.

The water had soon healed the sensitivity of Percy's cock and she was able to speed up, sliding her tits up and down his shaft at full speed. Percy's face was twisted in pleasure as she moved her soft tits over his throbbing rod, caressing the entire length with her silky, soft skin.

When she was sure she had brought him back to maximum performance, Hestia dipped her head over her boobs, opening her mouth to let his member slide from in between her breasts and into her mouth. She sucked at the tip for a bit before going down further, taking more and more of his length, until he was sliding from between her tits into her throat and back again.

There were no words to describe the ecstasy Percy felt at the stimulation. If this continued he was fairly certain he'd blow a nut. His balls felt heavy and ready with cum, despite having blown his load just a while back. Percy gasped as she bit down on his tip, not hard enough to hurt but certainly enough to send the desperately hanging boy over the edge.

His entire body seized up as she slowly drew away from him, pumping her breasts over his member furiously trying to maximize the pleasure. Percy's teetering over the edge moment seemed to take eternity, but it was just seconds before he was cumming like crazy. This time the summoned globe of air around her head made it so that she could enjoy the sensation of his sticky cum splattering her face and hair, before piling a generous amount of the cream onto her titties. Percy clenched his teeth as his body shook and his cock spasmed, shooting out thick ropes of cum.

Hestia finally squeezed Percy's member between her tits, the tip firmly enclosed in the middle of her boobs. He strained, at the end of his enormous climax, feeling himself shudder as he sprayed his cum into the soft cocoon formed by the flesh of her boobs.

When he was done, he climbed out of the pool and collapsed onto the ground, unbelievably tired out. Hestia scooped the cum he'd layered on to her breasts and swallowed all of it with a pleased sigh. She saw Percy's state and trained her eye's onto his still hard member. "mmmm does that thing have a permanent hard on or are you trying to flatter me?" she asked Percy sultrily as she climbed out and got on all fours and crept towards him, waving her ass up in the air as she did.

She climbed on top of Percy again, dangling her boobs over his face and Percy found his attention being drawn to her soft breasts again, despite the protests of his body that he'd probably had enough fun by now. She climbed onto his lap and started cleaning off his cock. Percy winced as her tongue encircled the swollen and sensitive tip.

Hestia gestured and a small tendril of vermillion fire, radiating healing energy snaked into his body, revitalizing him. Percy gasped as the fire gave him another invigorating shot of energy. He was sure he felt the sensible part of his brain banging its head on a rock somewhere but he decided to ignore reason and give in to lust.

He pushed Hestia down, clambering onto her body, seizing handfuls of her full soft breasts as he did. Water rose up underneath them as Percy used a handy trick he'd once learned, forming a water bed under the two of them. He placed a hand over her eyes and she closed them, letting go of a shuddering breath as the tip of his member probed the lips of her cunt.

He took a moment to steel himself, then drew back and slammed into her with all he had. His well lubricated cock had no problem penetrating her tight yet wet vagina. Her pussy swallowed his entire length as he slammed hilt deep inside her. Hestia seemed to freeze, then her back arched and she shrieked as her pussy convulsed around his member, spraying wave after wave of love juices out of her womanhood. If he hadn't come so many times, he would have no doubt have climaxed right then and there. The walls of her pussy ground against him and she gouged deep tracks into his shoulders with long sharp finger nails she had grown and manicured for this exact moment.

A few minutes later she had finished her orgasm, a quivering heap of herself. Percy bent and kissed her boobs then slowly moved to her neck and worked his way up to her lips. She stirred as she felt his lips against her nipples, but surprisingly her orgasm had been so strong, she had fainted from the sheer force and pleasure that had overtaken her senses by a storm. He kept working, steadily leaving a trail of angry red hickies on her skin, moving up from her breasts and slowly but steadily moving up to her neck and finally claiming her lips. At this point she had somewhat regained consciousness but was still mostly out of it, so all she did was lie back and enjoy the show as Percy took control of her.

He reached down and grabbed her legs around the ankles and lifted them up to his shoulders, ramming into her from above, using their positioning to gain maximum penetration, going as deep as he possibly could. Hestia seemed to be reviving slowly as she felt the waves of pleasure slowly buoy her consciousness back to life.

She reached up and grabbed her ankles, pulling her legs down even more until they were almost at her own shoulders, allowing Percy more leverage to go even deeper, brushing into sensitive spots she'd never known she'd had.

She tried to count her breaths to keep a hold of her sanity but felt herself slipping as Percy speeded up, moving faster, ramming into her womb with almost every stroke. Each thrust bore down on her like a ton of pleasure, ripping at the edges of her mind with tiny hooks. She could feel every crease in her vagina being smoothed out by the thick beast muscling its way through her most intimate private areas.

She tried milking him for more, tried making her walls clench onto him, but she found that every part of her body from waist down was numb with pain and pleasure. She hissed under her breath, with every stroke of his member, every twitch, until she was screaming her head off. It was all she could do to hold onto her ankles as her entire being went numb.

"yes! Yes! That's it big boy! Fuck that spot real good!" she let out an exhilarated screech until her voice cracked and she ran out of air. "yes yes yes!" her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and her voice was taking on a pleading tone as she spoke to him "yes yes yes Percy! Percy! Don't stop! Don't ever stop fucking me!" Hestia's screams dissolved into random gibberish and hollering as her mind completely crumbled under the strain of the intense sex.

Percy had no intention of stopping any time soon. His cock was begging him to keep plowing her like a bull until she really couldn't even fly, let alone walk without a limp.

Her pussy kept sucking him in deeper with each thrust and Percy found that if he angled just right, he rammed into her G-spot. A few minutes later Hestia was shaking and shuddering again as another orgasm ripped through her body. Percy knead her breasts, letting the pleasure run through her for as long as possible. The orgasm kept up as Percy continued to pound her into the water bed.

Hestia gave one last scream, her entire body straining as her back arched again, her body and mind straining at its limits. Percy felt his body tense up as his climax hit as well. He kept pounding her as his shaft tightened, a fountain of seed flowing out of him into Hestia. They both froze, under the strain of pressure, then collapsed. The water bed shattered as well, dumping them both into the water below them.

Percy gave a satisfied sigh as some of his energy returned after contact with the water. Hestia didn't seem that lucky. Her head was still lolling and drool floated from her lips carried by eddies and underwater currents. He pulled himself out of her with a sigh, then carefully picked her up and carried her out before laying her down on his bed. That had been extremely satisfying.

Hestia's eyes opened slightly and she reached out, grabbing his wrist and pulling him down into her embrace. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she curled her legs around his waist, tightly holding him close to herself. Her heartbeat slowly calmed down, soon beating in rhythm with him as their eyes fluttered shut and the two of them drifted off to sleep.

Percy woke up when he was thrown into the pond. He sat up, spluttering and gasping with surprise, entirely disoriented by the sudden sensation of water and the coldness it brought. He looked around, completely taken aback at the sight of the pond. Even if he was able to breathe underwater, suddenly being thrown into a pool of it was not a pleasant sensation at all.

He saw Artemis, smirk plastered across her face as she turned around and walked out of the courtyard. She turned around, throwing a conscending glance over her shoulder." You should get ready, we have to get going today remember?" she said, then turned and left. Percy sat up and clambered out of the pool, brushing back his wet hair as he did. He shivered slightly, then realized he was still undressed. He sighed and rushed back into his room to dry himself off and get dressed.

Once he was ready, he headed out of his room, walking back to the city Lord's Mansion where the rest of them had agreed to congregate. He went in and checked in on the City Lord who was still quite out of it. however his vitals were all stable and he was recovering as expected. Percy nodded at Grandholme who was still seated at his side, then turned to look at Piper, who was looking down embarrassed at the ground." Percy… last time… I was…. Unable to follow you … so this time… I really want to come along with you." she bit her lip and looked up at him." Percy please let me come along with you."

Percy scratched his head. He wanted to take her along with himself, but he knew that the difficulty and danger would increase exponentially once he returned to earth. He couldn't help but hesitate at the thought of bringing her along when she was simply a Peak legend.

Then undine spoke out." Percy, there are a few things about earth you don't know."

Percy frowned as he heard her words." What do you mean? Things I don't know? and how does that effect my decision on bringing her along?"

She paused then contemplated on how to explain to him. Then she started speaking in a slow measured voice." On earth, there …. Are rules. The original rules that bound all of humanity, keeping you all mortals. Meaning, once you return to earth, you will regain your mortality and humanity. You will no longer have your increased lifespan, your ridiculous strength will disappear as well, along with most of the divine abilities you wield so freely, such as the ability to fly. So in short, you will become back… a mortal."

Percy gasped with surprise, but before he could ask her any questions she rushed onwards in her explanation." This rule applies all the way till you reach the level of Overgod. So basically right now, when you return to earth, you will be stronger than an average human and maybe even stronger than an average demigod used to be back on earth, but you will no longer be superhuman. but, because of this, there is a shortcut in training."

Percy's eyes shone and he nodded his head eagerly." What is this shortcut? Can I use it?"

Undine smirked." Unfortunately, you can't. the shortcut is going from being an ordinary human, all the way to becoming an Overgod, simply by accepting another Overgods help and becoming their follower. But you apparently refused Gaia's offer already didn't you? hihihi. On earth, many people simply become Overgods without any training or effort. Surprising isn't it?"

Percy felt a dozen curses rising to the top of his mind." So basically, a person can simply become an Overgod, simply by accepting some other guys power? Isn't that cheating?" Undine rolled her eyes." Its not so simple. The Overgod realm is divided into four parts." Percy shrugged." Duh. Early stage, middle stage, late stage and peak Overgod."

Undine shook her head and spoke." First is Minor Overgod, which consists of a thousand levels." Percy sucked in a sharp breath as she spoke." Second is Major Overgod, consisting of a hundred different levels. Then you have the True Overgod, consisting of only ten levels. And lastly you have the Peak Overgod realm, which is only a single stage by itself. So overall, the Overgod realm has 1111 levels."

Percy was dumbfounded into silence. He decided that the best course of action would be to stay quiet and let her finish her explanation.

" people who accept power and become Overgods, usually only reach minor Overgod level. And people in minor Overgod level cannot grant their power to other people. Some geniuses can reach major Overgod level, and they can grant their power to other mortals, but the people who follow them can only reach minor Overgod level. Basically, you're limited by the power of your master. If your master is a true Overgod, you can reach major Overgod level. And if you're master is a titan or one of the fates, who are all celestial realm warriors?" she stopped and waited for Percy to realize what she meant.

Percy felt realization dawn onto him." If your master is a titan, or one of the fates, like Nico following the fates, then he would only be able to reach Overgod level! He could never reach celestial realm, because he can't reach his master in power!" undine smiled with appreciation." Exactly! But you, you are limitless. You can reach celestial realm and challenge Kronos with no problem at all! And once you reach minor Overgod realm, you can share your power with a few people, directly raising their cultivation up to minor Overgod realm! This is the advantage you got when you decided to walk on your own path to become a god!"

Percy felt a smile come onto his face, then wiped it off as another worrisome thought came up." Then can't the titans create an army of Overgods? They could become unstoppable!" undine snorted with distate." Hardly. A single person can have only so many followers. So obviously the titans would grant their powers only to a few dedicated followers. And these followers can grant their power to a few more people. So overall, you needn't worry too much about people following the titans. As for you, considering your vitality and all the power you bear, you could probably have a dozen people as your own followers. That's actually pretty high you know?"

Percy closed his eyes for a moment as he absorbed the sudden input of information. Piper frowned, since he'd suddenly gone silent for a few seconds. Then Percy opened his eyes and smiled at her." Piper, you can come along. I know a few ways to increase your power." Piper's own face broke into a huge smile at his words and she leaped at him with a loud squeal, hugging him as she jumped up and down with excitement. Then she realized that everyone around her was looking at the two of them and she grew silent, blushing furiously as she hugged his arm. Percy smiled and shook his head, then he quietly touched his mind to gnome. She opened her own eyes and her voice echoed through his consciousness.

" Current power levels, acceptable. Current physique is capable of travelling till the Temple of Pontus, while carrying a limit of seven people. If limit is exceeded, the trip will be cut short once energy is expended." She spoke in her usual mechanical way as Percy quietly calculated who he was taking along. Since piper was coming along as well, that made it four people, including artemis, Hestia and Aphrodite, all who's stayed behind so they could travel with him to the temple. The rest were already on their way and would probably arrive any time soon. Percy held Piper's hand as he silently strode out of the room, easily able to sense the aura of his three companions.

Perseus jackson (profile)

Name:Perseus(Percy) Jackson  
Age: Twenty  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Sea/Storm/ThunderFire/ Berserk Darkness  
Current status: Soul Bond with Hong'er/Bond of Life with Artemis  
Current Cultivation: Peak Olympian Realm  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline of The Oceans(special power: Thousand Layered Waves(offensive), Flow Like Silk(defensive), Circular Softness( Combined), Hurricane Spiral(Defensive))/Bloodline Of The Azure Dragon/Bloodline of the Royal Phoenix/ Bloodline of the Divine Golden Crow/ Celestial Moon God's Blood(special Power: Oracle's eye)/ Vermillion Bird Bloodline.  
Elemental Contracts:

Contract with Gnome( Level One)

Contract with Undine(Level One)

Contract with the Vermillion Bird/Crimson Phoenix / Golden Crow(Level Three)

Contract with the Azure Dragon( Level Two)

Divine Transformations: Divine Sea Gods Transformation/ Devil God Sword Transformation/celestial Moon God's Transformation/ Asura Phantom Rebirth  
Weapon: Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword

Artemis Sollunas(Profile)

Name:Artemis Sollunas  
Age: Twenty Four  
Race: Divine Human  
Attribute: Moon God Attribute  
Current status: Bond Of Life With Percy Jackson  
Current Cultivation: Full god level(half-step Olympian level)  
Divine Bloodlines: Bloodline Of Fate(special power: Oracle's eye)  
Divine Transformations: Celestial Moon Gods Transformation, Oracle's Serpent  
Weapon: Violet Bamboo Celestial Bow/ twin black and purple divine daggers.

Piper DeGrest(profile)

Name:Piper DeGrest  
Age:Twenty Three  
Race: Human  
Attribute: Frost  
Current Status: Successor to the City Lord  
Current Cultivation: Peak legend Realm Warrior  
Monster Bloodlines: Frost Fairy's Bloodline(special Power: Frost Dream Domain)  
Divine Transformation: Frost Fairy's Hand Maiden  
Weapon: Errant Ice World Staff

Calypso Thundre(Profile)

Name:Calypso Thundre  
Age: Twenty Two  
Race: Crimson Phoenix-Golden Crow Bloodline  
Attribute: ThunderFire  
Current Status: Dragon-Phoenix Bond with Percy  
Current Cultivation: Initial Stage Minor God(Third Nirvana)  
Monster Bloodlines: Phoenix Bloodline/Golden crow Bloodline/Thunder Dragon's Bloodline Bloodline(special Power: Thunder Dragon's Roar)  
Divine Transformation: Phoenix empress Transformation/Dragonification  
Weapon: Phoenix Empress Whip/ Golden Crows Saber.

Aphrodite Alhart(Profile)

Name: Aphrodite Alhart  
Age: Thirty  
Race: Human  
Attribute: Love  
Current Status: Director of Alchemist Association/ infatuated with Percy.  
Current Cultivation: Initial Full God Realm  
Divine Bloodline: Divine Bloodline of Love and Lust  
Divine Transformation: Handmaiden of Lust  
Beast Contract: Alpine Snow Fairy.  
Beastly Transformation: Angel Of Lustful Charm  
Weapon: Heavy Heart Soul Scythe

A.N.: the worst part about the change of rules on earth is explaining them in a way all of you guys can understand. So if you have any doubts, seriously, pm me. This entire thing is pretty confusing unless you read the explanation carefully. I'll explain them again in the future, hopefully, so for now ciao.


	67. Return to Earth

**Ninth Arc: The Tower Continent**

 **Return to Earth**

Percy silently stared at himself with a contemplating expression. Short black hair, a pale, slightly scarred face, with sea green eyes set deep in his sockets. He still looked like a teenager, around fourteen to sixteen years old, due to his extended lifespan. Had he stayed in the realm of gods, he would have stayed looking like that for another few millennia. He shifted his gaze, watching the petite auburn haired girl that stood to his right, much shorter than him and still looking not a day older than twelve, despite the fact that she was in fact older than Percy himself. She had wide silvery yellow eyes and long eye lashes that surrounded them, making them look twice as large.

To his left there stood another young girl, with caramel brown hair that hung free to her waist, and almond eyes that sparkled with an inner light. Her teardrop shaped face was flushed with color and innocence, making her look even more ethereal. To her side, an older girl stood, looking around twenty, with a mature build, laden with curves that were plump and soft. Her bright purple hair swirled energetically in the breeze and her purple eyes sparkled like mischievous jewels from under them.

And to the back, standing with her arms crossed around her chest, a girl looking nearly as young as twelve, with fierce red eyes, that seemed to dance and leap like tongues of fire in the light stood by, dressed in colorful clothes that brought out the fiery color of her eyes and the color in her cheeks. And right beside her stood another girl with bright multicolored eyes and short brown hair. She was dressed in simple leather clothes, and a red necklace hung by her throat, which in his home city's customs meant that the girl was engaged. Percy had been pleasantly surprised to find out she had worn this necklace in his memory for the past few years.

He sighed and looked away from the long set mirror adorning the wall of the temple of Pontus. He turned around and faced the gigantic door he'd had to swing open the last time he had come here. He stretched out both his hands and placed one on each door before lightly exerting his strength. The doors groaned terribly as they slowly swung open, admitting the six people into the Temple of Pontus.

As soon as Percy stepped in, he noticed the familiar people waiting for him inside. The mysterious and proud red headed disciple of Hestia, Rachel, with sparkling green eyes similar to his own. Then the shy, yet arrogant little princess, Zoë, personal disciple of Hestia. Beside them stood a sultrily smiling woman, dressed in flimsy clothing and surrounded by sweet smelling poison, Drew, Moonflower of Hell! The two of them shared an awkward and complicated relationship, what with her having attempted to kill him after she first met him.

Dionysus and Hephaestus nodded at him with a smile as they both noticed him enter the temple. Hephaestus's mechanical eye glowed slightly and trained itself onto him with uncanny precision, almost as if it were scanning through him. Dionysus brushed back his curly black hair, eyes blood shot as ever as he managed a grumpy smile, still looking like he desperately needed sleep. The last few people making up the company were the twin figures of the dark angel disciples, Bianca and Hazel, both of whom had sultry smiles just like drew as they appraised Percy.

None of them spoke as Percy and the rest joined them. Finally Percy broke the silence, since everyone was gazing at him expectantly, as if they expected him to break out into a dance or start singing without any warning. " so…. Um…. We'll be travelling using this portal to another higher realm, known as Earth. Its…. Well….. it's the original realm, where the previous gods and humans used to reside before the war between the Gods and the Devils. And … well… I don't know much else." Undine sighed and decided to help him out of his misery.

With a jerky flash of blue she materialized before all of them without any warning. They tensed at her sudden appearance, then calmed down when they noticed Percy nod appreciatively at her. she turned around to face them before she finally began speaking." I… am Undine, the representation and distillation of Pontus's control over the element of Water. You could say that I am, the most powerful elemental spirit of water in all of existence. But enough of introductions. I know quite a bit of the affairs on earth, so I'll explain them out for you." she laced her fingers together, eyes sparkling and began her explanation.

" the original state of earth was simply like any other planet, albeit a bit smaller than most other planets. However, after the war between the Gods and the Titans, who you call Devils, there was a change in the situation, one that overturned the balance usually held between the many Primordials. Though the Gods were defeated in the war, Zeus and Hades, two of the most powerful gods had sealed away the titans. But there still existed other threats. That is, the Snake of Chaos, Apophis was released from his seal. This beast is a creature with power beyond your comprehension, so it would be meaningless for me to explain how he was sealed and how he was released. However, after his release, he was defeated and banished from the realm of earth, sent to the depths of the underworld. He was thrown into Tartarus. Tartarus himself is an all powerful being, capable of destroying most living creatures, simply by looking at them. However, he was not invincible, especially outside his realm in Tartarus. But … we do not know how, he allied himself with the serpent and captured the doors of death, the only portal that could connect his realm to earth. Then he attacked my Master, Pontus and with the help of the snake, severely injured him, forcing him to flee. Later he attacked the Primordial goddess Gaia, banishing her from earth as well. Once he was rid of the two of them, he was unopposed upon earth. His children flooded from his realm into earth, an unending surge of beasts. That was when, the three fates, mistress of all fate and lifelines, severed their immortality and personally joined the battle. And so, the balance of earth has hung precariously for these many, many years."

Undine sighed and shook her head." The earth now, is a very different place. Humans, once the sole rulers of the planet are now locked in competition with many other, powerful creatures, struggling to survive. The mist is gone now, ever since the titan Hecate was sealed away. So now, there is no hiding the truth from the humans. And without the gods there to protect them, they can only rely on themselves to survive in this endless struggle."

The spectators were silent for a few moments. Hestia, calypso and Aphrodite looked decidedly more pale than ever, and Percy felt a tinge of worry. He leaned closer to them and whispered softly." Hey. Are you three alright?" Calypso looked at him, her eyes wide, then she shook her head. Aphrodite looked away, her pale face suddenly turning red. He frowned, wondering what was wrong with them, when Hestia huffed with displeasure and turned to face Percy." Percy. do you remember your past life?"

Percy froze, then nodded with a degree of cautiousness. Even as more of his memories returned, they didn't seem like his memories at all. It was almost as if he was watching a movie from someone else's point of view. But recently, things had started making more sense and he was beginning to understand exactly why he had been reborn along with all these people he still remembered from his past life. But till now, he hadn't encountered anyone who was reborn with their memory of their past lives, except for Luke and Athena. Thus he had kept quiet about his own memories, not wanting to alarm anyone. But now it appeared as if Hestia had more than just some inkling about her own past life.

Hestia smiled at him." Don't worry, my memories won't change who I am. It's simply that not just me, but even calypso and Aphrodite have regained a few recollections." She turned and glanced at Artemis." However, it appears… Artemis has not." Artemis frowned at them." I have no idea about any memories like that." Hestia nodded at her words." Actually, it appears we regained our memories… after becoming more than a little intimate with Percy." artemis's eyes widened and her face flushed red all the way down to her neck." What do you mean!? Are you… you suggesting that I should…" her voice trailed off as she realized everyone was staring at her while she was panting passionately, heaving and gasping.

Hestia chuckled and shook her head." I never suggested anything of that sort. I was simply commenting on the fact that Percy was the key to regaining all our memories, and he might have a clue as to what exactly is going on around us right now, aren't I right Percy?"

Percy swallowed nervously, then nodded, but he was saved from having to answer any further questions when suddenly, the sea under their feet swirled and begin stirring up in a frenzy. The wind whipped and howled, the waves growing larger and wilder, and suddenly the entire sea erupted into a giant water spout around the doorway that had let them in.

Undine smiled thinly and turned into a jet of blue before streaking into Percy. she emitted a light giggle as she entered his inner world." And we're off on your latest adventure huh?" Percy stretched out his hand and the pillar of water parted, revealing a thin portal, barely enough for one person to pass through. His eyes glinted with excitement and he smiled." Yes. After all this time, I shall return home to earth!" the others all seemed nervous, but Percy felt a sense of peace and well being take over him as he walked forward, almost drawn forward like a magnet towards the portal. There was no hesitation in his step as he stepped forward, crossing into the endless void.

 _-Palace of Nyx-_

Clotho opened her ancient eyes, feeling her senses tingle with a sense of foreboding. She glanced around and saw both of her sisters looking as apprehensive as her. Lachesis managed a smile as she stood up." Mother nyx and mother chaos have planned this for a long time now. We have no choice but to believe in the wild card." Clotho nodded, but the worry in her eyes did not fade.

"now that he is on his way, both Kronos and Tartarus can focus their attention on eliminating him. If he's even slightly weaker than we anticipated, he will die without a doubt." Atropos's gravelly voice rang out. But before either sister could answer, there was a loud throb, and suddenly a dark presence materialized before them. The three sisters shivered and stood up abruptly." Mother Nyx!"

Nyx regarded the three of them coldly, then walked over and sat down in one of the chairs present at the side of the room." We have been tricked." She stated coolly, but her words made the three sisters shiver and look up with horror. Who could possibly have the courage or wit to trick their mother?

" the girl…. she's still alive." Nyx's voice trembled for a moment, and the three fates went cold." An unseen variable?"

Nyx nodded solemnly." Yes. Kronos played his cards well. Percy's weakness… his fatal flaw… this was unforeseen. There is no way to change a human's nature, and without a doubt, Percy's weakness will never let him win this fight."

The three fates were silent, but they knew the truth in her words. Finally, atropos spoke up." How did you find out about her ?"

Nyx sighed and clasped her face with both hands. Then she leaned forward, burying her face in her hands." I saw her. she was hidden into a seclusion array, inside the void, to prevent me from finding out about her. not just me, even Tartarus would be unable to sense her." the fates shivered when they heard of Tartarus, an existence even they could not surmount.

Then Clotho spoke." But even more importantly, did you notice the power the boy was wielding? A power that no mortal should ever wield, how does he have such power?" nyx's brow creased at her words. The question was troubling her as well, but she had already enquired of it from Chaos, who had forbidden her to speak any further on the subject. Nyx pinched the bridge of her nose, then looked up at her three daughters." I asked mother chaos, how her powers ended up in the hands of a mortal, even one she favors. But…. She has forbidden any further mention of it. we must only pray… that the power does not destroy him"

The four of them fell silent, thinking about the mortal who held such importance in their plans.

 _-Heart of Tartarus-_

Tartarus was the pit itself, immortal and invincible. He rarely bothered himself with matters of mortals, but he was never foolish enough to ignore them entirely. And today his attention was held on the same boy who he had chosen." Interesting… let the game begin." He murmured as he felt the portal that Pontus held control over suddenly flare to life.

 _\- Earth-_

Athena was in a fairly good mood. She had finally reached Overgod realm, and now she was a true immortal, an existence beyond belief and reproach. Her talent was one that stood out, even among the many geniuses on earth. This was why she had been granted this power, and this responsibility. Both were beyond the imagination of ordinary people, and so was the punishment she would face should she fail. The punishment part was a bit of a damper, but she had never actually failed.

The first time she stole the Styx soul just as planned, but he managed to survive that as well. Then both the dragon as well as Ares failed to finish him off. Then she herself failed twice, once because of the god slayer princess, the second time because of the interference of the pesky Overgods. But this last chance given to her was invaluable, and she knew she had to finish him off spectacularly in order to redeem herself. She giggled as she reached a door and knocked against it.

"Are you done dressing up dear?" she called out sweetly. There was no answer, but the door itself swung open. There was a soft swish and an Overgod stepped out, wrapping her cloak securely, then placing her mask onto her face, securing it behind her head. Athena smiled and patted her shoulder. Though, in status Athena was the senior, in truth, they were both equals in power.

" we'll be counting on you. after all, you're our trump card aren't you?" she said as she stepped around her, closing the door. The Overgod nodded without any hesitation." Of course. Have I ever missed a kill? As if I'd fail to finish off a pesky mortal like that. It's an insult to a god to imagine being foiled at such a simple task." Athena's face twisted, but she held her composure." Yes… you're right." She managed, then forced a smile onto her face." I'm sure you won't have any difficulty getting rid of that boy."

The two of them exchanged smiles, hiding their hostilities as they slowly separated. Athena's smile held until she turned around a corridor, heading away from the person she was beginning to detest. Her features twisted with rage as she recalled the mocking look she'd thrown her as she'd commented on her failure to finish Percy off. Then she pulled herself together, determined to maintain her composure. A satisfied smile spread over her face as her previous plan suddenly flashed to the front of her mind." Yes, you little bitch, for now you're master Kronos's favorite. But times change and so do plans. He believes you have enough skill to finish off Percy, but I know that you'll fail just like me." Her hateful whisper was low and only she heard it even as she headed to her room." You might have an extra advantage, but that alone is insufficient to kill that pesky boy. But I know just how to turn your failure into my success! Then I'll be the one having the last laugh, while you spend your last few moments in absolute despair!" her grey eyes flashed and she clenched her fist tightly." After all, I am the Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy. Don't underestimate my plans!"

 _-spatial tunnel-_

Spatial teleportation is always a very messy business. The longer the distance, the more messy it gets. Percy knew this from experience quite well. But for once, this teleportation was entirely problem free. Obviously, this was entirely because of the fact that it was under the supervision of a Primordial god, and secondly, it wasn't a distance teleportation, but rather a teleportation between the two dimensions he was travelling between.

It was nearly instantaneous. But the feeling Percy underwent was the worst he had ever experienced.

He felt his body grow heavy, then suddenly lighten up. He felt a surge of power, which suddenly faded away, leaving him weak and helpless. His vision turned black, then filled with multicolored spots of light. Then his insides twisted and he was on the verge of throwing up everything he had previously eaten. He felt a powerful suppression bind every part of his body and he felt feverish and chilly as all the power in his body was suddenly crushed under this suppression, then forcefully squeezed and sucked out of him, leaving him feeling disconcertingly empty. And then he was suddenly spat out of the tunnel.

He stumbled, and fell to his knees. The light seemed painfully bright even as he looked up. The earth under his hands was rough and gritty and the wind was hot and dry. The sun beat down mercilessly,and for the first time in many days, it actually felt hot to Percy. he looked up with a great deal of difficulty, seeing a silhouette against the bright sky.

There was a scuffle and a slight scraping sound as the silhouette drew nearer, and Percy tensed, completely aware he was in no condition to defend himself or his companions. Then his eyesight adjusted to the light and as he squinted at the silhouette, it slowly became a man. A man wearing a worn out jacket, and worn out jeans, with a worn out and sun baked hat resting atop his head. He wore scuffled boots that seemed crusted by dirt, and his face was red, and seemed raw under the harsh sun. Percy's blinked and his eyes widened as he saw the man reach up and adjust something he held in his mouth. Something so familiar from his past life, but now a novelty he'd rarely seen.

" well, I'll be damned." The man pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it to the ground, crushing it under the heel of his boot."I'd hardly expect lord Pontus to suddenly dump a kid through the portal. It's been millennia since I been waiting on this damned outpost, and finally I get me some of the action." The man smiled and held out a hand to Percy. Percy reached up and grasped his hand, and he was pulled up to his feet, still unsteady, but feeling some of his strength return. The man's smile widened as Percy stood and he slapped him hard on the shoulder, almost knocking him down again." Well, tha'd make a fine man yet. I'd 'ardly 'spect a boy to stand so easily after the teleportation." He chuckled and stroked his bristly chin as he looked Percy up and down." As expected of someone the Lord chose. A fine 'un and tha' seem healthy enough."

The space behind Percy crackled and suddenly Artemis was sent through, landing almost exactly as Percy had. The man raised an eyebrow." 'ow many am I to expect really?" he shrugged and turned from Percy to Artemis." Well, it matters lil' enough. Welcome to Earth, ya young laddies. This 'ere is the Tower Continent, the last continent under the rule of Humanity."

A.N.: finally moving on. We spent too much time in the Realm of Gods, and that was quite annoying. Anyhow, we're speeding up our journey now, and we'll have a few things happen off chapter as well. Also, for those people thinking about the whole cliché, last continent ruled by humanity, sounds like the last city of humanity at the start of the story, you're wrong. Here, when I say ruled, it means humans are the de facto leaders. The kings. The queens. The decision makers. The oppressors. Basically, it's dominated by humans as well as entirely controlled by humans. As for the rest of it, it has many humans and many powerful human organizations, but no other continent is ruled by humans alone. So no, I'm not repeating the cliché idea. Also thanks so much for not reviewing. It's so much encouragement for an author skipping sleep to plan out ideas, and consider how to update faster. Seriously, I read all the reviews. Test me if you want. Also if there was any confusion about the current state of earth, and the new changes, I was wondering if I should have another segment of Hong'er talks. She seems as popular as Artemis, despite not being a Pjo character.

Speaking of not being a Pjo character, I realized the biggest mistake I made is, nearly every character in my story is a reborn one. I mean those who are mentioned by name. there is no important character who is out of the Pjo universe, and that means I've been limiting my ideas. So I will begin using Oc's in the following Arcs. If you have any that you think would work out, do send them, since im pretty much screwed out for the next one month. Like totally tired of thinking about ideas. I want to remove my brain and burn it, then bury the ashes.

Hong'er is, as many of you may already know, a character from ATG, and one whom I adore for her eccentric personality, which is how she made it here, and why I so painstakingly carve out each dialogue of hers to sound in third person, since her endearing way of talking is what makes her quite so popular.

Anyways, ciao with peace from Manhattan.

Also I've been thinking if I should just delete the story and reboot it. perhaps a bit of fine tuning will help it stand out a bit more. Problem is, I pretty much have a great story planned out, and I don't want to quit and redo this whole thing again. Well I'll see about it. also sorry, I'm going to neglect my smut stories again, since im too busy to focus on too many stories for now.

Also looking for people to discuss ideas with. Since im pretty much out after the ninth Arc. I mean I do have scattered ideas, but nothing solid enough to write on. So if you don't want a hiatus, I want a volunteer. Peace out bro's.


	68. Present Day Earth

**Ninth Arc: Present Day Earth**

The old man, who introduced himself as Clymenious, proved quite talkative as they walked back to town. And good god, did he talk. While helping Percy half carry, half drag the rest of his companions, he jaberred on about history, magic, politics. Anything that caught his fancy really. And so, Percy got a whole lot of information he could have lived without.

"The tower continent, it's run by them blokes down in the Tower. 'course, you'd 'ardly 'spect it t'be run by them demons now would ya?" the man elbowed the weary Drew and sent her tumbling head over heels. " oh, ya'll kids seem pretty fragile." The man murmured apologetically as he looked at the dusty girl who seemed half conscious." 'ow on earth did ya'll get selected by the lord? Only tha' boy with them green eyes is any good." He asked suspiciously, looking at Percy, who was helping Hestia stand up.

The return to earth had sealed away their battle qi, leaving them as fragile and helpless as little children. The once superhuman figures capable of flying as easily as breathing were left incapable of walking straight as all their strength, save the few dregs that any ordinary human would posses, was sealed away. All they had left was the ordinary form of a normal human. Out of them all, Percy was the least affected, since his age was the youngest, meaning he wasn't entirely dependent on the battle qi for very long, and he had trained his body very well, having used the heavy sword as a weapon, and used mostly his muscle strength to deal with it. furthermore, he had also undergone a similar experience once before, when battling Artemis, having sealed away all his power and become one with his sword in order to beat her despite a huge gap in their strength.

But of course, there were disadvantages as well. Percy had tried summoning Hong'er, to try and see if he could still use her, but to his horror, though her weight had reduced from the fifty million tons she had previously been, she was still very, very heavy. So heavy, he could barely lift her in his tired condition. He estimated that even at his peak level of performance, using Hong'er would drain his strength, very fast. He would have to focus on building his arm strength if he was ever going to be able to freely wield her. riptide however, suddenly became the perfect balanced sword. Wielding riptide held no problem, and when he summoned the sword from his inner world, it immediately took the shape of a pen, the incomparably familiar blade he had always wielded.

" ya'll kids don't wanna be caught out in the open, 'specially when sun sets. Them monsters get real bold at dark. Tha'll be glad for the city walls after ya see your first monster horde. Them beastly little suckers use numbers to overwhelm even powerful Overgod warriors. Even I'd be worried if I ever found myself between one of 'em monster horde's" the man's tone as he spoke was nonchalant, as if he didn't really believe the monster horde was any threat to him, despite stating it was dangerous to even Overgods.

Percy's interest was piqued. Though the man seemed like the type to boast, asking him wouldn't hurt." What's your cultivation then Clymenious?" he asked curiously. Piper and Calypso both looked up with interest as well. The two of them were helping the dark angel twins, as well as Dionysus stay on their feet, since their young age and low cultivation levels meant they were relatively less affected by the teleportation and the new seal.

Clymenious chuckled and twirled his mustache with one hand, and Percy had a feeling, if he hadn't been bald, he might have even smoothed his hair back." Hehe. I can tell ya young 'uns must all be mortals, and unmarked ones too. So obviously ya can't see that this old man 'ere is a Major Overgod."

He spoke with obvious pride and Percy got the feeling that this was clearly something worth praising. He hesitated, then nodded." So you're already a divinity huh."

The old man chuckled, then puffed his chest out." Tha's right. And this old man 'ere took less an a dozen millennia to get this done."

Percy stumbled and almost threw Hestia over." A-a dozen millennia?! You took around ten thousand years?!" he asked him with surprise while he shot the dizzy Hestia an apologetic glance.

"Oi, oi young 'un, don't get ya panties in a twist." Clymenious turned around to face Percy and the rest, hands on his hips." Ya must already know that on earth, tha'll age the same as any normal human. But that rule there applies only on mortals like ya'll. Overgods have increased lifespans, or how the hell do ya think we manage to break through so many levels? O'course, ya'll age the same as any ordinary human till ya breaks into Overgod realm, and probably look the 'xact same once ya done with ya breakthrough. So unless ya want to look old like me here, ya better hurry up and form a contract with some god quickly. Or else, ya'll just keep getting older."

Percy frowned as he absorbed the new information. As of now, he still looked like a fourteen year old, and that was probably his set body age. So unless he broke into Overgod realm, he'd start getting older like a normal human. And though it was tempting to let his body grow up a bit, and look a bit more mature before he tried to breakthrough, he knew that such an idea was really foolish. It was already tough enough to break into the Overgod realm. For all he knew, he might grow old and die before he ever managed to breakthrough this gap. So he had to take whatever opportunity he got to try and breakthrough. He took a breath, stilling his mind, and followed the old man.

Before long, the city's walls came into view, a dark smudge against the horizon. The sun was beginning to set as well, and Percy let out a sigh of relief as they neared the city. He didn't fancy encountering a monster horde, what with the horrible shape they were all in. none of them would last even a second against an Overgod level monster. Percy couldn't even imagine trying to fight with this weak mortal form of his. He was shaken out of his reverie by the old man's voice.

"It'll take us a while, if we want to hobble our way across to the city at ya mortal baby speeds. So I'll make this quick and carry a bunch of you over as fast as I can, then comeback and pick up the rest." He said while looking over the bedraggled group.

It sounded like a bad idea to Percy, and Hephaestus seemed to agree as he stepped forward. His cyborg body was quite unaffected by the sudden sealing, but since many of his weapons required battle qi, he was severely weakened as well." What if we were attacked by monsters while you're gone?" he asked suspiciously. None of them could wholeheartedly trust the old man yet, but they knew that if he had any ill intent, with his strength, there was no need to fool weaklings like them.

The old man chuckled, then appraised Hephaestus again." Don't worry boy. I'd be a pathetic Overgod if I couldn't even sense a monster approaching. Ya'll are safe 'ere. Plus it won't take long for this pair of old bones to go carry such light things to the city." He said while stretching his arms." And if ya'll does get attacked, then ya'll just have to leg it." he chuckled again, then grew serious." But from what I can see, there are none monsters near enough to hurt ya, and tha'll be much safer in the city than out 'ere. So shut it and follow along." He reached out and lifted Hephaestus as easily as if he were a kitten, then reached out and grabbed drew as well. Then he looked at the rest of the group." Stay put for a bit, I'll come fetch you right as I'm done with these two." He flashed with light and turned into a blur as he streaked away, and for the first time in many, many days, Percy was unable to follow the movements of someone.

The feeling of suddenly becoming mortal was queer, and Percy wondered as to how he could possibly get used to it. Then, Hong'er suddenly decided to speak up.

"nnnnnn… Master, are you thinking about why you're so weak here on earth?" Percy's eyes opened as he heard Hong'er's voice through their soul link, and in his mind's eye he could see her sitting up on her bed, swinging her legs.

He gave a half smile as he replied to her." Yes, I'm not sure, but i… feel weaker." He was unsure how to phrase his feelings, then he decided to simply open his soul to her and let her feel everything that was confusing him. Hong'er gave a cute sigh as her mind met with his and their thoughts intermingled, spreading a warm feeling throughout Percy's body. After so long, Hong'er was almost another part of him, an integral part he would be lost without.

After a moment, Hong'er spoke." Hong'er sees what you mean. Master feels like he's been crippled. You don't have any power at all, and you feel like you've entirely become a normal human. Even your power that you wielded as a demigod is gone."

Percy nodded in response to her words." Exactly! Even if my power was bound by the rules of Earth, it shouldn't completely vanish." It felt as if there was suddenly an empty spot in him, where he used to reach earlier to take his power out from. And that emptiness was a very wrong feeling.

Hong'er nodded wisely." Ahan. Hong'er has completely understood Master's problem. The Problem here is, Master's power has not just been bound by the laws of earth. It has been sealed entirely."

Percy felt a frown crease his face." My power has been sealed entirely? Why is that?"

" Not just Master, everyone who came is the same. Previously, when Master used Riptide to seal his powers and battle Artemis, Master discarded your battle qi, but not his powers. However, now even master's powers have been sealed, and this is because, none of these powers belong to Master. unlike when Master was a demigod, born with Poseidon's immortal blood in your veins, now all Master's powers are from external sources. That is, by absorbing the blood and souls of gods and Spirits long after Master were born. These don't belong to Master, and so they have been sealed." Hong'er explained as if it was entirely natural. Percy was dumbfounded however.

" So basically, all my powers are sealed till I reach Overgod realm? Then it's almost impossible to break through isn't it?" he asked her, a hint of worry creeping into his voice.

Hong'er giggled and shook her head, her bright red hair swirling." No master, there are a few ways to unseal your powers. Many ways in fact."

At this point, Undine, who had been a silent listener, suddenly joined in." Yes. For example, by deepening your contract with the Elemental spirits, you can use our power." Then Undine gave him a mocking look." But with your current conduct, I doubt either me or Gnome would lend you that much power. Aren't I right Gnome?"

Gnome was silent for some time, then she gave a slight nod, assenting. Percy groaned." Oh come on you two, don't be so mean with me. A little kindness wouldn't kill you two."

Undine's eyes flashed." Oh, but it might kill you. if I lend you my power, you'd be quite helpless if I suddenly turned on you and devoured your soul, and refined your body. After all, without your battle qi, you're quite helpless to even try and resist."

Percy shivered." On second thought, I'd rather not borrow power from undine. Gnome, obviously you wouldn't be so cruel and try eating me would you?" Gnome stayed silent, but shook her head. Percy smiled with delight." Well, if you won't eat me, lending me some strength would be a real help."

Gnome hesitated, then shook her head. Percy's face fell." Why?" he asked her with a sense of disappointment. Gnome stayed silent.

Then undine filled in the silence." Oh you idiot. Gnome's Compatibility with you is too low. Even if she wants to lend you her power, she obviously can't. on the other hand, your compatibility with me is quite high, but I'm still dissatisfied with your level of power and skill, so I won't lend you any power till you prove yourself worthy. I'm not going to power up some unworthy weakling, even if you are my student."

Percy sighed, then spoke out loud." Why are all my teachers so cruel with me? They're all going to fall in love with me anyway."

Hestia stiffened, then lowered her blushing face. Artemis was too tired to do anything more than scowl and smack him on the shoulder, her eyes gleaming with mischief. Undine growled with outrage." What the- how dare you! you little twerp, don't you have any sense of shame or respect! I am an almighty figure that has existed since the first drops of mist from the Primordial Chaos condensed together to-"

She was cut off by Hong'er, who burst into laughter, shaking and rocking in a fit of giggles. Undine went to say something else, but right then, Hong'er turned around and smiled at her. Undine suddenly shivered and stepped back slightly, feeling a terrifying killing intent gently sweep past her, as if an ancient monster that was asleep in front of her had breathed in her direction. Her form, made entirely of water, trembled so badly, it looked like she was rippling and about to collapse entirely.

Then the terrifying killing intent dissipated, leaving behind only Hong'er's giggles as she looked away from Undine. Undine felt disturbed by the fear that had gripped her in that moment, an entirely irrational fear, which she had never felt. Even when Tartarus had attacked with all his might, she had been calm and composed, since she knew that even if Pontus were to die, she, an elemental spirit of the highest order, was immortal till all of nature died and all existence was destroyed. She was immortal in the true sense of the word, so the fear that she had felt in that moment was very fearsome. She closed her eyes and steadied her voice before speaking." Anyways, I won't lend you any power till you don't show yourself worthy. As of now, your ability is only worth being able to use my domain." With that final statement, she melted into a puddle and sank back into the pool atop the small mountain Gnome had made.

Percy sighed and held his chin with one hand as he sat down, setting Hestia up so she could lean against him and rest. Hong'er's fit of giggles finally subsided and she looked up with a smile." Master, Hong'er can Unseal Master's powers."

Percy's head snapped up and he broke into a smile" Really?! You can unseal my powers?"

Hong'er nodded joyfully." Yes! Yes! Hong'er can unseal master's powers. So can Hong'er get a kiss from her master?" she sat up expectantly.

Percy chuckled at her words, then he nodded." Of course. You don't need to ask that do you? why would I possibly say no to kissing a little beauty like Hong'er?" Hong'er clapped her hands and nodded. However, she felt quite puzzled as well." If Master is so happy being kissed by this princess, and he obviously knows that this princess is a little beauty, so why hasn't he claimed Hong'er yet?" she though with annoyance." This princess is waiting for him to claim her, but he hasn't even made a single move on this princess yet. Is it because this princess is too old for him?"

She shook her head to clear away her thoughts, then beamed at Percy. then she flashed with vermillion light and appeared right before Percy. Percy blinked with surprise when he saw her." Hong'er? I could have come into my own inner world, why did you come out?"

Hong'er blinked her own wide eyes back at him, her ruby red eyes gleaming with innocence." Eh? Master, Hong'er wants you to kiss her and show everyone that she's yours." at her odd words, Percy felt Artemis shoot him a glare from behind, while Calypso's cheeks turned flaming red.

Percy gave a helpless smile, but he couldn't bear to refuse Hong'er as he leaned forward and kissed her. Hong'er's wide eyes were trained directly on his face as he cupped her cheek and pulled her closer, tilting his head slightly as his lips met her soft ones. As they kissed, his eyes closed by themselves, and he sank into the dreamy feeling. Hong'er reached up and gripped his hand, holding it as her own eyes closed and pressed forward, lips parting as she deepened the kiss.

Percy suddenly broke away, suddenly aware that he wasn't able to hold his breath for as long as he used to. He shivered as he sucked in a deep breath, and Hong'er lightly licked her lips as she smiled at Percy." Master, Hong'er wants to be yours, and yours only." And meanwhile in her mind she was screaming." Master, this princess has directly told you she wants you to claim her! now you have to figure out what I want and do it!"

Percy tilted his head, then smiled." Of course Hong'er." He reached out and patted her head." And I belong to you, as your master. I'll always be yours." Hong'er smiled and purred with contentment as he rubbed her head, eyes closing almost sleepily.

"Master thinks Hong'er is a little beauty who is too innocent, that's why he doesn't have any bad thoughts towards this princess. But Hong'er somehow has to make him realize…. How can she do that…" Hong'er thought to herself as she opened her eyes, just as Percy withdrew his hand.

" Now tell me Hong'er, how do I unseal my powers?" he asked as he intently set his gaze on her. Hong'er giggled and waved her hand, turning into a bright vermillion streak as she sank back into him. Once she was inside him, he felt a rough, burning sensation emit from within her, then spread from within his inner world, throughout his body, before focusing on his left hand.

The back of Percy's left hand flashed with a red light as an inch long red profound imprint slowly appeared. And the shape of this profound mark, was clearly a miniature-size of that scarlet greatsword! Percy blinked with surprise. Back in the Gaia continent, when he'd first formed his contract with Hong'er, this same mark had formed on his hand, before disappearing. And now, here it was once again, burning with bright scarlet light. Even as the color spread over his hand, he felt an intense rush of power, and suddenly he was able to feel the blood of Poseidon as it flowed through his veins. The blood of the azure dragon stirred as well, and Percy felt his body reassert itself and regain some of it's previous strength. He could even sense the earth from Under him, just like he would using Gnome's power. He raised his hand and clenched his fist, feeling his strength surge and tremble with immense force. Even though he was no longer as powerful as he had been back in the realm of the Gods, he was still quite powerful for a normal human. While he was unsure about fighting Overgods, he was certain that most normal humans could never match his strength.

He smiled, shaking his hand as he stood up and summoned Hong'er. The Gigantic Heavy sword appeared with a bright flash of vermillion light and fell into Percy's grip. The weight on his arms was still quite heavy, and Percy was reminded of the first time he had wielded a Heavy sword, but this time he was certain he could bear the immense weight for a period of time. He swung the sword around and then pulled her back into himself. Then the bright light from the imprint on the back of his hand flickered and slowly faded away. Hong'er let out a deep breath." As of now, Master can unseal his powers for a limited period of time. If master over uses Hong'er's ability, he'll affect his vitality. So it's best if Master only unseals his power when he needs to, and use it for limited time periods, at least till Master's body adjusts to the suppressive effects of Earth's magic." Hong'er said decisively as she flopped back into bed and lay down sleepily." Uuuuuu. Master, you need to get Hong'er some tasty swords soon. She's really hungry for something delicious to eat."

Percy shivered at the thought. The last thing he needed was to feed her and end up making her even heavier. If that happened, he would be in serious trouble. As it was, he could only wield riptide easily, so he was stuck using that sword till he could regain some more of his strength. As Percy wondered about it, he noticed a streak, and a disturbance in the air as Clymenious returned. He wasn't alone, and had brought along a few people dressed in uniform and armor. They held short pikes in one hand, and numbered around a dozen. Immediately, Percy and his group raised their guard. Clymenious laughed as he saw them." Don't worry, ya young 'uns. These armored and armed people 'ere are the people an old friend of mine sent along, so I can carry ya'll back quickly. They 'ave a pretty good rep, being guards for the city and all, so ya can stop getting all excited and bothered. Them are just the elite Minor Overgod city patrol force, so ya'll will be safe as buns in them armored hands." His eyes twinkled as he spoke in his usual drawl, then gestured at the guards." Them are the young 'uns I picked up. Now, 'elp me carry 'em back, 'fore it's late."

The man at the head of the troops nodded stiffly and reached out, grasping Percy's arm and helping him and Hestia to their feet. Then he nodded at Percy." hold yourself steady young man. We'll be moving along really fast now."Percy grabbed Hestia's free hand and held it, giving her a reassuring squeeze as they both braced themselves just as the man shot forward at full speed. Percy felt an exhilarating rush as he was dragged forward through the air, being pulled along as they swiftly headed for the city. The walls were quickly looming over his head, and Percy was once again stunned at the absolute difference in strength between him and an Overgod. Even a minor Overgod had managed to reach such unbelievable speeds, while he was forced to stay within the limits of his human form. He recalled the time when he had fought Luke, how he had been overwhelmed by the difference in power. Back then, Luke had been a demigod realm warrior, while Percy was a legend. However, the difference in strength was so exaggerated, even with the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer sword that was suppressing Luke's power, Percy only won when he used Riptide's Devil Powers. That was the difference between a person with a normal energy and a person with a divine energy. But now, here on earth, he was a normal human, while Overgods had both a divine body as well as a Divine soul and Divine Energy. This type of difference meant he was totally and utterly outclassed by even the weak Overgods who had just become Overgods.

Ofcourse, now that he could unseal his powers, he wasn't quite so weak or helpless anymore. In fact, he even looked forward to his rematch with Athena now. As a Peak Olympian, he wanted to see if he could match an Overgod who had just made a breakthrough into the Overgod realm. He smiled at the absurdity of his plans, then snapped back to the present as they approached the City gates. The city was exactly like Hope city had looked, surrounded by high, and heavily fortified walls. However, it was even larger than Hope city, and the walls were like cliffs that rose into the heavens. Percy wondered if having walls was of any use when enemies could fly, then realized that they were slowing down as they neared the gate. The captain stopped right at the gates and smiled at Percy." welcome to central city, the capital of the Tower continent and the City where the Tower itself stands." Even as he finished speaking, there were bright flashes as the rest of the guards arrived, with Clymenious bringing up the rear. Percy looked around and noticed Hephaestus and Drew, both seated on stone benches placed inside the city, sipping something out of mugs held in their hands.

he walked through the gates, and saw that the walls were nearly a dozen meter thick, and were fortified with runes and arrays all over. He shivered as he imagined a monster strong enough to damage such walls. Wouldn't such an entity be enough to kill him with a single blow? The thought made Percy feel small and insignificant. But these melancholic thoughts were chased out of his head as he stepped through the gates, and his eyes were directly drawn to the center of the city. There, in the heart of the lively and bustling city that put even his memory of New York to shame, a gigantic pillar arose from the ground, rising directly as it pierced into the sky. Even the immense city, with it's proud walls was put to shame at the sight of this divine structure that pierced the clouds above, it's peak invisible from where Percy stood, even as he craned his head upward in search of it. Percy had no doubt in his mind that this tower was large enough to have reached Mount Olympus even without the aid of the Magic elevator.

Clymenious grinned as he stepped up to Percy's side and threw an admiring glance at the magnificent structure as well." Hehehe. Well kid, that there is the Tower. The Symbol of our Continent, and the Headquarters to the Tower organization, the single largest organization of this continent, which serves as a School and the rulers of this place, defending it from the might of the other, more powerful races that want to topple and enslave humanity."

*time skip*

Percy was glad for Clymenious's running commentary as they headed through the city to his house, through what Percy was able to identify as a railway system. This single piece of technology seemed astonishing to Percy, who was used to the world of swords and magic. Previously, when it was dark, he'd never hesitated to summon a handful of fire and light up the world around himself, but now they passed through streets lighted by electricity. The Gods might have died. But humanity it seems, was still running itself.

" The Tower has many Overgods, and even has True Overgods! But it's a sealed area, so that any battle occurring would not wreck the entire city." Clymenious said Percy as they all settled back into the comfortable seats in their coach. Most of the line was empty, and Clymenious said it was because the railways were running nonstop, and hence there was rarely any crowd, except for during emergency's such as evacuation during Primordial Level attacks.

Percy frowned, many questions running through his head." Firstly, by sealed, do you mean no outsider is allowed inside?" he really wanted to go see the tower for himself and if that was the case, it would be really disappointing, being able to see it from the outside, but unable to enter it." and secondly, what did you mean by Primordial Level Attack?"

Clymenious, who always had a smug grin on his wrinkly and bald head, smiled even wider at his questions." No, by sealed, it means the Tower is an area where Overgods are all restricted in their powers. They become like mortals while within the Tower's array formation. And you don't need to speak about it boy, I know ya young 'uns curiosity like every inch of my own aged bones. I'm fair famous and well known 'round these parts, being a major Overgod and all, and I 'ave my own set of connections. Since ya seem to have Lord's approval, and I can sense the Ocean stirring in you, no doubt he's given you some of his power, so naturally as 'is follower I'd do all i can to train you young 'uns up. And the tower is one of the best places to train and mature." Then he leaned forward, resting his head on his hand as he looked at Percy." and a Primordial Level Attack is an attack by a Demon on the Level of a True Overgod. Them demons are notoriously hard to fight, but thankfully, they're rare down here in the Tower continent, and the few that do live 'ere, they are either sealed, or usually deep in slumber. God's forbid you ever 'ave to meet one of those inhuman and illogical monstrosities. Them have the blood of the Tartarus ya see, and that's some pure blood too. So those beasts are far more powerful than you could ever imagine, and the powers they wield are beyond that any ordinary human could ever dream of." Percy felt shudder run through him at the ominous description. He'd faced many powerful monsters back when he was a demigod, but never any so powerful. Just what had gone wrong with the world?

The train slowed and Clymenious stood up." Well, we mayhaps get a move one. I've left my own young 'uns at 'ome and I don't fancy giving you a tour through the city while those two sit pretty at 'ome, waiting for me."

Percy looked up at the old man with a bit of surprise. After all he'd said and how old he was supposed to be, he didn't expect he'd have any children. At least not any young ones, maybe some around a few thousand years old.

Clymenious grunted as he saw Percy looking at him." What punk? Yes, this old man 'ere married a young and pretty little mortal a dozen odd years back, and she had a couple kids for me. That surprise you much?"

Percy hurriedly shook his head and the old man scowled." Tha's good. Ya young 'uns sure are disrespectful to ya elders aren't ya?" he started down a road, then turned towards a large mansion. Percy hurried after him, the rest, having recovered sufficiently after such a long period of time all following after him. The old man pushed his palm forward and the doors easily swung open, admitting them into the large courtyard. It was well kept, with a large number of trees planted around the edges, all encircling the house in the center. The house itself was made of stones and heavily furnished with wood, and looked ancient. It was two storeys high, and seemed almost gaudy, with dark coloured wood furnishing nearly every inch of the stone structure. In a way, Percy supposed, this exaggerated and gaudy house actually suited the old man quite well.

The doors of the house swung open and a young boy, looking about thirteen ran out. Another, a girl of about sixteen followed after him, half smiling as she chased after him. They both slowed as they saw the large group assembled at the entrance of their courtyard, then caught sight of their father and they both ran over to him." Father, who are they?" the boy asked. He had thick black hair that hung till his shoulders, and was dressed in a simple cotton shirt and pants. He had a sword strapped to his side, and had armored gauntlets, with deep scars running along them fixed to his forearms. The girl stood at his side, but she wore similar attire, leaving her hair falling down to her waist. But her movements were nimble and precise, and her eyes were sharply focused on the group in a way that indicated intense training and combat experience.

Percy suddenly felt both kids lock their dark eyes onto him and he squirmed slightly as they intently stared at him. finally, Clymenious spoke up." These kids 'ere 'ave been sent by my master. They 'ave pretty good potential and I've been wonderin' myself if I should set about trainin' 'em up a bit 'fore sendin' 'em over to the Tower for further schooling."

The kids eyes snapped to their father, filling with surprise, but they both nodded. then the girl spoke out." Is he-" she motioned her head towards Percy." an Overgod?" Percy stared at her with surprise, then looked away with a hint of embarrassment when she noticed him.

"kekeke. Tha' kid? No, he ain't an Overgod." The old man chuckled insidiously.

The kids looked at him more curiously." Then… he unsealed his powers? I can sense a hint of the Oceans from him, just like from you." the girl said.

Clymenious waved his hand." Enough of this! Does I look like a man with a load o' free time? Enough of your probing the two of you." he sighed and shook his head as the two kids mumbled apologies, then drew back. Clymenious smiled at them." Anyways, I should introduce ya'll. This 'ere is my oldest, Clymene, and this boy 'ere is one who takes after his father, Mathew."

Percy didn't know whether the old man was being serious. Clymenious nodded when he saw Percy's expression." I know, I tried telling my wife that Mathew wasn't gonna be 'is name. but she was adamant, even when I told 'er we could name 'im Clymenious Junior. Dear old Claudia was stubborn and wasn't lettin' up, sayin' she didn't want another person in the family with a name starting from C."

Percy choked. Clymenious, Clymene, Claudia…. Did this man want his family to only have people with names starting from C? Mathew made a gagging face behind his fathers back, clearly demonstrating his distate for the name Clymenious Junior, and Percy whole heartedly agreed with the kid on that.

" Then where is your wife right now?" Percy asked curiously, trying to steer the conversation away from names starting with C.

Clymenious started to respond, then cocked his head to one side like a dog hearing a far off sound."oh… oh my." He mumbled softly a few seconds later.

Percy looked at him with a feeling of dread bubbling in his stomach." What is it?" he demanded.

The old man shook his head and looked up at Percy." hmmmm… kid, we seem to be in for a bit of excitement this evenin'. Apparently some Demon lord Level Demons 'ave been migrating from town to town, attacking and pillaging the cities on their path. And as it 'appens, the Tower got pissed off and sent a warrior to clean 'em up. The warrior didn't succeed, but he managed to send 'em runnin' our way, so we can deal with 'em."

Percy frowned." Demon Lord Level Demon?" he asked in a tired voice. A new headache was the last thing he wanted.

Clymenious chuckled." I keep forgettin' 'ow lil you know 'bout the world Percy. Demon Lord level Demon is a Demon with some Impure blood of Tartarus. They usually around a Major Overgod in strength, with a few variations here an' there. So right now we got maybe a dozen to twenty running our way like mad hares and so I got clean up duty dumped on me with some other poor souls. The Tower Floor master who was sent for the clean up will catch up with 'em and take over once he's here." Clymenious nodded at his kids." Oi, ya Young 'uns. Get these poor souls clothed and fed would ya?" then before waiting for a reply, he streaked away out of the courtyard, leaving Percy's group alone with his kids.

*time skip*

Before long, they had finished exchanging introductions and were sitting around a table outside in the courtyard while Clymene fetched refreshments for all of them from inside and Mathew sat around and pestered them with eager questions. Turns out that both of them were still mortals, since their father was determined that they would both become Overgods only after their foundations were firmly built. Percy had to admit that he had trained them well, and they were the both of them top class mortal warriors.

As they sat chatting, Percy felt a perceptory sweep flow over the house. As it did, his Devil Orb tingled in response, suddenly coming to life. Percy's eyes widened with Horror and he forcefully clamped down on it, silencing it and stopping the reaction. But even so, he was too late as he felt the person who had scanned lock onto his aura and rush in his direction.

 _-Overview-_

The masked assassin was just preparing to strike, when she felt another Overgod realm presence drawing close. She drew back silently and firmly closed off all of her aura, not letting any of it spill out. She reached up and ensured her mask was still secure and then she waited to see the confrontation she knew would follow.

 _\- Mansion-_

Percy groaned as he felt the person who had been scanning suddenly rush towards him. he hadn't expected something like this to happen. But considering they were under attack, no doubt they had wanted to use precautionary methods and scan for any demons around. And unfortunately, Percy's Devil Orb carried the exact same energy signature as the other Monsters, so no doubt, that person who sensed his energy signature believed he was a monster. He tensed and stood up, just as with a rocketing boom, a duo landed inside the courtyard.

" Alyssa, and felix of the Rolling Sands Guild." They shouted together. Percy saw there were two of them, one girl and one guy, both wearing similar attire. The girl had dark hair, but that was all Percy could see of her from under her heavy robes, and the face veil she wore. The guy was similarly dressed, and all Percy could see of him was his chilling blue eyes." Everyone, step away from that boy. He is a Demon in Disguise!" the rest of the group shot to their feet, but before they could react, Percy raised his hand, motioning them to back away." Don't worry! I got this!" he turned to the duo." Um… hey.. listen, there must be a misunderstanding of some-"

"SILENCE!"

They moved in unison, stepping forward and thrusting their palms forward. Percy scowled and the mark on the back of his hand glowed, and suddenly, his body was flooded with power. He stepped forward as well, and the Phantom of the Azure Dragon came to life behind him, faintly flickering as he thrust out his own palm. The two attacks collided, and a violent storm was suddenly whipped up as they cancelled out each other. The two of them blinked with surprise, but Percy had to struggle to stay on his feet without toppling over. The combined might of the two of them was simply too much for him to bear as he was now. When their palms had made contact, it was as if Percy was trying to hold back a truck with his own power! The girl swept her arms out as she took up a fighting stance.

Right then, Gnome sat up, eyes widening." Attack. Incoming. Dodging Sequence Initiated. Trajectory. Vague." Percy felt Gnome's knowledge flood through him and he sensed a rush of power headed right at him, through the earth. He felt gnome sync with his body and he was pulled backwards, body moving almost involuntarily for an instant. However, even with Gnome's help, the attack was simply too fast and Percy's leg twisted under him as the ground beneath it suddenly thrust up into the air like a pillar.

He was thrown backwards, rolling with a painful grunt as the boy moved next, sweeping his arms out and letting a shower of icicles rain down on him. Percy's expression darkened and he reversed the shower with a wave of his hand. The boy seemed surprised, but before he could react, Percy was already darting forward, hand curling into a fist as he prepared to smack him out of orbit.

Right before he could throw the punch, the earth around the boy erupted upwards, forming a defensive wall between them. However, it was made in haste, and was almost paper thin." Thousand Layered waves: Final Wave Tsunami!" his fist flew out like an unstoppable meteor and smashed into the wall, turning the dense and nearly impenetrable wall into dust. But in the process, he felt his own fingers throb as he almost pulverized the bones in a single blow. He pulled back his hand and cradled the sensitive hand, trying not to hiss with pain.

The girl seemed even more perturbed as she violently slammed her fist out, summoning a gigantic chunk of rock and sent it hurtling straight at Percy. Gnome hissed and he suddenly felt the ground under him shift as a second, sneak attack erupted while he was still focused on the attack right in front of him. with Gnome's warning, he managed to dart to the side with Moonlight Flash, barely dodging the two way attack with gnome's help. But this wouldn't do, since it left him on constant defense, accumulating damage without even a chance to counter attack.

Undine spoke into his mind, her voice urgent and her words clipped with worry and impatience." Quick, disengage Gnome's Power!"

Percy was almost smacked by a boulder when he heard her. he scowled with rage." Why? So I can get myself killed more quickly?"

She shook her head and pounded her fist into her hand." It's futile! Your syncing with Gnome is too weak! By the time you detect her attack and move to dodge, it's already far too close! She far outclasses you in the use of her Earth Elemental Spirit! But you can match her if you use my domain!"

Percy gulped, but even as she spoke, he knew he couldn't defeat her by using the power of Earth. The power he required was the Power Innate to him, The power of Water!" Gnome, release." Percy commanded. Gnome hesitated as she heard him speak, then silently nodded.

The power of the Earth faded away. He closed his eyes as it did, and instantly summoned the full power of water, opening his domain of Heart like Still Water!

His mind went calm and his heart stilled. He closed his eyes, calmly following the ripples and traces her power left behind and traced each one of them from her body, all the way through the earth. Using the traces and ripples, he easily dodged each attack, nimbly shifting and dancing around every powerful attack. He kept up his perfect dodging for a few minutes, to her obvious frustration as she summoned more and more powerful attacks, using more power. Undine's soothing voice calmly played through his mind as she directed his every step, his every movement turning to perfection under her guidance." Wait up, let her waste her energy a bit more. With her type, her defense and offense are both extremely powerful, but speed and agility are particularly weakened in exchange! All you need to do is simply dodge till her energy wears out and she can't maintain that absurd defense any longer."

And soon, just as Undine predicted, Percy sensed the storm of Earth essence guarding her body weaken and fade away. At that Moment, Undine's voice echoed in his mind." Draw your blade now, and unleash the fury of the oceans!"

Percy's breathing slowly calmed, and his body naturally took up a sword stance. The pen was summoned from his inner world, then the cap was thrown off in an instant. Riptide appeared in his hands, the blade gleaming as the leather hilt snugly settled into his grip." The wave retreats to sea, then returns for battle again." Undine softly chanted and the power of the oceans raged through Percy's body.

Percy lowered his hands, pointing the sword tip at the ground." My Sword Heart shall never Falter! The Oceans drive me forward! Fusion Style, Undine's Sword heart! Indomitable Thrust!" combining the Fourth slash, Indomitable slash he'd learnt from Hong'er with the endless strength and arrogance of the oceans, Percy drew back by a single step, pulling his sword up to his shoulder, the blade parallel to the ground, then he thrust forward, moving faster than the girl could react to, tip of his sword aimed at her face.

Clang!

An inch before Riptide's edge could stab into her face, it suddenly slammed into a powerful barrier, that sent a jarring sensation along his arm. He scowled and retreated, shaking his head as he snapped out of his state of perfect concentration. The girl seemed shocked and gave a small scream as she fell backwards, falling onto her butt with surprise. The boy who stood nearby yelped as well, and then staggered back with surprise.

Silence reigned for a few moments as everyone looked around for the caster of the barrier. Then without a sound, a boy suddenly materialized beside Percy. he was dressed quite formally, as if prepared for work, or perhaps college. Formal shirt, with a neatly ironed pant, with a simple, fathomless aura surrounding him. he was lean, and his color was of roasted coffee, with jet black hair neatly combed. Percy stumbled backwards, feeling a nearly deadly aura from him. he had no doubt that the boy in front of him was unimaginably powerful.

The boy turned and glanced at the two people Percy had beaten. They shivered and knelt down, almost reverently." Guildmaster. Forgive our impudence for following the tracing signal for the Divine God Class Demon." They said, shivering and trembling.

The man didn't speak, just gazed at them quite mildly. Then he turned to Percy and raised his hand. Percy immediately tensed, lifting riptide. The man stared at riptide, then Percy. then he nodded almost imperceptibly." So that's it. you wield a Demon God Sword. No wonder we got that signal." Then without waiting for Percy's response, he gently patted the air before him. it trembled and suddenly the space around Percy solidified and struck him like a physical blow directly to his head. He was entirely unable to react, and stumbled backwards and forward, trembling as his vision blurred. The man regarded him, then Percy felt another sweep of scanning magic erupt from him. he quickly suppressed and covered his Devil Orb, preventing it from giving any form of reaction to the wave.

The man waited, then shook his head." Indeed, if you were a God Class Demon, then you would have simply killed me here before I could blink. It appears that we were mistaken." He sighed and suddenly Percy felt a rush of healing magic flood into his body, soothing all his injuries and restoring all his strength and Energy. He looked up at the man in surprise. He stared back coolly." We were mistaken about you being a Demon. I, guildmaster Carter Kane offer my apologies. But now we must be off. We have an invasion to take care off." he blurred and suddenly faded away from sight. The other two also bowed apologetically towards Percy before following him away. Percy started to relax, but right then, the man's voice floated up as a whisper." Be Wary."

 _\- Mansion wall-_

The assassin tightly cinched her cloak and mask one last time, then flitted through the air as she rushed into the mansion. The fight he'd had was unexpected, but quite welcome. Now she had seen his fighting style, plus she was sure he must be injured and tired after that intense battle he'd just had. She leapt up, catching sight of all his companions rush to his side just as he lowered his sword.

She grinned wickedly and lifted her own blade, gripping the sheathe with one hand and the hilt with the other. Then with a burst of divine power, she drew the blade, creating a powerful sword blade that hurtled towards him and all the mortals surrounding him.

A.N.: if I die,pray for me. I decided not to reboot the story, but every time I reread my old chapters I feel like committing seppuku. So I decided to re write and replace all my old chapters that haven't been written properly. You might have noticed my writing style improved quite a lot in this chapter. I never realized that I was simply dumping so many dialogues into one paragraph, and in so many places, just rushing through the story. It's so horrible when I reread my story, I have to be thankful for those people who were dedicated enough to read my story till this point, so I'll redo the old chapters in my spare time. Also I'll try shortening out those unnecessary scenes a bit. So It might delay my next updates. You have been warned.

Also, hope you liked the present day earth, as well as gradual introduction of many more elements. As for the assassin… I'm sure many of you already guessed her identity. Also I hope that answers your doubt on how Percy is going to wield Hong'er. I did plan all this out, so if I left such a wide plot hole, I would never forgive myself. Anyways, I do have quite a few interesting events planned for the next chapter, and yes, I've finally started planning out characters as powerful and talented as Percy. this'll give him some competition to try and improve.

And lastly. Im sorry for the way Clymenious talks. It's my first time trying that out. Ciao with peace from Manhattan.

Ps. If ya want a chapter, then ya'll gotta review this chapter and stuff. It takes hella long planning this, so I wanna hear what ya'll think 'bout this messy lil job.


	69. Anhilation Chaos Seed

**Ninth Arc: Anhilation, Chaos Seed sprout**

Recap: _\- Mansion wall-_

The assassin tightly cinched her cloak and mask one last time, then flitted through the air as she rushed into the mansion. The fight he'd had was unexpected, but quite welcome. Now she had seen his fighting style, plus she was sure he must be injured and tired after that intense battle he'd just had. She leapt up, catching sight of all his companions rush to his side just as he lowered his sword.

She grinned wickedly and lifted her own blade, gripping the sheathe with one hand and the hilt with the other. Then with a burst of divine power, she drew the blade, creating a powerful sword blade that hurtled towards him and all the mortals surrounding him.

Percy reacted instantly after hearing Carter's warning. His aura flared as his power was unsealed and riptide swung upwards, carrying endless power in one slash. At the same time, his aura billowed outwards, pushing away all the people surrounding him. they were all blown off their feet without any resistance and blown away. The blade of his sword clashed violently with her air blade and dispersed it with ease. Percy raised his head, glaring at the silhouetted figure standing on the wall of the mansion. Percy quietly raised his sword as he watched her, pointing it at her.

Her figure blurred and suddenly she was right in front of him, sword swinging. No that wasn't it. Time had slowed down around him, forcefully holding him in place while she darted at him. Percy's eyes went silver." Celestial Moon god's Transformation!" he felt the Crescent moon on his chest glow and his speed shot up, and he turned into a silver comet as he darted backwards, breaking free of the time shackles. At the same time, he lifted Riptide, raising it to block the returning slash of her sword.

The assassin was dressed in a long black cloak that hung from her shoulders till her waist, and under that she was dressed in a simple black attire, all of it weaved out of a thick metallic cloth. Her mask was a blank one, with thin eye slits that were the only opening on them. Her sword was six feet long, hilt and all, and it was thin, with a soft metal spine and a razor edge. It ended in a fine point, and Percy recognized it as a katana. The blade sang and whistled through the air, cutting unpredictable patterns each time it swung at him.

Percy relied on his superior speed, coolly dodging and drawing away from the attacks she was raining on him. he held Riptide close to his body, relying on its large blade to hold off most of the slashes that were too close to dodge. He darted around, his outline turning silver with each movement he made, making him seem blurry and difficult for anyone to follow with their eye. He stayed defensive, then summoned Undine's power, perfectly stilling his heart as he lowered riptide, entirely focusing on backing away from the courtyard as far as possible, to ensure that his companions weren't injured in the clash. The previous attackers were mistakenly focused on him, believing he was a demon, and so they had no intention of harming his companions. But here, she was an assassin bent on taking his life, and he had no idea what depths she might stoop to in order to force his hand and make him submit.

With his old companions too weak and their powers sealed, he had to rely on his own power to protect them. As for Clymenious's children, they were entirely unrelated and Percy couldn't let them get involved or injured after all the help Clymenious had given him and his friends. So he had to draw the battle far away enough to ensure no one else was involved and so that he could let loose without any worry of them being caught up in the aftershocks. With these thoughts in his mind he constantly retreated, his footing sure as he weaved around all her slashes, flowing around them like water.

The assassin growled and a wave of explosive and powerful energy erupted from within her, carrying an immensely familiar and hateful property. The power of time. Her power constantly swirled around him, turning time slow and forcefully restricting his movements. Percy scowled and the vermillion Bird's power flared around him, divine flames burning in his blood as he melted through all the restraints she pulled around him. But even as he drew back from her, a hateful whisper rose to his lips." Kronos."

Percy knew, that while this assassin was not Kronos, it was without a doubt someone who followed the Titan lord. That was the only way the assassin could have such a powerful ability to influence time. Percy roared with rage and swung riptide, clashing with her soft sword, a clear ringing sound exploding outwards as the two weapons met with explosive force. Her weapon was twice the length of riptide, and this length worked to her advantage as she pressed forward, slashing down against the blade of riptide. The two swords scraped past each other, giving birth to a shower of sparks as they did, the tip of her blade aimed right at his throat as she lunged forward.

"Combine Earthwalk with Moonlight Flash! Fusion Style, Gnome's Moonlight!" Percy abruptly sank halfway into the Earth, dragging his sword down and dodging her thrust at his throat while he dashed forward, slashing his sword against her legs. But with a sudden grunt, the assassin brought down her sword, releasing Kronos's ability to slow down time at the same time, blasting out the ability at its full force at him. his attack slowed and she slammed her sword against his blade and somersaulted over his attack, right as he overcame her Binding.

Percy growled and rose from earth, annoyed at having missed such a good opportunity, as well as the constraints her power over time put on him. Even though they didn't last long, these split seconds were enough to decide the outcome of a tense battle like this one. If he wasn't careful, she would end up striking him right when he was most vulnerable. The two of them stood in a tense face off, neither moving an inch as they observed each other intently.

She moved first, her power over time slamming into him like a tidal wave, freezing him solid for a second as she thrust with all her force and speed, directly aiming for his chest. There was a burst of Blue Green and a divine Trident swung down from over his head, and with a screeching clang, the thin katana was trapped in between the prongs of the trident. Then Percy gasped and staggered back, feeling the sudden drain of using Divine Sea Transformation so suddenly. He was already using quite a lot of energy to be able to use Celestial Moon God's Transformation, since the rules on earth made his transformations much more difficult. As he staggered back, the trident shimmered, then shattered under the strain, unable to maintain itself.

She took her opportunity, slamming the blade down into the ground and swinging herself around, slamming her foot squarely into his chest. He flew backwards, feeling blood rise to his throat as the force of her kick threatened to tear part his insides. " Flow Like Silk: Perfect negation!". He used his own vibrations to clash and disperse all the vibrations from kick before it caused any serious damage to his vitals. Percy grit his teeth and twisted riptide around, sinking the blade into the ground and using it to slow himself as he flew backwards, before slowing and suddenly stopping when he slammed into the mansion. He retched and spat a mouthful of blood , then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring at her.

The assassin seemed astonished he'd lasted so long, and Percy knew he simply had to last till Clymenious returned. He could easily deal with her. But then, where was the satisfaction of beating the crap out of one of Kronos's followers? Percy grinned a bloody smile and spat out a gob of bloody saliva, then raised riptide again." Come on then!" he roared and swung his sword as he dashed forward. Each step grew heavier as he drew closer, then his final step slammed into the earth as he appeared before her like a silver streak, so fast she was barely able to react. Uttering a guttural cry, the assassin raised her sword to block his attack, while he felt the familiar sticky feeling surround his body. But he roared hoarsely as his instep shook the earth beneath his feet. Summoning the last of his Elemental Energy, he felt Gnome stand inside his inner world, eyes flashing. She raised her arms and took the same stance as Percy, imitating his pose as the two of them swung their arms down together, slashing in unison. Percy felt immense power, endless strength that made him as immovable as a mountain fill his muscles, echoing with a dragon's roar from within his bones." Fusion Style, Gnome's Sword Heart! First slash of the Earth!"

With the power of the Earth filling his arms, and his instep shaking the ground beneath his feet, Percy swung down Riptide. Riptide screeched as it swung down and Percy felt the Familiar aura of Darkness and bloodlust emanate from the blade as it slammed into the assassin's katana. There was a loud cackle from within the blade and for the first time in many days, Percy felt Riptide awaken, sending his strength surging into Percy's arms. Without any hesitation, the edge of riptide slammed onto the flat side of the katana. There was a crisp cracking sound and the blade shattered without offering any resistance, turning into razor sharp projectiles that exploded in all the directions as his sword continued downwards, unhindered.

The assassins clothes were ripped to shreds with the force of the attack, the armored cloak turning to tatters within a moment. The assassin was already twisting to avoid the downwards slash from Percy, but even as she dodged his attack, she felt a sharp stabbing pain from behind her, right in her sword arm's shoulder. As she tried lifting the jagged and half broken blade to strike him while he was still recovering his stance, she suddenly realized her shoulder muscles were tearing with each move. She hissed and leapt backwards just as Percy rose, slashing upwards. She looked, and saw an arrow embedded in her shoulder. Her aura flared and she forced the arrow out of her shoulder. She spared a backward glance, seeing Artemis holding her bow, calmly nocking another arrow and aiming at her.

While such an injury was almost negligible, she still growled in rage and frustration as she saw Percy straighten up. Unable to help herself any longer, she finally spoke out, desperation filling her voice." Why won't you just die dammit! Just die you damned bastard!" she shot forward, discarding the broken blade and drawing a second one instantaneously as she crossed blades with him again.

Percy growled and pushed back with all his strength." I'll go to hell before I let a dog of Kronos take me to my grave!" the assassin flinched just as riptide erupted with even more bloodlust and the blade seemed to scream as he pressed forward, shattering the second katana as he thrust forward with all his strength. Her movements turned sluggish and her guard slipped, and the hilt of riptide would have smashed into her face if not for the mask covering it. She stumbled back, mask thrown askew, too dazed to react when Percy spun, slamming his heel into her gut. She gasped, retching as she was thrown backwards, then collapsed in a ball on the ground. Percy stood over her prone form, breathing and panting heavily as he lowered the point of riptide to her neck.

She turned around with a gasp, pushing her mask aside, freeing her blonde hair and her face as she glared at up resentfully at him.

Percy heard a dull rush and almost doubled over as if he had been punched. He staggered back, trailing the tip of riptide against the ground as he stared into the incomparably familiar face that haunted his dreams. And those Stormy grey eyes that had kept him alive even after he had suffered through the Styx, and in this life, the Styx essence poison.

The bloodlust surrounding him, the killing intent permeating the air suddenly vanished. Annabeth stumbled to her feet and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then pulled a new katana out from her side." I will kill you, even if it's the last thing I do!" she growled and raised her sword. Percy felt as if the world around him was spinning out of control. He couldn't stabilize himself,. Even after all these years, she still had the same effect on him, especially now when he had almost all his memories back, all of them haunting his dreams with the girl who had stood by him for so long.

She slashed at him and Percy reached up weakly, directly catching the blade, ignoring the pain and the blood running down his arm as he stepped closer to her, his eyes searching hers, searching for an answer, if she knew what he did, and if she still remembered everything that he did. And if she did, why was she doing this? Annabeth pulled the sword out of his grasp, splattering the ground with his blood. She slashed the blade at his chest, and though he could have dodged, he felt frozen stiff as the edge of the katana tore apart his body. He shuddered and stepped backwards just as she screamed with desperation, plunging her sword right into his chest.

Dimly in the back, Percy was aware of Artemis and calypso's screams, but he was still focused on her eyes, fierce and angry, yet filled with tears. He felt the cold steel as it directly tore through his body, emerging through his back. His own eyes filled with tears as he watched her crumple to the ground, holding herself and shaking." You stupid, stupid creature!" she screamed shrilly. Percy fell to his knees, the sword still embedded in the right side of his chest, pain spreading from around it and into his body. He reached out with a trembling hand and she grabbed onto it like a lifeline, grasping tight as if she was the one suffering in that moment, shuddering and sobbing wretchedly as she mumbled the words "im sorry" so fast they turned into a stream of noises that buzzed indistinctly in his ears.

He reached up with his free hand and placed it onto both of hers, smiling woozily as he leaned forward and rested against her. Annabeth's cries started to subside and she looked up weakly, looked up at him, just as her eyes widened. She raised her arms and leapt forward, screaming his name.

The next few seconds seemed to take an eternity to pass for Percy.

He saw her eyes widen rapidly, the pupils shrinking as she looked over his shoulder. She grabbed both of his shoulders, pushing him down, throwing herself on top of him. then she shuddered, her face whitening right before Percy's. she smiled weakly at him, lips mouthing his name soundlessly as she collapsed onto him. There was an explosion and she rolled off him, blood blooming all over the front of her body, spreading from the dagger buried in her back, the tip protruding right from the front of her chest.

In that instant, Percy was dragged back in time, suddenly drawn back to another fateful day, back in his past life, where he had been forced to face this exact scene. And once again, she had saved his life, shielding him with her own body.

Percy sat up, ignoring the molten pain spreading in his chest as he moved. He looked around, seeing a blackened Athena jumping backwards from an explosion, Hephaestus crumpling to his knees, his arm cannons glowing. Percy watched as she flung her arm out, sending Hephaestus flying backwards till he smashed into the courtyard wall. And still her grey eyes called out to his and he leaned down, bending his face besides hers as she coughed up blood weakly, hand reaching up and brushing his face, the tears and blood intermingling.

He lowered his head till her lips brushed his ear, the touch sending sparks running down his spine. Then, heaving and gasping with pain, her voice echoed through his ear as he saw Athena draw closer." I never wanted to…hurt you… but I was….weak… and I couldn't break free from their control. I swear… to the gods… seaweed….brain… for my sake… you have to live… if you ever loved me… then don't… you dare die. Promise me this. Swear it!" she held his face and pulled him closer, eyes insistent and bright. Percy struggled to hold himself up, the world spinning ever faster as his brain struggled to make sense of the world around him." I swear… on the river Styx… wise girl." she smiled at his words, then kissed him, conveying more than any words ever could have.

Suddenly, a memory of their first adventure, rose unbidden to the front of his mind. They were both twelve years old, sitting in the back of an animal transportation truck, on their way to Las vegas. He'd asked her. " so if the gods fight, will things line up the way they did in the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

She'd put her head against her backpack and closed her eyes before replying." I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."

"why?"

" Because you're my friend Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"

He felt something within him crack and shatter, like a glass ball breaking under the pressure. Then the pain took over everything, and his vision turned black.

 ***** Time skip *****

Athena was fleeing with all her might, every ounce of her power dedicated to raising her speed to the utmost as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, heading into the city, the feeling of death hanging over her like a blade.

Before long she was at her headquarters and she ran in, slamming the doors shut, panting as she called out all the guards, ordering them to bar and seal the gate. Then she turned and rushed up to the building, then stormed inside, alerting all the warriors inside the wisdom tower about the mission and what had happened. Then she closed her eyes as a deathly cold suddenly surrounded the entire area, sealing the entire building into a separate dimension.

A low rumble sounded out as the gates trembled on their hinges. Athena's closest aide turned to her with a reassuring smile." Don't worry. The gates are made to survive attacks by Overgods. Even if there exists a mortal who can fight Overgods, he can't breakthrough the-" a loud bang shook the entire dimension and the Gates, which had just been sealed and barred erupted into splinters, leaving a gaping hole at the bottom. All the warriors turned around and stared at the ruins with horror, then saw a single boy step through.

The young teenager looked around blankly, running a lifeless look over all the people standing in the courtyard. His eyes were entirely devoid of any emotion as they ran over every person. Each of them shivered as the cold gaze sent terrible chills down to the depths of their soul. One of the commanders stood up, raising his sword." We'll all have to work together! With so many of us together-" he broke into a terrible scream, falling to his knees and clutching his shoulder, blood gushing out of the stump left behind of his arm.

The boy walked past him, tossing the hand holding the sword to the ground as he looked around again. No one dared move, scarcely breathing as he looked around. Suddenly, he swung his arm out, dashing forward as his sword appeared in his grasp and he slashed, decapitating two Overgods as he swept past them like a wraith. The rest of the people snapped, unable to bear the horror of it all. Shrill screams filled the building as they all ran, trying their best to get away from him.

The boy's expression didn't change as he swung into action, blade swinging mercilessly, whether the person under it was begging for his life or trying to fight back. The blade swung by, ruthlessly reaping life, watering the ground with the blood of dozens of people, until there was no one else left to stand in his way.

Then he turned, facing the tall building from where he could faintly sense the aura of that hated one, the one who he had to kill. His eyes stirred with anger, then subsided, turning calm within moments. There was no light within his eyes, for perseus jackson was already unconscious. Then Percy stepped forward, walking through the blood of those he had killed as he silently approached the building, sword tip dragging through their corpses with each step.

He burst through the building doors, and immediately a man leapt out at him, sword in hand as he slashed with cold precision. Percy didn't even flinch, as if he'd known what was going to happen right before he walked in. Riptide rose, blades sparking as they clashed, then the power of the earth filled his left arm as he drew his hand back in, then punched, smashing the blade with his fist. His fist didn't slow or lose momentum as it flew through the sword, slamming straight into the warrior's gut, folding him in half, then sending his flying across the room. He was half dead as he crashed into the wall, and toppled over weakly, but Percy's eyes held no pity as he silently walked over and sliced his head off.

Then he turned and calmly continued walking up the steps, one by one.

 _-Palace of Nyx-_

The three fates all looked up at the same time as soon as they felt a horrifyingly evil aura sweep over them like a deadly wave. They shivered and exchanged looks. Clotho was the first to speak, gravelly voice quavering with surprise."I just felt that power, that horrible forbidden power."

Lachesis gave a solemn nod." We all know that we've not been imagining it the first time we felt it." she turned to her sisters, hands spasming into fists." Sisters, how could our eyes not have seen something so dangerous within that boy? We personally watched his soul as it was sent to the cycle of rebirth."

Clotho shook her head." It is impossible that we would fail to notice such a deadly and immoral power in possession of his soul. Such a truth would never be missed by our eyes, considering the grave consequences it would hold for all of creation should his power ever go out of control and rampage."

Atropos gave her sisters a deep, thoughtful look, but didn't comment on what she saw. The two sisters gradually noticed the absence of their sister in the conversation and turned to her." what is it that troubles you sister?" Clotho asked with a foreboding feeling settling over her shoulders.

Atropos sighed then looked up at her sisters, her eyes weary." There is no way that we would have missed such an anomaly. Then that can only mean…" she let her voice trail away, letting the apparent meaning stand out by itself.

The sister's eyes widened with surprise and horror as they realized what their failure to notice anything meant." It was hidden away from us! Someone was able to hide away the Chaos seed planted within his soul from us! They planned to have him utilize the chaos seeds from the start!" Lachesis said rapidly as everything suddenly made sense to them.

Before either of her sisters could reply, the door of the palace of Nyx suddenly swung open. The three fates stood up, just as a endless and eternal aura swept into the room, accompanied with the dark aura of Nyx. The three fates shivered, then all three knelt reverently as Chaos, the original primordial appeared out of the darkness. She was nothing but a vague outline of a woman, and she seemed to merge with her surroundings if she stood still for even an instant. That was the power of chaos, constantly destroying and rebuilding everything, all in order to reach a stable perfection that is impossible to achieve.

Chaos stood silent for a moment, nyx standing quietly behind her, absolutely submissive before chaos's might. Then Chaos herself turned to the fates, training her gaze upon them as they shivered and trembled in the majesty of her presence. When she spoke, her voice was soft and ethereal." You three are right. I was the one who planted the chaos seed within his soul." The fates were silent as they heard the admission, though they had suspected it all along." And I did all of this simply so i could counter the effect his human nature has, by granting him an option where he could discard his humanity if he ever needed to."

The fates dared not speak back and mutely nodded in response to her explanation, but within their hearts, they were unsatisfied and worried. Chaos spoke again, and they could hear a smile in her voice even as she did." Do not worry so. He is my pawn. I would not grant him that suicidal power unless I was certain he had a chance of controlling it. if his will power is sufficient and his heart remains firm, even in this moment of absolute despair and loss, he will still not lose himself to mindless rage.

The fates nodded again, but their hearts were unsettled. For they knew, the price of wielding chaos was the slow and inevitable breakdown of the body. No mortal could escape this fate, no matter how small the amount of chaos they used was. Only the original Goddess herself was capable of using this level of power, and that was since her body was in the true sense eternal and immortal, since it was only made out of chaos itself.

Even a remarkable mortal like Percy was, at the end of the day, a mortal. He was naturally limited by the form of he inhabited, and so his usage of the Chaos Seed would cause his very soul to disintegrate under the corrosive influence of Chaos. This was the true reason his Chaos seed power only activated when he blacked out, in order to reduce the damage to his mortal soul. And as long as he remained a mortal, he would never be able to wield the Chaos state while awake, because if he did, his soul would instantly dissipate.

Chaos's power was a time bomb that sat inside his very soul, ticking down silently as his body and soul were broken down, and it only speeded up his death every time he utilized this power. The fates were sorrowful for Percy, but they knew that chaos would not waste one of her most valuable pawns for no reason, and decided to trust in her judgment, hoping he could finish his task of killing Kronos before he died at the hands of his own power.

 _\- Wisdom tower -_

Silence reigned in the tower of wisdom. There were no screams or moans of pain. Simply because, the demon on his rampage left nothing injured and alive. Where he went, death followed his footsteps. He silently climbed the steps, sword held loosely in his hand, the tip scraping and trailing against the ground. He entered the next floor, paused as he glanced around. His dead eyes locked onto a particular wall, and he started walking towards it, his footsteps unhurried and calm. There was a roar of desperation and suddenly the top section of the wall flipped over, and a man flew out of the trapdoor, swinging a huge heavy sword at Percy's head.

Percy coldly looked up at the gigantic sword, almost eight feet in length and as broad as a man's shoulder's. he reached up and pinched the edge of the sword with his thumb and forefinger, trapping the powerful attack between those two fingers. The attackers face twisted with horror, but before he could even express any regret at his actions, Percy pinched the blade. The blade trembled, then with a snap, shattered into countless shards, raining down on him as he reached up, grabbing the man's throat. He panicked, grabbing his wrist with both hands, kicking and screaming as he tried to break free. Percy's eyes gazed at his struggles emotionlessly, then he lowered the man, stabbing riptide into his heart, and holding him as he jerked and spasmed, all his life draining away. Then he dropped the man's lifeless corpse into his own pool of blood before moving onto the next floor.

He climbed at a steady pace, neither hurried, nor slow and soon he stepped into the next floor. There a man sat inside a powerful defensive array barrier, meditating. He had summoned a spirit of earth, which increased his defense, then wired it into this array to multiply the defensive property, forming the impenetrable Mountain Fortress Array. He smiled smugly as he saw Percy, but inside he was sweating and screaming with fear.

Percy showed no reaction, calmly walking up to the defensive array, no surprise or annoyance showing on his face. He drew close to the defensive array and the tense man stood up, preparing to run if his array showed any sign of breaking under Percy's attacks. However, Percy didn't raise his sword as expected. As the man stared quizzically at Percy, he quietly raised his fist. The man almost burst into laughter at the sheer absurdity of the thought that a punch could damage his array. But before he could even get out a chuckle, the power of Gnome condensed into Percy's fist and he punched out, giving a simple and direct strike towards the man.

The man had a sudden feeling of death surrounding him as Percy's fist hurtled towards him, seeming to cover the heavens as it smashed towards him. then it directly broke through his defensive array and slammed into his gut, lifting him up into the air. The man trembled, feeling intense vibrations tear him apart from within, then he died as his brain itself was torn apart. Percy lowered his fist and the man collapsed onto the ground like a water bag. He had no external injuries, but even as he fell to the ground, blood spurted from all seven facial orifices and he seemed to turn boneless, all his bones turned to powder and blood escaping from his shattered blood vessels with no obstruction.

And the demon continued his rampage.

 _-Tartarus-_

Tartarus was surprised. It was rare for him to feel such an odd feeling, and rarer still for a mere human to have produced it. but he could sense a forbidden power, weak and faint, but very real, as it rampaged across the earth.

But despite it's apparent weakness, Tartarus knew better than to underestimate the danger that power held. Even a wisp of chaos was far too unstable to properly exist within this world, and it would destroy everything around it from its sheer instability. Such destructive power in the hands of a mortal enemy of his…. It was not a comfortable feeling.

As of now, he was no threat to him, but given enough time… even the chaos seed would sprout, turning into a gigantic tree that would be his grave. But for now… all he could do was wait. And so… Tartarus waited.

 _-Wisdom Tower-_

Before long, he found himself on the final floor, where Athena stood, a tense and tight smile etched on her face as she stared at Percy. Percy was still walking methodically, but even as he did, his sword emitted a hint of killing intent for the first time.

Athena shook her head." This was not something I could have anticipated. Such immense power, beyond anything a human should be capable of in his mortal form." Her eyes glinted as she stared hungrily at him." You'll make a fine specimen! With power like that, I can even exceed the Titans!" she giggled insanely then suddenly, she was covered in battle armor, a smooth spear settling into her grip as she took up a fighting stance." Come on then boy, and let me dissect you!" Percy stared at her, then suddenly bent over, hacking and coughing. Blood filled his throat and he kneeled, trembling on the ground as he vomited out blood. Athena stared at him, almost delighted." Oh? Ohhhh? Ohhhhhhh! So you have a limit on your body do you? for how long you can wield such magnificent, inhuman power?" she cackled and raised her spear and pointed it at Percy." still, you'll make a quite interesting thing to slice and dice before studying what made you so special."

Percy mumbled something under his breath, still kneeling and trembling, so softly that Athena was unable to understand what he had said." Eh? What was that?" she asked him, stepping forward.

" I promised…. I wouldn't die… so… I can't let you kill me here today." Percy whispered and softly rose to his feet, still trembling.

Athena laughed." Why would I care about some dumb promise you made to a dead girl?"

Percy looked up at her, a small smile flitting across his own face." It doesn't matter to you, but it does to me! And so, today, I will not let you kill me!" Percy raised riptide and gave a low roar." If it's come to this, then I'll bet my promise on this , with everything I've got!"

Athena sneered and summoned a giant shield, holding it up and half huddling behind it as she cautiously waited for his attack. She had already planned out her strategy. As soon as he struck, she would move out from behind the shield, letting it take the brunt o the impact. In the worst case scenario that his attack split the shield itself, she have to take the attack on her left shoulder and arm, then using her right arm, directly thrust the spear into his chest and through his heart! No matter how powerful he was, if his heart was crushed he would die!

She steadied her breathing and looked at him with a smile. She already knew about his proficiency in the laws of water and knew that his vibrations were deadly, but if any did enter her body when he attacked her, she would simply isolate and destroy that area, minimizing the spread and preventing it from reaching her critical organs.

She snapped back to the present as Percy gave a roar and launched himself forward. Athena gave a grim smile. It was now or never. Just as he was about to strike the shield, suddenly he let go of the hilt from his left hand. There was a vermillion flash and the heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword appeared in his left hand and he crossed both the swords in an 'x slash', just as he summoned forth the power of Gnome.

" Heart of the sword! Indomitable Slash!" the twin slashes collided with the shield, shattering it and sending the two blades rocketing towards Athena. She smirked and was about to move when she realized it. the ground at her feet had entirely turned to quicksand and had solidified as soon as her feet were trapped within. Usually, this would hinder her only for a second, but now, this was a second that decided life and death! Athena roared and exploded with all her strength, using a last ditch method to break free from the trap. Just as her feet exploded from within the ground, his destructive slashes landed onto her body. His body was drained of energy and he was weak, with barely any strength left in his arms. And she was an Overgod that surpassed him in strength and healing. But when Riptide and the Heaven smiting Devil slayer sword crossed together, Deadly killing intent exploded forward from both the weapons. Both riptide and Hong'er poured all their strength forward, and the weak slash suddenly became a destructive and fatal move!

" Curse you God Slayer Princess!" She screamed with abject rage as she was sent flying backwards, blood exploding like a fountain from her waist. Riptide's blade shimmered as the blood stained it, then it absorbed her blood and Percy felt a revitalizing rush of strength.

Riptide fell to the ground as Percy took a hold of the Heaven Smiting Sword with both hands, summoning the last of his strength as he leapt up. For the girl who had taken a dagger meant for him, not once, but twice, who had kissed him when death seemed inevitable in the heart of a volcano. He gave a hoarse cry as the razor tip of his heavy sword slammed into athena's chest, then sank into the ground, pinning her. blood exploded and splattered the floor as she shuddered and twitched, in the throes of her death within moments. Percy leaned against the blade, using it to stay standing up as he heaved and gasped, sweat covering his entire body. He looked down at Athena, the woman who he hated so much, trapped in an agonizing death, but all he found in his heart was pity.

" you poor wretch. You don't deserve the quick death you're getting today." He whispered softly, watching her wide grey eyes. They turned red with blood, then fluttered shut as her hand, scrabbling against the side of the sword fell lifelessly to the ground. And so, she breathed her last.

Percy shuddered and fell to his knees, feeling a chorus of complaints from all over his body. He struggled to breath, suddenly feeling lightheaded and half dead with exhaustion. His eyes were fluttering shut as he started to fall backwards, hands leaving his sword. But then soft hands gripped his shoulders, pulling him into an embrace. He felt a familiar sense of security wash over him as his entire body relaxed. A soothing whisper echoed in his ear as his consciousness dimmed." Shhh Percy. I'll always be with you"

A.N.: well… give whoever guessed the Assassins identity a cookie! But that was pretty emotional. And yes im a Percabeth fan. I've always been one, even more than Pertemis! But don't worry, Pertemis is the focus here, which is why both appearances by Annabeth were directly followed by farewells. I don't think I could concentrate on any other girl while Annabeth is around Percy. and yes, I was planning this from the start. It wasn't any fun just killing Annabeth off like that. She and Percy have a long history, and it makes more sense for her to introduce the next facet of Percy's power, the Chaos Seed! Unless you wanted me to kill off artemis.

So there you have it, a spectacular battle and an OP Percy! don't worry though. I'll toss in a couple more OP characters to give him a competition!

Also thank you guys for all the reviews! Ciao with peace from Manhattan.


	70. IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE

_**Important Author note**_

Yes, it's another one of those hated Author notes. My dear readers, I bring to you grave news. In another of the long list of problems my laptop gives me, it appears to have damaged it's screen severely. As a result, the screen is pretty much patchy and half of it is simply not working. I fear that before long, the entire screen will shut down. As a result, I may have to put writing on a hold, at least till I get a hold of a new laptop. I could repair it, but it appears to simply keep experiencing new problems, hence, if it does break down, all my stories will be suspended indefinitely, till I get a new laptop. Im posting this Author note right now,just in case it suddenly breaks down and I am unable to inform you. this is simply a warning, and hopefully, I will face no problems in further updates. But in case of an extended hiatus without any reason, it will be because of my laptop needing replacement.

Ciao, with peace from Manhattan.

p.s.: no worries, this time I've backed up all my data so there's no need to worry about having to start from a scratch.


	71. True Warrior

**Ninth Arc: True Warrior**

Recap: _Wisdom Tower_

Percy shuddered and fell to his knees, feeling a chorus of complaints from all over his body. He struggled to breath, suddenly feeling lightheaded and half dead with exhaustion. His eyes were fluttering shut as he started to fall backwards, hands leaving his sword. But then soft hands gripped his shoulders, pulling him into an embrace. He felt a familiar sense of security wash over him as his entire body relaxed. A soothing whisper echoed in his ear as his consciousness dimmed." Shhh Percy. I'll always be with you"

When Percy awoke, he was lying down in a soft bed, surrounded by soft whirrs and beeps. He shifted slightly as he opened his eyes, and he was suddenly faced with a surprising sight. He was in a clean white room, surrounded by banks of machinery, all which Percy found quite reminiscent to his past life. This wake up scene was quite similar to every time he'd ever woken up after losing consciousness. Calypso was seated at the right of his bed, breaking into a smile right as he opened his eyes.

Before he could return the smile, he was suddenly jerked to the left, cheek stinging from a sharp slap on his face. Artemis had her arms wrapped around his neck, hugging him with a crushing grip, her face wet with tears as she buried it against him. he felt an awkward sense of guilt as he raised an arm and hugged her back as best as he could, rubbing and patting her back. After a few moments she drew her back, face red with embarrassment as she glared at him.

"Idiot Disciple!" she barked, her voice still shaky as she spoke." Can't you ever participate in a fight without getting yourself pushed to the verge of death?"

Calypso was still smiling as she leaned backwards into her chair. Her expression was knowing, eyes twinkling with delight as she watched Artemis and Percy. she knew exactly who Annabeth was and how much she had meant to Percy in his past life. As such she couldn't blame him for hesitating and breaking down in a battle against her." Artemis, leave Percy be. He and Annabeth…. Have a history. He could hardly be expected to be able to fight against someone like that."

Artemis growled in frustration as Percy threw Calypso a grateful smile. The smile froze on his face right as Artemis spoke out.

" Perseus Jackson, you idiot! You have no value for your own life, then fine! But my life is connected to yours! If you die, then I'll die as well." Artemis huffed and turned away from Percy. At her sudden declaration, even Calypso's features twisted with surprise. Both she and Percy sat up at the same time and stared at her with horror.

"WHAT!?"

Artemis was suddenly regretting her choice of words, but she grit her teeth and forged onwards, now committed to telling him." Haven't you wondered how I'm still able to enter your inner world, now that I have a physical form? I made a Contract with you the last time, the Contract of Blood. That was terminated the second my own body was formed from your blood. However, now I've formed a Contract of Life with you. like I said, Life or Death, I swear I'll never leave you again!" her breathing was disordered and she was really regretting speaking out about her rash decision, but before she could speak any further, Percy was already there, embracing her.

"Artemis…. You idiot. Why would you do something like that!?" he murmured as he pulled her head against his shoulder, his other arm curved around her back.

Artemis bit her lip, suddenly feeling an overwhelming rush of emotions as her eyes filled with tears. She hugged him back fiercely and started sobbing out loud as she beat at his back weakly." You idiot ! Idiot, Idiot! Do you have any idea how much worry you put me through! I can't bear seeing you in danger anymore! I want you to take me away somewhere where we can be safe!"

They were suddenly interrupted by a soft clicking sound, and they turned to see the door opening. Artemis sat back into her chair, hastily wiping her face with her hands, her soft sobs subsiding as she settled into her chair. Calypso's lips were pursed as she watched Percy intently, then turned to look at who their visitor was.

Carter smiled gently as he stepped through the door and into the hospital room." It's nice to see you awake after so many days Percy. as I anticipated, your state did not overburden you for too long."

Percy stared at the boy with confusion. Carter looked not much older than Percy, another teenager in his teens, about sixteen or so, but his mannerisms and demeanor was like that of an adult's." what do you mean, you thought my state my wouldn't overburden me?" he asked with surprise.

Carter nodded." as anticipated. You seem to have no recollections of the event itself. Your soul appeared to have been under a powerful sleeping seal in order to prevent it from unraveling under the power of your heightened state." He caught sight of Percy's confused glance at Calypso who shrugged helplessly, indicating she had no idea what he was talking about.

" ah, do forgive me. I speak without thinking sometimes. You clearly have no recollections, and hence, you have the least idea of what it is you did." Carter raised his hand, palm facing the roof as a small screen revolved over his hand. "this is what you did last week, after losing consciousness due to excessive bloodloss and pain."

Percy fell silent with horror as he stared at the small screen carter held. It showed a small tower, probably one of thousand in the Central Tower City. However, it's massive Gates were ruined, a huge hole ripped in the bottom of both of them. Something or someone had barreled straight through the thick, heavy, two storey tall gates like they were made of tissue paper. Even with Percy's unsealed Powers, he would be hard pressed to even dent such thickset gates, and that was without the arrays reinforcing them and making them even stronger.

Carter swiped his finger across the screen, displaying the next image, of the courtyard, filled with blood and pieces of corpses. Too many corpses, almost a hundred. His finger swiped again, and he was faced with different corpses inside the tower, each killed brutally. Percy felt his mouth go dry." W-what the hell did I do? Or was it riptide?"

Carter smiled, his gentle features not at all seeming perturbed by the carnage being displayed on the screen." If by Riptide, you mean the Devil God Sword you wield, then that's not it. the energy signature you released while being in that heightened state was not that of a Devil Sword user. Rather it was a unique energy I've never seen before. As of now, your Devil sword still appears to be sealed. If unsealed, it would probably be capable of killing all of them, but as it is now, there is no way it could possess you and do that. After all, all those corpses belong to Overgods."

Percy gasped, head shooting up with surprise. Carter shook his head." Indeed. You somehow killed so many Overgods, all while unconscious. Though all of them were simply level one Overgods, they were still mighty beings wielding divine powers. Even if you were able to match an Overgod in power, you should not be able to kill so many so quickly and so efficiently. But the price for such power isn't so light either. If you were to use this power lightly, your soul would simply be destroyed under the strain of a power far beyond the capability of a mortal. In order to use it, you need to at least be an Overgod."

Percy gulped nervously as Carter watched him with that gentle expression. He had no doubt that even if he could somehow access that ridiculous power, this boy before him was a being far beyond his hope of ever beating in his current state. Their gap was simply too large. If Carter held any nefarious thoughts, then he was done for. Carter's smile grew wider as he leaned forward, eyes on Percy.

"Perseus jackson. Would you like to start training in the tower?"

Carter's sudden proposal was beyond anything Percy had expected. Though he had wanted to check out the Tower, he had never actually thought of becoming a student. After all his rate of growth was something not many people could comprehend. There was very little anyone could actually teach him. Carter seemed to read the doubt from Percy's face." I can see you're quite a genius Percy. you probably outstrip every teacher you've ever had, and you think that studying at the Tower will be quite similar." He nodded at Percy as he spoke, and Percy gave an awkward nod.

" My body age when I broke through into Overgod realm was 16. And I Broke through relying only my own power." Carter stated simply. Percy's mouth dropped open and even Artemis and Calypso were stunned into silence.

" W-w-w-what!?" Artemis stammered as she stared at Carter. If what he said was true, then Carter was a Genius who rivaled even Percy!

Carter kept his gaze on Percy, smile as confident and gentle as ever." So what do you say? Still think we can't train you?"

Percy slid his feet off the bed and stood up, gazing back at Carter as confidently as he faced him." how did you break through on your own?"' he asked him directly. That was currently his biggest concern, since he needed to know how he could break through without relying on another Overgods power. Despite being at Peak Olympian realm, he felt nothing when he tried raising his power. He knew that there was some method that was eluding him.

Carter nodded."Ah yes, you don't have a seal yet. Could you be planning to try and break through on your own as well? I wouldn't recommend it. Usually, it would require an Apple of Idun, one of the Golden apples that grows in the Orthrys Continent. However, the tree itself is guarded by a God Tier Dragon. That is something even I cannot defeat, so that is a suicidal method, to say the least."

Percy wasn't ready to be dissuaded so easily." But you managed to breakthrough! How did you do it?"

Carter frowned as he traced his chin with a finger." Another method would be to accept an Overgods power, then after you became an Overgod, seal away your divinity and breakthrough by borrowing your own divine power. This is a method used only by geniuses, since it rarely works. Perhaps a one in a few billion chance? However, that method is only half right, and though it makes the warrior stronger than usual, it isn't a true breakthrough. The true method is to push your power to the absolute limit. Till you die. And after you die, after your soul has been totally destroyed, your body made entirely lifeless, your life entirely drained away, you must revive yourself, using your own power. Give life to yourself, and you will be reborn with a divine soul. That is how you breakthrough from Mortal to Overgod."

Carter smiled at the contemplative Percy." I do hope to hear from you soon Percy. I would love to have you in my Egyptian Guild, but alas it's a guild where everyone who joins becomes an Overgod by accepting my power. While you do have the talent, more than enough, you wish to seek out your own path. In that case, the Tower is the best place for you." he turned around and left, shutting the door behind himself.

Percy spent some time contemplating over the proposal he'd been given. He had no way of breaking through at the moment, and the Tower seemed like a good place to train and strengthen himself and his friends while he waited. Of course, there was no way he would actually make this decision by himself. He obviously needed to ask his companions.

*Time Skip: Sixteen Days later*

Percy was headed for the Gigantic Tower that rose into the sky like a divine tree. He hadn't been very surprised when Drew, Bianca and Hazel had decided not to join the Tower. Apparently, they had been speaking with Carter, who had been interested in their unique abilities and had recommended they meet with the Sorceress Faction. From what he had found, the Sorceress was a Mysterious woman who was rarely seen. She had formed her own faction just a few years back, but her terrifying power was enough to set it on par with the other superpowers of the Tower continent. In fact, even the Egyptian guild had been formed at around the same time, and both Factions had Proven themselves Superpowers that were on a different level all together. In fact, many people believed that only the Tower Master, the head of the Tower was able to oppose the Sorceress and the Scholar, as Carter was popularly known as. However, the Egyptian guild and the Sorceress faction were small organizations, despite having such powerful leaders, so they were on no way equal to the Tower itself.

Since the Sorceress faction only accepted Girls with exceptional talent, Percy himself had no interest in it, and as for the Egyptian guild, he wasn't willing to become a follower of Carter, hence he ended up deciding on the Tower. He had to take a test in order to Join however, since the tower only accepted the best of all talents. There were many courses, each course having a specialized exam in order to determine the students aptitude.

The exam could be easily split down into Seven factions. The first one being the Warrior faction. Most easily classified, this faction was made up of people specializing in direct combat, usually with short distance weaponry and low magical ability. The next was the Zither Faction, filled with warriors specialized in long range abilities, either through abilities such as music, or long range weaponry such as archery. And there was the Mage faction, accepting only warriors with powerful magical aptitudes. This was rare in humans, and hence was dominated by the Elves, the second most powerful race in the Tower continent. Then there was the array faction, filled with geniuses specializing in array formations and magic formations that could be used for a variety of functions, from Barriers to creating offensive arrays and flame formations for blacksmiths. There was also the Production and refinement faction, for people with special abilities and knowledge allowing them to refine and produce everything from medicinal potions to Legendary weapons. They included both Alchemists and Blacksmiths, the two being major branches of the overall faction. There was the Soul and Spirit Faction, which focused on people with powerful souls, allowing them to specialize in illusionary attacks, as well as form spirit contracts and subjugate profound beasts. Finally there was a puppet faction, filled with necromancers and mechanical geniuses who specialized in creating avatars that could fight on their behalf.

Hephaestus had planned on trying out on the machines course, which he already had quite a high specialization in. Dionysus was more unsure and had decided on trying out on his exam later. Zoë was determined on trying the Sorceress Faction, and had asked Rachel to try it out with her. Rachel however, was planning on trying out the Soul and Spirit exam, since her Oracle's eye ability had made her spirit exceptionally powerful, as well as highly resistant to illusionary magic. Calypso and Aphrodite wanted to join the tower with him, but Percy had insisted they try the Sorceress Faction once. Carter had suggested they try it, and Percy had to admit, someone like them didn't fit in any particular faction of the Tower. Hestia had also been pressed into trying out the sorceress faction, and she had grudgingly agreed, mostly to keep an eye on Calypso and the rest.

Percy was however, quite confused between the different exams. Naturally, he had great potential as a warrior, and by his estimation, most humans would never even be close to his match even as he was right now. Though his ability with a bow and arrow wasn't exactly legendary, he had picked up everything he needed to know from Artemis, a peerless expert with the bow. Meanwhile his Azure Dragon's Shattering Roar was a Sound type, long range attack. His many bloodlines and powers allowed him an extraordinary ability at wielding magic, and his Tree of Enlightenment gave him Divine affinity to magic of any type. His affinity with magic, and his ability to perfectly memorize and understand large amounts of information, a skill he'd gained after using his perception to read and memorize entire libraries of information from tiny jade slips back in the God realm. He had memorized nearly every array symbol in existence, and was proficient at using them as well. Artemis had started teaching him alchemy from when he was a child and he had absorbed all her knowledge quickly, and his Phoenix flames meant he could refine most types of pills and potions, given the right ingredients. As for his soul, it was monstrously powerful, fused with not just the Azure Dragon God's soul, but the soul's of the Three Divine Flame birds as well as Poseidon's Soul. And finally, it was tempered by the River Styx, making him an inhumanly powerful soul. As for spirits, he had contracts with Gnome and Undine, two Primordial level spirits. As for Hong'er, she simply told him she was a spirit that exceeded the limits of all other spirits. That by itself was enough to make her stand out, since she was a spirit capable of unsealing her masters powers. As for puppets, Percy wasn't sure how that would work and he was fairly sure that he had no interest in such a creepy method of combat.

He simply decided to go and check out the exam centre and register for the exams which he was interested in. if he wasn't capable of passing the exams, then he'd simply not bother with that subject. Meanwhile, artemis was trailing behind him, going to take the Archery exam with him. Percy didn't mind, since it gave him some company as well.

As he drew nearer to the Tower, they were suddenly confronted by a smaller set of walls that curved off into the distance. Artemis stroked her chin as she stepped forward, watching the wall." The inner city, that holds the Tower and all its outlying buildings."

Percy glanced at her with surprise." You know about all that?"

Artemis rolled her eyes at him." im not an idiot like you. im hardly going to go around a strange city without asking Clymenious everything I could about it."

Percy started with surprise." Where is he anyway?"

Artemis gave him a conscending look." Now you remember? He's already left, back to patrolling around the city, near the Portal system Pontus has set up, incase Pontus sends any of his selected successors again."

Percy nodded, then looked back towards the wall." What now?" previously, such a wall would have been nothing to him, but to the current Percy, flying over this Five storey wall was more difficult than eating his own sword.

Artemis smirked." This is the first test dummy. If you can't do this, then you might as well give up on joining the Tower." She unslung her bow and nocked an arrow, a simple light rope tied to one end. She took aim and fired with no hesitation. The arrow took flight, light rope trailing behind it as it flew upwards, lodging at the top. Artemis ran forward, grabbing a hold of the rope and nimbly running up the wall as if it were entirely flat, quickly running upwards and leaping onto the top of the wall.

Percy stared at her in surprise, the grabbed the rope she had used and tried imitating her, but as soon as he leaned back his weight into the rope, the arrow dislodged and he fell onto his back. He could feel artemis laughing at him from all the way up the wall. Without a doubt, she had relied on her light build and quick speed to quickly climb up the wall. For someone like him, it was impossible.

Percy growled and Hong'er's seal flashed crimson, unsealing his power." Power of the Earth! Gnome, Earthwalk!" Percy felt his perception spread into the earth under him and he melted into the earth and darted towards the wall. But right before he could pass under the wall, he felt a set of arrays blare to life, blocking him with a powerful barrier and expelling him.

"Wha-!?" Percy was abruptly thrown out of the ground, rolling across the dusty wall before falling down. That had been a complete surprise, and he hadn't ever expected that arrays could stop his Earthwalk. It made sense though, since Earthwalk was a form of movement that allowed him to travel quite fast. If it couldn't be blocked then he could enter any building, no matter how secure." Gnome, what happened there?" he asked, peeking into his inner world. Gnome was silent as she avoided his gaze. These past few days, neither Gnome nor Undine had spoken to him, which had struck Percy as odd. But he hadn't paid it much mind, thinking they must be remembering their own time on Earth.

However now, it was clear that something was really wrong. Gnome seemed almost scared to look at him. Percy pushed the matter to the back of his mind." Well if this wall is going to stop every way across, then I have no choice!" the seal on his hand flashed even brighter as the devil slayer sword appeared in his grasp. With a low roar, the Dragon blood in him awoke, and his bones emitted crackling sounds as his entire body reinforced itself. His hair started standing up, as if electrified, then turned silver as the crescent moon tattoo on his chest started burning, his Celestial moon god's Transformation activating." Now that's new" Percy murmured under his breath, straining his mental strength to the limit as he tried activating all his power at once.

The blood of the three Flame birds burnt with a fury and his blade started glowing like it was being heated intensely. Then Ice crystals started covering the superheated metal, forming a thin layer of freezing frost over the entire sword. Percy grit his teeth, summoning forth the power of Poseidon's blood as well as the power of the Asura, pouring it all into his sword.

"Fusion Style! Gnome's Sword Heart! One sword to destroy everything! The Earth behind my slash! Sword of End!"

Percy roared and stepped forward, his instep causing the Earth to Tremble. He drew the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword in and thrust out with all his strength. The Blade glowed Vermillion and he burst straight through the two feet thick wall, falling to his knees on the other side. He glanced back, and even as he stared, cracks spiderwebbed along the hole he'd smashed through, spreading up the wall, almost eight feet high before the entire wall began crumbling.

"well done" Artemis commented drily as she watched the entire wall start to crash down." That's exactly how a normal person would cross through, smash through the wall like a freaking monster."

Percy dusted his hair and stood up, scowling at her as he stored his sword away." Then what should I have done?"

" walked around, found the gate and entered like every other participant." She replied with a triumphant smirk. She spun around and walked on, giggling , leaving him to regain his bearings and follow her.

Percy was standing in the same place for almost half a minute before he snapped back to the present and ran forward. But before he could reach the corner Artemis had turned around, he was suddenly confronted by a girl who seemed in her twenties. She had short white hair, dressed in white robes, with a formal badge pinned to her chest. She was tall, six feet and she had a thin sword sheathed by her waist. Her eyes narrowed as soon as she saw Percy." oh? A mortal? A participant in the test? Did you break the wall boy?"

Percy blushed and lowered his head." Um… yes ma'am."

She giggled and stared at the wall." Very impressive. I assume you're here to try out the Exam?"

Percy nodded. she lightly tapped her chin with a finger." Are you trying out to be a warrior then?"

Percy scratched his head." Well… I have many different specialties, so I wanted to look through the exams once."

She nodded with a look of understanding. Then a small device in her ear, which Percy hadn't noticed till it suddenly began glowing, let out a short beep. The girl tilted her head, and a look of surprise flitted across her face. Then she smiled, almost sadistically." What's your name boy~o?"

Percy felt a shiver go down his back and he gulped with a sudden foreboding sense." P-Percy."

Her smile widened and she stepped forward, hand on her blade." Well, it's your lucky day Percy~boy. I happen to be a senior examiner. And I don't mind testing your aptitude for being a warrior!"

Percy's eyes widened and he stepped back, adopting a defensive stance at once. She giggled." Oh don't worry Percy~boy. All you need to do is last a minute in combat. And don't worry, inside the Tower's influence, we're all restricted down to Mortal Level."

Percy grimaced." I don't know who you are! Why would you make things difficult for me?"

She licked her lips." It's an order. From someone I can't refuse. Enough Chit chat now Percy~boy!"

She drew her sword with lightning speed, directly slashing straight at his throat. Percy's instincts kicked into life and Riptide was uncapped and in his hands as he raised it upwards, blocking the attack before she could decapitate him. she nodded appreciatively."good reflex. And very good sword! I'm surprised it didn't shatter!" she grinned." But the test has just begun!"

She leaped forward, sword whistling faster than his eye could follow. Percy grit his teeth and struggled to keep up as her sword swung through the air like an unseen snake. Despite his impressive instinct and reflexes, he was hard pressed to even dodge and block most of her attacks!

Within seconds he was on the backfoot, retreating under her onslaught. She laughed as her speed increased, and her attacks started drawing blood. Right as Percy was sure he was going to be overwhelmed, he felt a voice speaking in his head, for just a moment. Before he could react, his sword flashed forward, pushing hers aside as he darted forward, as quick as a viper, stopping right as his sword reached her throat.

He blinked with surprise, but she reacted even faster than he could imagine was possible, batting his sword away as her own sword flashed past his face, slashing across his cheek. Percy staggered back, raising his sword defensively. She looked up and her eyes flashed decisively." That's it Percy~Boy. You're going down!"

Percy saw her rush forward faster than he could even register, bringing her sword up to cleave his head in two. But even as she did, the seal on the back of his left hand glowed Crimson and her movements suddenly seemed to slow down before Percy's eyes. Or rather, his speed increased, allowing him to track her moves and raise riptide perfectly to block her attack. The two blades clanged off each other and she stepped back in shock. She attacked again, but Percy had no problem easily countering her and stepping into her thrust before grabbing her wrist and twisting her hand, releasing her grip on her sword. She retreated, rubbing her wrist while she eyed him with a grudging smile.

" that was nice. How about I get a little serious as well Percy~boy" she said with a wicked grin. A crystalline sword, completely made out of clear crystals suddenly appeared in her grasp and she stretched delicately, almost looking like a dancer poised to dance. Percy tensed, ready to react instantly, but before he could, he heard the same beep as the device in her ear glowed. She froze, still poised perfectly, then slowly relaxed, before her blade disappeared." One minute is up Percy~boy. And as much as I'd like to test you further, it appears your exam is over." She giggled and pulled a badge similar to the one she wore out of her pocket and flung it at Percy. he caught it cautiously, then examined it. It was a simple silver disk, three centimeters in diameter, with a golden sword imprinted in the middle, a pin stuck in the back.

Percy raised his head to ask her what the badge was supposed to be, but she was already gone, silently disappearing like the wind.

Percy had no idea what had happened so he simply continued down the road, heading towards the Tower that was Emblazoned against the Horizon. Before long, he met other participants, all who were headed for the tower. Percy could sense most of them were mortals, with a few of them giving of a stronger vibe, that seemed to mark them as Unsealed warriors or maybe even Overgods. However, the Overgod status meant little in a place where all of them were sealed into Mortal states. Only especially powerful Overgods would have an advantage, since their mortal bodies would be unable to use their divine power efficiently.

Before long Percy found many people grouped around an array imprinted into the ground. They had formed a long line, nearly three hundred people in all, all lined up to speak with a petite girl seated beside the Array. Percy went forward and joined the line as well, feeling excited at the prospect of the test. He couldn't see Artemis anywhere, but simply assumed she must have gone ahead, since he had been delayed by the sudden appearance of the crazy lady.

He needed to wait only for a few minutes before he himself reached the front of the line. To his surprise, many people in the front of the line had broken away and left the area. He had no idea why they had done that, but almost all the people who lined up had left right as they started reaching the front of the line. He shrugged as he stepped in front of the girl in charge of the array.

She was a petite girl, seemingly in her late teens. She wore spectacles and her hair was brown, with green tips. She smiled at Percy." How surprising to see such a young one with such high resistance. It's really rare for a teenaged mortal to have such a powerful will."

Percy frowned at her words." Powerful will?" he asked her with confusion.

Suddenly the girls eyes glowed and he felt a terrific suppression fall onto his soul. He grit his teeth and the pressure on him eased slightly. He glared at her as her eyes twinkled with mischievous mirth." The power of light magic, Holy Suppression! It's to make sure we aren't flooded by requests to join from weaklings like ninety nine percent of applicants usually are."

Percy sighed at her mocking tone, then held out the badge he'd received." What is this thing?"

"that !" Her eyes widened and she jerked forward, snatching the badge out of his hand." Where did you get this?!"

Percy scratched his head." Well, some lady with short white hair suddenly attacked me and told me she was testing me, then after a minute she gave me this badge and kind of disappeared."

The girl leaned back into her chair, staring at the badge." White hair? Miss Alice, you actually deemed this kid worthy of a High class pass?" she shook her head and leaned forward with a wide smile." It's your lucky day kid. One of our senior Examiners passed you in the Warrior exam, and she even gave you a high class pass, which is quite a privilege for a new entrée like you. expect a lot of envious stares every time you wear that badge. There's no need for an exam, I can pass you directly, since you already have a badge."

Percy frowned." A badge? Then what if someone stole mine?" it seemed quite reasonable, just kill someone and steal their badge, easy pass in any exam.

The girl giggled." As if. They are soul linked. The first person to hold them after the examiner is directly linked. I would sense if it was stolen. And if the owner is dead or too far away, or cut off, it would simply disintegrate." She flicked the badge back at Percy." so shall I send you to the Tower?" but even as she spoke, the same device Percy had previously seen in the Crazy lady's ear beeped inside the girl's ear and she frowned, tilting her head.

After a moment of silence, she straightened her head." Change of plans, perseus jackson. It appears, we need to test you out a bit more." Before Percy could reply, she had already turned to the Array and started fiddling with it, muttering under her breath as it began glowing.

Percy felt helplessly confused, but one thing was certain. That device was some sort of communication device, and someone behind the scenes was making this test a lot more difficult for Percy.

A smile touched Percy's lips and the seal on his hand glowed briefly as he clenched his fists." Bring it on."

A.N.: actually, this delayed update was because of my busy schedule, with college applications and whatnot. My laptop has held out, which is quite nice to see, and I hope it will continue for as long as possible, since replacements would be annoying. Which is why this chapter is medium sized rather than 6K +. Also we move onto the Tower Arc, with Percy suddenly being thrust into a place where geniuses gather! And this time, I've planned it to be much more difficult for Percy to climb to the top. Even if he is a genius, out here, he is simply one of many!

The different factions in the Tower were inspired from the Seven factions of the Seven Profound Valley of Martial World. Sorceress Faction is based off Acacia Faction from Martial world and Frozen Cloud Sect from Against the Gods.

Also, we'll split up Percy and his companions for a bit, to let the newer characters make their appearance. We'll have reborn characters make an appearance without the same names, so see if you can guess them all!

also any requests for the next exams? You know the courses, you can make up requests based off those.

Ciao with peace from Manhattan.

P.s.: did you know Hong'er eats both swords and reviews? Review to feed everybody's favorite redheaded, red eyed, red dressed, red sword spirit!


	72. Course Exam

**Ninth Arc: Exam Course**

Percy snorted as he appeared in a long field dotted by simple archery targets. He looked to the side, catching sight of bows and arrows of different types set for their use." So I've been sent for an Archery exam eh? If this was the past, I'd be in trouble. But not this time." Percy would be the first person to admit he was the worst archer camp half blood had ever seen. Even a drunk Dionysus would hit more bulls eyes, then Percy could actually hit the target. But in this life, he'd had Artemis as his master, and while his natural aptitude had granted him excellence in the sword, his master was a genius with the bow, and her strict lessons and training had shaped him into an excellent archer. Of course, he had the unfair advantage of better vision and faster thinking while his powers were unsealed.

Hong'er's seal glowed on the back of his hand as he grabbed a bow and tested it before shaking his head and tossing it aside." Too supple." He murmured, then grabbed another one, a longbow the same size as himself. He grabbed the string and pulled it back, feeling the tautness in the string and the firmness of the wood."Perfect." he grinned.

He grabbed a quiver of arrows and testes their weight and balance, before giving an appreciative nod. The judge who was standing to the side glanced at Percy without much interest. In his eyes, Percy was a wannabe kid simply messing around with weapons way too big for him." you have two tries for each target. The rules are quite simple, all you-"

Percy didn't even bother letting the judge finish. He quickly lifted the bow and fired, aiming at the nearest target, twenty meters away. The force behind the arrow punched it straight through the bulls eye. Percy didn't hesitate as he drew another arrow, aiming at the next target, at a distance of fifty meters. The result was exactly the same, the arrow whistling as it pierced the bulls eye.

The distance of the targets started doubling, but Percy had no problem piercing the bulls eye all the way till the last target, at a thousand meters away. He dropped the heavy bow and wiped his forehead, flicking away the sheen of sweat that covered his face before throwing the judge a smug look. The judge was stunned into utter silence and all he could manage was a single nod towards Percy. Percy shrugged and turned to leave.

The judge found his voice and raised his hand." Wait! Young man!" he sprang to life and ran up to Percy, holding out another badge. This one was similar to the last one Percy had seen, silver disk, emblazoned with a Golden Bow and Arrow in the middle." I probably shouldn't ask, after that genius level display… but do you wish to try out the second level exam? It involves using special skills in order to defeat an instructor in a long range battle."

Percy tucked the badge into his pocket and shrugged." Why not?"

Five minutes later, Percy was teleported into a different area. The second he arrived, he had to stabilize himself with a sense of shock. The teleportation array was drawn onto a single pillar that rose into the clouds. A couple hundred meters away, a similar pillar stood, where an elven man stood calmly on one leg, holding a flute to his lips.

The elf opened his eyes as he sensed Percy's appearance, but he didn't seem surprised or perturbed in the slightest. He simply closed his eyes as if he were ignoring him and began playing a soft melody on the flute. All this struck Percy as very odd. It was just weird, seeing a man standing one legged like that while playing music. All that seemed alright in books and movies, but actually seeing it in real life just seemed really awkward.

Then the music seemed to surround him, blanketing his senses and buffeting him ferociously. He staggered and stumbled with a sense of uneasiness overcoming his muscles. He immediately realized the concept behind his attack. The concept of Vibrations! This elf was using his music to directly attack and weaken Percy, without having to even draw a step closer.

Percy growled, and the phantom of the Azure Dragon stretched it's wings inside his body, spreading out from his back. He sucked in a deep breath, a Vortex of air directly being inhaled into his body till it felt like his body would burst like a balloon. The elf opened his eyes as he sensed the sudden disturbance, but before he could react, Percy thrust his face forward, unleashing a majestic roar at him.

The elf stiffened and shuddered, clasping his hands over his ears in panic, stumbling backwards, trying to get away from Percy before slipping and falling off the edge of the pillar and plummeting down with a scream. Percy could only stare at the other pillar." Did I maybe… over do it?"

There was a flash and the elf was teleported back onto the top of the pillar, kneeling on all four, gasping and heaving with fear. Percy shot him an apologetic look and all he could do was mutter a sorry before he was teleported off the pillar.

He was back where he started, standing in the gigantic array, facing the weird girl who had suddenly tossed all these exams at him. Percy gave her a smug grin as he showed her the newest badge. The girl frowned at him." that's odd. Two people passed the Archery exam, and both with High Class badges?" Percy smiled at her words. Without a doubt, the other person she was talking about was Artemis.

The girl shook her head, as if clearing it, then glared at Percy." feeling smug are we kid? Well, how about I show you something really difficult?" her eyes flashed and the array activated again, sending Percy through the teleportation channel.

Percy felt the world around him twist and suddenly he was underground. The room he was in was poorly lit and stretched away into the shadows. It was only a single torch that burned a bright purple that illuminated this creepy underground chamber. At the edge of the circle of light, there stood a single person.

Percy shivered despite himself. This all seemed like a horror movie setting and he was certain a zombie was gonna run out towards him at any moment. The man stepped into the light and Percy had to stifle a scream. The man was shriveled, a real life corpse right before his eyes. He wore no clothes, only what looked eerily like the linen bandages used on Egyptian mummies wrapped around his waist and trailing up his body and down his legs like snakes. The man's face was shriveled and his cheeks were sunken, his eyes like two glass beads embedded in the folds of his leathery skin. He had no hair and he was thin to the point of all his bones being seen from under his skin and flesh. Percy suddenly felt like he was being faced with the male reincarnation of the Oracle who had once sat in the attic of camp half blood's big house.

The man grimaced in a painful manner and Percy shuddered, before realizing that he was smiling at him. the man's slit like mouth opened and his voice whistled forward like a dry hiss of a snake." Kekeke. A participant in our puppet exam? Rare…. How very rare."

Percy felt a strong urge to around and leave as soon as possible. He forced himself to gather all his courage and willpower before nodding. He was determined not to fail, no matter what the girl and her mysterious master threw at him.

The man grimaced at him again as he stepped closer, running his eyes over Percy." mmm such a fresh young boy. You look fine and delectable, almost too tender to eat."

Percy grimaced in return and he backed away slightly." How do I take the puppetry exam?"

The man licked his lips with a dry, swollen tongue, dragging the rough tongue across his cracked skin." Oh the exam? Kekekeke. All you are required to do is simply put together a puppet and make it move according to your commands."

Percy turned away from the man's penetrative gaze and noticed a table set out of the circle of light. He grabbed the torch and moved it closer to the table, taking in the assortment of body parts set out on the table. There were many things, from entire animals corpses, to dissected parts that looked like human limbs and insect wings. Percy had to stop himself from gagging as the smell hit him, a putrid mix of rotting bodies and the sharp sting of preservatives. It wasn't a pleasant mixture.

"how am I supposed to make a puppet out of all that?" Percy asked in a queasy voice.

The man's smile grew wider." Every puppeteer has their own style. Some like stitching their parts together, other's use entire corpses to function as their avatar. Some even use a mixture of machines and corpses in order to create an avatar that doesn't rely entirely on the master for energy and control. You'll just have to decide what method you like best. Of course, if you wish, you can use parts you have as well."

Percy had no clue how exactly he was going to get this done, but he supposed having a puppet to fight his battles and take hits for him if necessary was quite useful. He tentatively raised his hand, channeling aura from his fingers into the lifeless pieces before him. he felt the aura connect and merge with the corpses and suddenly, Percy began understanding exactly how energy used to flow through them while they were still alive. He could sense the channels and pathways the energy had followed while flowing through the organisms veins and meridians." So that's what this is about."

The man's eye's narrowed as he saw Percy extend his hand, then they widened as all the pieces began assembling themselves. They gathered together and Percy's fingers danced in the air as his profound energy materialized, forming threads that stitched the corpses together.

His first attempt at pulling all the pieces together and firmly holding them in place ended with failure, but on his second attempt, the threads held firm and the meridians all connected together, fusing and merging like in a living organism as Percy's power flowed through them. The corpse of a gigantic four legged spider like monster staggered as it rose to it's feet, and a grin broke out over Percy's face as he tugged at the air, calling it forward, footsteps growing sure with each step forward. As his energy continued moistening it's corpse, the monster's movements grew more realistic and nimble and soon Percy had it running around him, taking up battle stances, attacking and defending like a living creature.

The man watched it all quietly, then nodded with appreciation." Very good. Very good indeed. So you prefer using your energy to personally interface with the monster corpse. Kekekeke, that's quite talented." The man motioned at Percy to stop moving the spider and he did so with a tinge of disappointment, since he had quite enjoyed the sudden experience of controlling another creature so well.

The man flung out his arm and a linen bandage with a silver badge hanging on the end was thrown out. Percy grabbed the badge, and looked it over. The puppetry badge was exactly the same, except this was entirely silver. In the center, a silver etching of a monster was drawn. He shrugged and placed it back into his pocket before turning to wave at the judge and exiting the room via the portal.

Right as he appeared back in the starting point, he was already smiling smugly at the girl. her own smile froze and then disappeared as she saw him hold out the badge." A normal pass, but a pass nevertheless. What kind of monster are you?"

Percy didn't know how to answer that, but it turns out he didn't need to. She simply snorted and waved her hand, sending him away again." Mistress. This boy is proving…. Difficult." She murmured as soon as he had disappeared.

The next exam was the Array exam, which didn't take Percy any time to ace. They simply set up an array around him, and asked Percy to break through the array and leave without using any of his magic or strength. Percy simply shifted all the flawed arrays together and walked straight through them, without needing even a minute to get the entire thing done.

Then they asked him to set up a Defensive array as well as an offensive array. He set up a multitask array that combined both defensive and offensive properties to provide the highest level of support in combat situations. This seemed to convince them that he must be cheating somehow, since he barely took a few minutes to set up what was supposed to be a very difficult assignment requiring at least five hours to finish. When he was done proving that it's defensive and offensive properties were indeed as powerful as he had described them, he was forced to set it up one more time in front of them to prove it was possible to do so in such a short period of time. Then they quizzed him on the various symbols in arrays as well as the different inscription methods needed to use them. While he hadn't learnt all this during his time under Artemis and Hestia, he had caught up in knowledge by reading through the library Carter had quite graciously provided. For his photographic memory and inhuman perception, it hadn't taken much time to polish off what would otherwise take years to learn. Thankfully, his Styx soul had retained it's powerful perception, giving him a far more powerful mental form than a normal human would have, which was why he could still remember all the things he'd learnt in the past, rather than slowly forget the excess information like a normal human.

Finally, the astounded judges were forced to hand him their badge and send him on his way. This one was also High class badge like the warrior and the Archery badge. This time, there was no snide comment or smug grin when he returned. The girl in charge of the array silently activated it, sending him through to the Production and refinement exam.

This exam consisted of two different courses, the Alchemist's course, and the Blacksmiths course.

Percy tried out the Alchemists course first, using his extensive knowledge on herbs of many kinds, as well as his control over flames to produce a high grade potion that could speed up the recovery of strength as well as restore lost vitality. The original formula was actually quite similar to the Phoenix pills Artemis had taught him while he was a child, but he'd tweaked the formula and recipe, allowing it's effectiveness to be shown even in the sealed environment of Earth. Then they had him name over a thousand different types of herbs, along with all their uses and handling methodology.

Then he tried the Blacksmith course, and though he'd never actually tried out smithing before, he was surprised to see he still remembered the classes he's had from beckfendor back from when he was in camp half blood. He quickly got to work, using his precise control over flames to achieve a perfect temperature as well as using his strong arm strength and endurance to spend over six hours carefully pounding away at a hunk of metal and watching it slowly transform into a beautifully crafted sword. Combined with his knowledge from his past life as well as his strength and fire control of this life, he was easily able to craft and sharpen the sword to razor edged perfection. Before long, he was holding up a three foot long broadsword, with a simple undecorated hilt. The judges nodded with appreciation and compared his results with his alchemy exam, before giving him another high class pass.

But when he returned to the original array, the girl had her smile back." Hihihi. It was nice knowing you perseus. You can call me june."

Percy frowned at her sudden friendly smile. He had an eerie feeling that the next exam was going to have an unexpected surprise that was going to really make this memorable.

He had no idea how right he was.

 _-The Tower: Elite Floormaster floor-_

The Elite Floormaster. This was the title granted to the most powerful student in the Tower. The title given to the student who's combat prowess was so dangerous, they could be said to be a walking disaster. a presence so fierce, they were eligible to rule over an entire Floor of the Tower, a level of power and authority even the teachers in the Tower did not have.

The competition for this spot was usually intense. There were a scarce number of students in the third year in the Tower course, since it was almost impossible to pass through the exam of the Second Year. Thus only the cream of the crop, the Elite of the Elite stood in the third year. However, for the first time, it was not one of these Elite geniuses, monstrous geniuses who dwarfed their juniors and peers alike, who was holding the title of Elite Floormaster. But no one disputed her claim on the Title. There were no rivals, there were no challengers. This was because this student was indeed a god in a mortal form. Even with her power sealed, she was a being who was capable of killing Overgods, slashing through entire buildings with sheer strength alone.

And at this very moment, she was sitting quite comfortably, reclining on a couch as a white haired girl knelt apologetically by the side." I'm sorry floor master. Based on our current findings, the boy is indeed matching almost all the highest records, except for the one in the puppetry exam."

The girl chuckled and lifted a small wineglass, sipping the sweet tasting liquid inside before setting it down. She glanced at the kneeling girl, then languidly spreading herself over the couch." Oh come now Alice. Don't tell me the reports. Those can be wrong or misleading. But do tell me what you felt when you crossed swords with him. that would be most informative indeed."

Alice lifted her head, eyes glowing red with excitement as she stared into her master's face." Oh, he was so good. It was hard to believe he was simply a mortal! He actually held his own against me for a few moments, without even unsealing his power! And right as he did, his power rocketed beyond the levels of any mortal! Ohhh, I would have loved going against him with my dear little crystal, but you just had to call me and stop me right then!" she moaned softly and her breathing speeded up as she recounted their battle.

The girl smiled, leaning backwards to hide her expression in the darkness." No, I can't let you break my toy just yet Alice. I need you to hone him and train him for me, so I can thoroughly enjoy and taste all he has to offer. But for now, he is too inexperienced." Her smile disappeared as she sat up." He cannot be allowed into the tower. At his current level, he would simply be crushed and turned into another stepping stone for one of the more experienced geniuses. You have to ensure he fails in the remaining exams and use that to block his entry into the Tower. He has talent, but a mere mortal shall never be able to survive."

Alice nodded and stood up subserviently." Yes Floor master! I will immediately see to it that your orders are carried out and his entry into the tower is barred by all means possible until he becomes an Overgod!"

The Elite floormaster stood as well, shifting the sword hanging on her waist as her bright eyes flashed in the darkness, piercing even the blackest of shadows as they shone out. She brushed her short black hair back, staring at a small screen on the end of the room, which displayed Percy's face, along with his different fighting styles and the different powers he wielded, from his Devil God Sword, to the Lifeblood of Poseidon.

"Percy Jackson. You'll make a fine toy, and a new source of entertainment, old friend."

- _Mage Exam Center-_

Percy was standing on a small stage, inscribed with many arrays and symbols, all merging and reinforcing each other. Percy traced their energy flows, realizing that each of them corresponded to different types of magic. A panel of three judges, wearing heavy black cloaks sat on one side of the stage, watching him as he stepped onto the stage, heading directly to the center of the Array.

" we will now test your aptitude for magic, as well as your different affinities. In case of powerful affinities, you will be assigned a corresponding course in order to allow you to focus on the development of that particular Ability." The judge sitting in the center spoke. Despite the scary look and the imposing dressing style, the voice was feminine, and Percy heard a lilting accent accompanying it that he couldn't quite place." First, we will start off with the Affinities to the elements, in order to gauge your affinity to the different elements. There are varying levels, One being the Lowest and Nine Being the Highest."

Percy felt the array hum and tremble even as he stood upon it, surges of energy flowing in and out of his body and through his body and through the array formation in eddying currents of power. Suddenly, he was bombarded by a wave of Earth type energy. He inhaled and opened all his pores, letting the pure energy flow through his body, almost connecting him to the earth. But in that moment, he felt a prickling cold sensation whip across his neck and his eyes snapped open. Immediately, he sensed that something was wrong.

He felt the earth essence swirling within the array, but he couldn't reach it! he panicked at the sudden sensation of being cut off, and strained to reach the essence swirling right at his finger tips. But he could sense there was an ice cold barrier lodged within his profound veins, stopping him tom absorbing the Earth type essence.

The judge frowned at him." Young man, if you cannot manipulate the Earth type essence then please move on to the next type."

Percy grimaced and reached into his inner world. Gnome was sitting within the mountain, a frown etched on her face. She glanced up and saw him looking at her and she looked away in a hurry. Percy sighed." Gnome, I'm in real trouble here. A little bit of help from your side would be really appreciated right now."'

Gnome kept her eyes down, keeping silent and remaining unresponsive. Percy knelt in front of her and reached out a hand. She flinched and drew away, and Percy stopped. She slowly relaxed and looked up at him with wide eyes and Percy managed a gentle smile as he reached out and soothingly patted her cheek." I promise, I've never meant you any harm."

Gnome reached up tentatively and held his hand, then her eyes hardened, flashing with power as her grip tightened. She nodded firmly and let go of his hand as she stood up and brushed her clothes. Her eyes turned pure green as she thrust both her hands out, palms facing forward, and suddenly Percy felt a rush of Earth essence flood from her and into his body. His eyes snapped open and he withdrew from his inner world, moving in unison with Gnome, his stances mimicking hers as he pulled the Earth array towards himself.

The cold barrier blared with energy and he shivered, blood trickling from his nose as the array began revolving. Right as he was getting the hang of it, Gnome gave a stuffy cough and fell to her knees, her colored cheeks suddenly turning pale and bloodless. She shook her head weakly and Percy felt a second barrier taking root in him, blocking even gnome from accessing the array.

His mind raced as the array began to slow down. Without gnome, he had absolutely no affinity to earth even if he didn't have a barrier set into his body. But with this barrier in place, he had effectively no chance accessing any element, even water!

He uttered a growl as he strained himself to the limit, pressing all his strength against the barriers, but they didn't even budge as they easily reflected all his strength back at him. he could hear the judges murmuring under their breath and he felt them starting to get annoyed at his inaction.

He abandoned attacking the barriers and reached out, reaching into all four elemental array and the Thunder array that united them. His mind focused to the limit as he summoned forth all his concentration and used all his strength to simply draw in the elemental essence surrounding him.

There was a dull thump and Percy suddenly felt his mind go blank and he felt lightheaded and dizzy. He struggled to stay on his feet as Hong'er quietly opened her eyes and stood up, then walked over to the tree of enlightenment that was planted in his inner world. She placed her hand on the trunk and her eyes turned vermillion, glowing brightly as the tree shivered." Master, is hopeless without Hong'er." She smirked and the orb that was asleep inside Percy's soul trembled as she poured her energy into it." Chaos Seed, Awaken!"

The array started shaking as suddenly, the Tree of enlightenment bloomed behind Percy, the phantom of the divine tree rising to the skies as all four elemental essences were suddenly stirred into a gigantic vortex. The three judges sat up with shock as the elemental essence around Percy was suddenly all sucked into a single black orb floating within the tree. The Thunder essence was also drawn in without a remaining trace. Then the phantom disappeared and Percy blinked with surprise as the two barriers within him shattered." What just happened?"

The judges simply stared at him with surprise." A level nine affinity with all four elements? Is that even possible? And in a human? And a Level Nine Affinity with thunder as well?" the judge on the left spoke, standing up and gripping his table as if he were unable to balance himself.

The one in the middle shook her head."I cannot believe I am actually seeing a legendary figure capable of hosting all four elements! That is something that is impossible! It defies the heavens for such a thing to exist! And a human with a level nine thunder affinity? That is impossible! Only someone with a powerful bloodline like the Elite floormaster can have such high affinity!"

Percy shrugged and scratched his head." Well… I guess that's a good result then?"

The two judges collapsed back into their chairs and nodded with disbelief. The third judge was still trying to remember how to talk.

The middle judge waved her hand." You are indeed a powerful talent, and this alone is enough to get you a superior pass, but the exam is still not over!"

The array revolved again and Percy suddenly felt the power of light and darkness surging towards him. But he didn't even need to react as the energies were easily sucked into the Tree of enlightenment rooted behind him. the judges took this opportunity to have another breakdown, screaming and pulling at their hair about him being a once in a millennia genius and him being a born mage. Percy was pretty sure that all this unwanted attention was going to come back to bite him in the butt again sometime.

And, just as he expected, the last two array, both infusing him with Yin and Yang respectively were easily absorbed as well. He waited through the expected round of hysterics, made it through it somehow, before they showered him with praises and compliments, and Percy was quite sure the old elf lady was staring him in a way that distinctly made him feel uneasy. The session only ended after the elf asked him if he was married yet, to which Percy quite firmly replied that he was not going to get married anytime soon before storming out of the testing facility, barely escaping the clutches of the elf who kept asking him to marry her.

He made it back in one piece, but was in no mood to flaunt his victory, simply thrusting the badge he'd received under June's nose. She yelped and fell of her chair, much to the amusement of Percy. she scrambled back into her chair and snatched the badge from his hand." A Pure Gold badge!?" she screamed. Percy frowned at her as she leapt up and down like a little girl." ohmigosh, I've never even seen one before in my life! How did you get your hands on something this precious?"

Percy shrugged as noncommittally as he could." I guess my affinity with elements was pretty good." The last thing he wanted was announcing he had inhuman affinity with every type of magic essence in existence. That would give him unnecessary and unwanted attention, as well as a lot of headaches he had no intention of dealing with right now.

"what the fuck do you mean pretty good? This badge is one of a kind for each exam! Only an absolute, perfect score that can never be surpassed can be given such a badge!" the device in her ear beeped and her eyes widened. Percy felt another headache coming on. Without a doubt something annoying was being transmitted to june.

"OH MY GODS! YOU HAVE PERFECT LEVEL NINE AFFINITY WITH ALL THE NINE ELEMENTS? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" she roared as her eyes bulged. The scream was loud enough to spread out all over the crowd still milling around.

Percy looked around with horror as all eyes locked onto him." shhh you're going to wake up the entire city!" he cried out as he snatched the badge back from her.

She gave a smug grin of pure evil before screaming again." OHMYGOOOODDDDDSSSS! AN UNMARRIED YOUNG MAN WITH A PERFECT AFFINITY WITH ALL NINE ELEMENTS! YOU'RE A GOD SENT GIFT TO ALL WOMEN EVERYWHERE!"

Percy scowled as the stares on him intensified. If the elven judge was any example, then without a doubt, this meant kissing his peaceful life goodbye." Why is my life so difficult." He muttered under his breath and scowled at june." Just, can we just get on with the next damn exam?"

She giggled and leaned back in her chair." Sure. Anything you say big boy. Lucky you, it's the last exam, and the most difficult one as well!"

Percy smiled." Another little exam hardly has the power to stop me."

She returned the smile." We'll see." The array whirred and hummed, then turned white with energy as it activated.

The last exam centre was nestled into the hillsides. There were no tall buildings or massive constructions inside, but endless stretches of land and streams dotted with gorgeously designed pavilions. These pavilions were carefully crafted, with smooth, fine lines and surrounded by a perfect blend of scenery. It really made one exclaim in amazement at the seamless craftsmanship and sense of natural aesthetic that went into its design.

Percy was asked to follow a single guide and walked for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, until they approached a deep green lake. It had a vibrant color like living jade. The surface had no trace of waves and was peacefully quiet. The lake was hedged by weeping willow trees and it amazed him that not even a single leaf had was floating on the calm lake surface.

In the center of the emerald lake, a jade platform had been carved out of pale white jade. The jade platform was joined to the shore by nine stone bridges. It was like a mystical fairy world come to life.

Percy found that a few dozen meters from the jade platform was a pavilion that was floating in water. In the pavilion was placed a stone table that was covered with tea and dried fruits. Around the table were sitting several old men and a single girl who were looking towards them with great interest.

He had no idea that there was another girl, her face hidden by a wide brimmed hat that was in fact the Elite Floor master herself, quietly watching him in his last exam.

She touched her face as she frowned at Percy." this is my last chance to stop him. Thankfully, I already know of the history he holds with that dear girl with the grey eyes. Let's see you face your fatal flaw perseus."

She was seated among many different men, and they included Carter and Clymenious. the lone girl on the side was alice, smiling sweetly at him.

Percy slightly hesitated; why would they appear here?

Carter had also discovered Percy looking towards him, and faintly smiled back. Clymenious also had a friendly smiling face.

Percy returned a smile out of courtesy. He had a faint suspicion that the other people accompanying Clymenious were not simple. Among them were several, who it seemed from their breathing and appearance, were not any less strong than Clymenious.

These people were masters!

Percy wasn't mistaken. These people were several of Clymenious's friends and several officials of the Tower continent's government. There were also elders from the Tower! Exams were twice a year, and they would come to observe to see if there were any good seedlings among the candidates.

They were mostly looking for those with sufficient talent and who also had the pure heart of a martial artist. Every year, the candidates had to register their talent and other information in order to enter the entrance exam. Thus the elders did not need to measure as they had already looked through the files.

The candidates this time around were barely satisfactory. The strongest was an Overgod with a Level three cultivation.

Having an Overgod above level hundred was a once in a decade event and wasn't a usual occurrence. The Overgods above level fifty were also good and the low level Overgods could make do. The mortals talents were somewhat inferior. This time they came to observe which one of these candidates had an especially strong heart of a martial artist.

"Come up. Defend your mind, sit in meditation, and once you cross the five trials then you will have passed." The beautiful lady supervisor said.

Percy looked around and to his surprise, he saw other candidates stepping forward as well." We're taking the exam together?" he was surprised to see the red hair of Rachel among the other candidates and he felt a sudden sense of apprehension about the difficulty of the exam. With high level warriors like Carter and Clymenious watching, clearly passing this exam was a great feat!

The candidates stepped onto the nine stone bridges one at a time. Their hearts began to drum wildly in their chest. During the start their hearts had been filled with confidence. They knew the limits of their own strength. Only some of them had thought that they might be nervous and not able to display their full potential, but they knew in their hearts that they did not need to be too anxious about passing. But this time was the Dream Trial, and they were nervous.

Many of the candidates had never attempted the Dream Trial before, so they did not have an idea what sort of scene they would encounter at the end. But they had heard that this was the trial with the highest rate of elimination; it would reach as high as 90%!

In a group of ten, only one would pass!

One had to know that they were these were the most outstanding talents among those of their age. In a small town or small family or even in an entire city, they were the most splendid and majestic of their generation. They had constantly been revered and labeled geniuses since childhood, but even in such a group of people, most would be eliminated within the Dream Trial!

This trial was truly terrifying!

"Sit upon the jade platform. After ten breaths the trial shall begin!" The beautiful lady supervisor said. Even though she was separated by a far distance, her voice was clearly heard within every candidate's ears. This method of passing messages via true essence was even comparable to the ability to send sound transmissions in the lower realms!

Percy suspected that this beautiful lady supervisor was a martial artist at the Overgod realm atleast.

As Percy stepped onto the jade platform, he scanned the distant crowd and discovered that among them was a shady figure wearing a large brimmed hat. She was leaning against a willow tree and was still gazing at Percy not thinking that she had been sighted by him.

Percy gave a single sigh and no longer looked. He sat cross legged on the jade platform. He needed his mind entirely free of any form of distractions for this trial.

After sitting down, Percy discovered that although the jade platform was built from white marble, there was not the slightest chill in the air. Instead, there was an incomparably peaceful warmth that overflowed. Looking carefully, he could see that the jade platform had been engraved with a number of different lines and symbols. These were runes.

This large jade platform was a magic array. It was said these magic arrays were created by the Array masters of the Tower. In them, one would not even be able to differentiate between reality and illusion.

However Percy did not worry. A dream world was still only just a dream world. As long as he reinforced his mind, even if the dream world was boundless and infinite, he would stand firm on the ground!

As Percy sat on the jade platform, his mind filled with a bright light.

As the tenth breath ended, Percy saw a blinding flash all around him and all the candidates disappeared from his vision, leaving only himself.

An endless prairie appeared before him, extending as far as his eye could see. At this moment a pack of vicious beasts each as tall as a man darted from the high grass and ran straight towards Percy.

The several dozens of beasts were gigantic monsters that Percy had imagined when he'd thought of monsters capable of breaking through the city walls! As they ran together, the grass and the ground began to vibrate. An imposing force rolled towards him.

Percy did not even blink an eye until the first beast lunged at him.

"Fu!"

The vicious beast pierced straight through his body. Percy stood there still safe and sound. But when that beast had pierced him, Percy felt a very intense shock and pressure. Although he knew it was only a dream, he could not rid himself of this feeling as if it were a fear that originated from his soul.

This was the effect of a magic array? Even though he knew it was an illusion, it was still possible to lose himself in it. And once lost, he would not be able to tell that it was an illusion.

If that happened, then the illusion would turn to reality. If the illusion killed him, then he might even die in this dream.

As Percy safely passed this first round, on the jade stage a dozen bright lights flashed. In an instant, several people disappeared from the jade platform and stumbled onto the shore. These people all had bone white expressions and their pale eyelids trembled. They had lost themselves in the dream, and once they were lost, they had fantasized that they had been ripped up and torn apart by the dream beasts and eaten, with even their bones crushed. Their fear had grown more and more intense until their minds had been broken and they passed out into reality.

At the pavilion, the elders of the Tower slowly shook their head. The first round of the Dream Trial tested courage. The martial arts path was full of danger. If one did not have courage to face it, then what was the point of cultivating the martial path?

"Clymenious, do you know how ferocious that boy is? He instantly passed." The man who spoke knew that Clymenious had recognized Percy and that they were acquainted with each other. But Clymenious did not speak of Percy's achievements in combat, and his ability to kill Overgods. This was what Percy had asked of him.

Clymenious had only said he knew Percy, and he had come to this entrance exam to take a look at his growth.

The beautiful lady supervisor also stood in the pavilion. Because of Percy's outstanding performance in the exams, she had kept note of him. She saw the Percy had frowned for a brief moment, but had restored his calm and tranquility right after.

But looking at some other people, they had clenched their jaws tightly, and their faces were changing colors. Obviously they had been struck by these vicious beasts in the dream world and were struggling…

In the illusion, the higher one's belief in themselves, the stronger their heart would be. The opposite also held true. These candidates who struggled with the vicious beasts had some courage, but they did not have Percy's dauntless heart. Percy was like an immovable rock that had been tested by the passing of millennia. Whatever vicious or wild beast that jumped at him, he would remain steady and true, and the illusion had thus been broken.

"No wonder you especially came to see this boy, his heart of martial arts is indeed exceptional. It's comparable with an Elf's." An old man said.

Clymenious only smiled. He was not surprised that Percy has passed the first hurdle.

At this point, Percy had arrived at the second stage.

In this second trial the scenery shifted before his eyes and changed dramatically. Percy instantly arrived at a battlefield that overflowed with murderous intent. Scenes of battle surrounded him. Mountains of bodies piled up to the sky and seas of blood flowed around him. Broken spears and swords littered the ground with the crushed bones of the dead.

On this battlefield, cries of war suddenly rang through the air. Vast plumes of smoke billowed in the distance. On both sides of Percy suddenly appeared two armies of cavalry. Warriors wearing thick armor and grasping lances approached from his right and left. They had suddenly appeared, and Percy had been stuck in the middle of them.

The two mighty forces rushed towards him. Their horrific war cries filled the air with overwhelming killing intent. Percy remained motionless and focused his mind. During the first experience with the illusion, he had been surprised and his heart had fluctuated a bit. But this time he was prepared and he defended his mind.

As a result, as the armies approached him they turned into floating ashes. The illusion was broken again!

"Mm? Did he break it? Or not break it?" An elder looked at Percy. This kid was weird. His expression had not changed even a bit. If he did not see the beams of light that emitted from the runes, then he would have thought the magic array was defective.

"This boy isn't simple. I don't know if he can continue and break the record. If he could catch up to her then it would be a pleasant surprise." The her the elder spoke of was the Elite Floormaster, a genius prodigy who had aced even this exam.

The five hurdles of the Dream Trial. The average person would take more than an hour to pass them. These past ten years, the one with the best result had been the Elite Floormaster. she had spent around forty minutes worth of time to complete the trial. This surprised the elders of the Tower, because except for her, the fastest time was an hour.( one incense stick equivalent to thirty to forty minutes.)

"Now is not the time for flattery. It only becomes hard during the last three hurdles." An old man stroked his beard as he said this, "Her record won't be broken so easily."

This time in the illusion, Percy had arrived at the third trial. The thousands of soldiers and scenes of destruction had vanished. He had arrived in a luxuriously decorated tent. The walls and roof were draped with the finest silks, and a smoky, intoxicating fragrance drifted in all directions.

But beyond all the pink silk draping, a dozen impressive young girls danced in the background. Their slim and beautiful bodies were slender and smooth. Their flawless appearance shamed the night moon and the sweetest flowers. As they bounced up and down, they began stripping off their clothes and walking towards Percy. In the next moment, abundant scenery filled Percy's vision. There were boundless amounts of heavy breasts and fragrant hips that swayed in front of him. These beautiful women surrendered themselves to Percy and draped themselves around him. Between their every breath, their tempting bodies released a seductive fragrance.

In that moment, Percy felt a dryness and heat from his heart, and a slight stirring in his loins as his bodily blood flow sped up. But he quickly suppressed this heat and guarded his mind yet again.

However these young girls did not immediately vanish. Instead they were not happy, and pouted as they picked up their clothes. Even their anger was charming as they sashayed their buttocks back and forth as they made their way away from Percy. As soon as they left, the surroundings changed again. This time it was a warm and intimate bedroom. Against a wall was propped a mahogany bed. Sitting on the bed was a woman in a scarlet lined cotton jacket and a feathered robe. She had a jade pin in her hair that was shaped like an owl. This woman was about twenty five years old. Even sitting there she released an elegant aura and temperament. Her appearance had changed from what he remembered. Although she had a more mature and seductive charm to her, this was clearly Annabeth!

…Annabeth…

Percy was startled in his mind. Was this Annabeth ten years from now?

"Behave, don't cry…" Ananbeth softly hummed a sweet nursery song to a pair of two year old babies on the bed. These babies were a pair of matching twins. These babies' features…were also somewhat similar to Percy…

As if they knew that Percy was looking, the pair of babies opened their wide and beautiful eyes and smiled innocently at him. both children had his bright sea green eyes. The cry of innocent children echoed into Percy's ears and directly passed into his stunned heart.

Annabeth also smiled at Percy. Her delicate red lips parted slightly and she said, "Percy, darling, it's very late, you should rest."

At this moment, seeing Annabeth and the twin babies' sweet smiling faces, Percy's heart of martial arts shook. A wife, children, and a rich and warm home…

Had he not once wished for such a life for himself?

Now he had obtained it, he could stop…

As this thought suddenly appeared, Percy woke up. He fiercely bit the tip of his tongue and let the pain restore his state of mind.

The surroundings changed, and Annabeth and the babies disappeared.

Gazing at the empty darkness, Percy's heart palpitated and he was covered in a sheen of cold sweat.

Almost! He had almost lost himself!

Thinking of the dream visions, Percy breathed a sigh of relief. Everything, all of this and all of her were in the past!

Perhaps once in his heart he had held such desires, but those thoughts were in the past….

"In the past?"

An ethereal and faintly recognizable voice sounded from behind him. Percy turned around. A woman stood there wearing an alluring cheongsam. She held a simple long sword in her hand with an imperious and mighty air, and had a brave and valiant appearance that accentuated her heaven gifted beauty.

"A-artemis?"

Percy was shocked. This woman was clearly Artemis, and was only a bit older, around twenty years old.

"Since it's in the past, then how about you cultivate together…with me? We can explore the world of martial arts…together…how about it?" As she said this, Artemis's clothes unravelled into threads and vanished, revealing the most perfect and exquisite body that he had ever imagined possible. Percy had a full view of this and his heart almost stopped as his eyes widened like saucers.

She slowly walked towards Percy…

As this beautiful and impossibly exquisite example of womanhood stood before him, this image was unforgettably carved into his mind and he felt the tower of his will tremble in its firmament. His breath became shallow and blood rushed to his head. After all, when it comes to matters between men and women, Percy was still only a boy.

Artemis reached her arms around Percy. She was like a warm and fragrant jade that surrounded him and the delicate fragrance of her virgin body wafted into his nostrils and left a strong impact in Percy's heart.

Fabrication!

Illusion!

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and in his heart he began to revolve the his energy through his body, He managed to hold down his quickly fleeing sanity.

"Percy, do you not like me?"

This voice was gentle and soft like a spring rain. Percy's eyelids jumped and his lips parted, hesitating on the verge of answering her, but he remained unmoved as before.

"Ah…." With a gentle sigh, she let Percy go. Artemis stood up, her expression revealing some hidden bitterness, and she slowly departed.

The scene before him began to slowly fade away, and the world returned to tranquility.

The third hurdle had finally been passed.

Percy breathed deeply, his heart still beating rapidly and his palms still wet with sweat.

This third trial was truly fierce! It had managed to find and unearth the moral flaw in his own heart of martial arts. It seems that he had been too naïve. There was no human between heaven and earth that was not without a single weakness.

"Mm. This boy has passed the hurdle. It wasn't a short time; it took around half an incense stick of time." An old man looked to his side where an incense burner stood. A single stick of incense in it had been burnt over halfway.

"This boy is different from the Elite Floormaster. In her trial, she only used several breaths of time, but this boy used half an incense stick. His heart was probably filled with a girl that he liked. However as it stands now, he probably won't be able to break her record." The old man meaningfully smiled with a 'ha-ha' as he said this.

"Heh heh. Valiant heroes have loved beautiful woman since ancient times. This is normal. I like this normal part of a hot-blooded boy full of vigor. The Elite Floormaster made me feel overwhelmed; watching her let me realize what true genius level talent is."

Several elder teased between themselves, because of the generational difference. Alice had digressed from conversation, and was peacefully sitting there while she looked at Percy. In her heart a strange thought suddenly appeared; who exactly was the girl that had appeared in the dreams of Percy? she glanced around at her mistress, who had her face covered to prevent her identification, but she had a distinct feeling she knew who exactly his weakness was.

The fourth trial. Percy had fallen into the depths of hell. The surroundings were dark and dim. Percy was immersed waist deep in a thick, crimson pool of blood. White skulls were piled high like mountains that emerged from a sea of blood. The overwhelming shrill cries of ghosts and endless devils that blotted out the sky rushed towards Percy.

"Ten thousand ghosts want to stop me?" Percy sneered. His whole body began to shine with a brilliant golden light, and an overwhelmingly pure true essence emitted outwards. The way of the Great Buddha erupted and the Gigantic palm of Buddha seemed to sweep forward, destroying all evil.

'The Way of the Great Buddha' originated from the Body Transformation manuals found within the Realm of the Gods. It was said to have been created by a war-god Buddha and represented the purest light and Yang; it could pierce all evils, shatter all illusions, and cut away all demons within the heart.

Percy disregarded these ghosts and demons and continued to revolve the 'pure yang energy' to its limit.

'My heart is at peace; not even ten-thousand evils can break me!'

Luminous golden light radiated out and all of the malicious ghosts and devils it touched disintegrated into ash!

"Damn! It's over?"

In the five trials of the dreamland, the first tested courage, the second tested morale, the third tested temptation, the fourth tested one's inner demons, and the fifth tested the will.

The first two trials were rather simple. The latter three were on a different level; how they appeared differed from person to person. The Elite Floormaster had been stuck on the fourth trial that tested the demons in her heart. Perhaps it was because of Her bloodthirst, but the demons in her heart had been a terrifyingly difficult trial for her. Therefore she had slaughtered in that blood sea for half an incense stick of time, and only then did she barely cut away her inner demons.

"This Percy; does he not have a single inner demon within his heart?"

"His heart and mind are pure. It is truly rare. Including the first four trials, only half an incense stick of time has passed. This is a good seedling," an old man exclaimed honestly.

…

As time went on, more and more candidates failed and appeared back on the shores of the lake. The first and second trials were easy, but from the third trial and on, the number of people being kicked out sharply rose, and the jade platform flashed with brilliant lights.

The Elite floormaster had been paying attention to Percy from a distance. Percy had not always been calm, but his expression was firm and did not resemble the other candidates who had fierce fighting expressions, horribly distorted faces, or were bone white.

At this moment, shee had a feeling that she couldn't identify. She somehow knew that Percy had passed, had crossed the trials of the dream realm, and was on the last step before the end.

The last trial of the dream. Percy had still not left hell. He was still soaked in the oozing thick blood, but suddenly the blood sea became scalding hot as it bubbled.

The temperature had suddenly risen! The sanguine sea seethed with a dark fury, each bubbling pocket that burst open showered the air with a crescendo of blood. It was as if the blood sea had turned into a lake of flowing lava.

Percy could distinctly feel the pain that gushed into his body; it was if he was being boiled alive in this sea of blood. Although he knew that it was merely an illusion, this kind of pain was incomparable, it was a throbbing misery that made him almost wish for death so that his suffering would end.

The first four trials were illusions, but he hadn't anticipated that the fifth trial would be true pain. Percy clenched his teeth and desperately clung to his consciousness. When he had endured the poison of the Styx Essence, or when he had suffered the agonizing soul tearing pain of fusing with the soul fragment, he had shouldered the pain. This scalding sea of blood was nothing but a light summer day to him!

As Percy thought this, the blood sea suddenly ignited. A combustion of black flames shot to the sky in a hellish inferno!

The flames surged towards Percy. Percy could clearly feel the waves of hot pressure pressing down on him. Seeing this flood of flames, an average person's impulse would have been to feel utter and complete horror.

Percy suddenly gave a ferocious shout!

"My martial arts path is like a moth to the flame, you wish for me to turn to ashes in an ocean of ten thousand flames? I couldn't wish for anything more!"

Flames swallowed Percy. In the next moment, everything turned to nothing, the world became void. Percy stood up and looked around. He had returned to the jade platform. All around him were boys and girls that were grimacing in pain, or had lost all their color.

Seeing Percy suddenly open his eyes and stand up, Clymenious was startled. He looked at the incense burner, that incense stick still had a tiny bit left!

The Elite Floormaster's record had been broken!

Alice was also incomparably surprised. She had experienced the five trials of this dream realm before and knew exactly how fierce and powerful they were. Although her sword spirit and talent was unprecedented in Tower continent, talent was not much help in passing the trials of the dream realm. The elite floormaster had used forty minutes, but Percy had used less than an incense stick of time before he had awoken. Anyone would think this was absolutely impossible to believe.

Percy grinned and raised his hand into the sky, just as the panel of judges suddenly erupted into chatters.

The elite floormaster smirked and began to turn away, but she noticed Percy looking at her. She stiffened and returned the gaze.

Percy felt a terrifying surge of killing intent sweeping out of her, headed straight at him. without a doubt, this girl was the one who had been working against him behind the scenes. Carter smiled as he leaned back against his chair. Others might not notice, but how could he not sense the presence of the Elite floormaster? " Geniuses will always clash. Looks like the two of them have already begun to realize, they are each others greatest rivals."

Percy smiled at the shaded figure, then turned away from her. she snorted softly and turned away at the same time as she beckoned to alice." Come now. I'll deal with him once he enters the Tower."

A.N: and we have Percy finally entering the Tower! Time for an arc filled with lot's of time skips and battles as Percy finally encounters rivals on his level! Also give the people who guessed the Elite Floormaster's identity a cookie!

This arc will have a lot of character development, and we'll finally have Percy and Artemis alone with each other to develop their relationship again. Any particular requests for skills you want Percy to learn?

Writing the different exams was really difficult because I really didn't have any idea what type of an exam would be appropriate. Also, no one till know has asked a crucial question. Where are the three Weapons wielded by the big three? Zeus's Master bolt, Poseidon's Trident and Hades's Helmet of Darkness?

also, I'm sorry but there will be a delay in updates. my horrible previous chapters are going to be rewritten, because if I have to read them one more time, I will claw my eyes out with anger. I wanted this story to turn out well, so naturally I'm annoyed at how bad the previous chapters seem. hope you guys understand and oh gods, review people! P. S. I'm also planning on changing the title of the story and the summary As well. I originally had no concrete plan on what the story was going to be about, so I didn't put together a proper title or summary. Just warning you before hand!

Ciao with peace from Manhattan!


	73. Tower Battles

**Ninth Arc: Tower Battles, Vie for supremacy!**

A.N.: Originally, updates were to be delayed due to my rewriting of older chapters. I decided to update alongside the rewriting, since it makes more sense to replace all the old chapters at once. So yay me. Also, me is sick. So sorry, gomen for the late updates!

In a large courtyard, within the territory of the Tower many of the first year students were brought together to introduce them and congratulate them on having passed the entrance exams. This was the second round of examinations of the year, so there were already more than a few students who were already present in the first year classes. These students were the ones standing before a large stage erected in the end of the courtyard. And the reason for the entire set up was a single boy.

Percy gave a cough as he glared at june." Why is this entire thing set up like this!?" he was standing behind a partition that was the only thing separating him from the scrutiny of his peers. It had only been the day before that he'd taken all the exams, and he'd been informed of this sudden entrance ceremony being held for him. he hadn't quite understood what to think of it till he saw June with her smug grin.

June giggled and twirled around, glancing at Percy and the stage." Well, you piqued the interest of several high level characters, all who were quite astonished by your performance. It seemed appropriate to make you an example to the other students to encourage them to perform better."

Percy gave her a disdainful glance." As if. This is a farce, trying to make me everyone's enemy. And your leader must be someone really powerful if they can arrange all this. And I really can't recall making any such enemies recently." June simply giggled in response and turned away from him.

" keep thinking hard with that pretty head of yours boyo. A mortal, even an unsealed one is an easy target here. Though you got great results, that's simply an exam. Incase of the actual tower battles, the only thing that counts is your combat prowess! It would be much better for you to simply give up and return after you become an Overgod. At least you'll live."

Percy almost burst into laughter and he silently glanced at her." suddenly worried about me?"

June suddenly felt a terrifying killing intent emanate from Percy and she turned around with surprise." Well, well. It appears you're quite confident. I wouldn't be, if I were in your shoes. If you think you can fight Overgods, just because they are sealed in their mortal bodies… you're in for a surprise here! Even while being sealed, every student here is a genius! A mortal is still a mortal, unable to wield divine power!"

Percy waved his hand at her." let me worry for myself. You just worry… about your master!"

June gasped and her face reddened. She stamped her foot and stalked away with disgust." Fine! You'll regret ever underestimating her!"

Percy shrugged and turned away from the stage as he thought about what to do about his current situation. It wasn't like he had much choice, so he supposed he might as well try to keep as low a profile as possible and try to avoid any unnecessary conflicts. Whoever was targeting him was highly unlikely to be a mortal enemy since they hadn't even tried killing him. whoever they were, they were, without a doubt, strong enough to kill him, at least outside the Tower's influence. But so far all they had done was hinder him in his attempts to join the exam and that too only was as if they were simply toying with him for entertainment, and Percy supposed it would be better not to provoke them and make them a serious threat to himself while he was here.

He took a deep breath as he heard someone on stage speaking, and recognized it as june's voice, no doubt introducing him. there was a slight pause and he heard her call out his name. taking the cue, he stepped out onto the stage, feeling a bit weird about stepping out for the entire audience to see like this.

He saw almost five hundred students standing orderly in front of the stage, and all their eyes locked onto him as soon as he stepped out. There were all kinds of students, with ages ranging from their teens to older ones in their twenties. Most were wearing what Percy recognized as the Tower's uniform but a few exceptions stood out quite shockingly, dressed in varied guises.

Percy was just trying a smile when he felt the back of his neck prickle and his eyes were suddenly drawn to the stage beneath his feet. He could sense a chaotic flow of energy, just barely existing. His eyes widened as a series of symbols lit up around his feet and they glowed brightly, a deep red in color. Percy cursed under his breath and he leapt backwards, without hesitating for even an instant. The symbols flared with power and exploded. Percy pulled both arms up, shielding his face as he was blown backwards by the explosive surge of energy.

He felt his bones rattle and shake under the explosion and he rolled backwards on the stage, coming to rest only when he was tangled up in the partition. He coughed and struggled to sit up glancing at the smoking crater blown into the stage. An explosion of that magnitude…. It would have easily blown his legs apart! he didn't even have enough time to unseal his powers!" if I had been even a second slower in noticing the change in energy… or in reacting to the explosion…" Percy fell silent and looked up seeing June's gloating face as well as the smirking expressions plastered on the faces of all the other students in the audience.

Percy grit his teeth." Of course. Make me seem like a petty mortal, a weakling that's easy to pick on. What better way to make me enemies!? And if I was below expectations, that explosion would simply have crippled me!" he stood and strode over to the front of the stage. The students had stopped snickering and were now maintaining a straight face, but june still had a smug grin plastered across her face.

Percy glared into the crowd, then spoke slowly, clearly enunciating each word." So I'm here to join the Tower, but this is simply another stepping stone for me. I'll simply use all the students here as stepping stones so I can increase my skills and further improve my growth until I reach the top of the Tower!" Percy stepped back and threw them a cold glance before coolly walking off the stage." So what if I appear weak? I'll prove my strength, with the strength behind my sword!"

After a moment of silence, the students all erupted with anger, booing at him as he calmly stepped off the stage. On the back of the stage, there stood a familiar figure, still wearing her wide brimmed hat as she observed him. Percy grinned at the shadowy figure and watched as she spun away and disappeared.

 _\- Tower, Basement annex:- an abandoned room-_

A hooded figure was seated before a small crystal ball set upon a rotten wooden table. The entire room was in a similar state of disrepair. The walls were crumbling and the few patches that were still in standing condition were covered with arrays and symbols of cloaking, all meant for concealment and preventing anyone else from peeking into the room via external methods as well as preventing any eavesdropping or any electronic bugging.

The crystal itself was a mysterious and rare item. A transdimensional communicator, capable of enabling communicating across separated dimensions for extended periods of time. Even as the hooded figure watched, the crystal crackled, then split open, a shimmering screen of light being emitted from within.

A heavy aura suddenly emerged and the symbols on the walls glowed to life, trying to contain the powerful presence suddenly appearing within the room. " hehehe. It has been a while mutt. Have you been doing as master asked of you?" a gray and indistinct face appeared within the screen, each word laced with deadly killing intent as he spoke. If an ordinary human were to hear him speak, that alone would be enough to severely damage their soul!

The hooded man growled and his eyes flashed with bloodlust, but he didn't dare retort. " yes… Validator, I have kept a low profile as I was commanded."

The Validator chuckled and nodded." indeed, I can see that. Nice bedroom by the way. Suited for a mangy animal. I really must say that you're hopeless Michael."

Michael grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he glared at the transmission." The crystal has an expensive and short lifespan. Simply report what the master has ordered!"

" Master Tartarus… has commanded an assassination." Validator sighed heavily." You should be able to handle such a simple task."

Michael simply nodded." who is my target?"

" the Mortal boy rumored to have performed exceedingly well in this time's exam. My spies said that he would be assigned to your floor."

Michael frowned as he heard the information." Perseus Jackson? That kid?"

The Validator's voice turned into a dangerous hiss." Don't underestimate the boy for being a mortal. Master said he wields a terrifying forbidden power. As of now he is mortal, but as soon as he becomes a divinity, his potential will be immense, even enough to alter the fate of the war!"'

Michael chuckled." Worry not. As long as he's a mortal, it would take a simple second to assassinate him before he could even unseal his powers!"

The Validator nodded." then I place this task in your hands. I trust that a Major Overgod won't fail such a simple task now will you?"

Michael chuckled and swiped his hand through the transmission, shattering the connection." As if."

He sat up and pushed the hood off his head." Perseus Jackson, eh? You'll make a lovely meal."

\- _Tower –_

Percy stalked off the stage and directly walked back to the direction of the teleportation array." Why is it that not a single year in my life is ever peaceful? Is it just my bad luck to keep making enemies of this level, or are the fates still making fun of me?"( A.N.: The fates can no longer influence the fate of many characters any longer.)

He sighed and walked away without looking back at the loud riot he'd created with his bold proclamations.

Once back at the temporary dorm room prepared for the passing students, Percy didn't even glance towards the other students as he stormed back to the room he had been assigned. He slammed the door shut behind his back, too irritated with both himself and his problems to care about etiquette.

Artemis was sitting on his bed, swinging her legs as she ate what looked like a packet of crisps." Bad time?" she asked as she put another into her mouth and gave a loud crunch.

Percy nodded then gave her a stare." Wait, how are you in my room?"

artemis sighed and dropped the empty packet down onto the floor where Percy could now see a pile of packets lying down." Well, my room ran out of snacks, so i dropped by to see if you had any. You seemed pretty busy getting all dressed so I decided to sneak around till you left, then feast."

Percy picked her up by her collar and carried her to the door and dropped her out." Go back and mess around in your own room!" he huffed and shut the door.

" Whaaaa?! Come ooooon! You got a bunch of stuff and facilities after getting all those badges! I'm lucky my room even has a shower! Would you really abandon your master like this?" she moaned and banged the door.

Percy gave a deep sigh then turned away, ignoring her protests. One look showed all the edible things had been scoured clean. Percy shut the cupboards she had left open before flopping back onto the bed, crossing his hands behind his head. Then he gave a growl of irritation and sat up." Why is this damn pillow so shapeless?" he tossed the pillow of his bed and slumped back down again.

"Master? What's wrong?" Hong'er's voice coolly echoed inside his mind and Percy jolted up.

"Uh hong'er? Nothing's wrong, what do you mean?" he asked her in a tired voice.

"Master! Your negative emotions are fluctuating very oddly! Your energy is becoming unstable!" Hong'er started yelling in panic as her eyes widened. She tried exiting his inner world but to her horror, even her mental connection to Percy was abruptly cut off, stranding her inside.

Percy was just about to snap back at Hong'er when he felt the terrifying sensation of her soul simply disappearing from within his perception. He immediately tried sending his mind into his inner world, but he felt paralyzed, unable to even move his perception. He struggled furiously and rolled off the bed, collapsing onto the floor." W-what the fuck? T-this…T-his power…"

Percy felt a terrifying force close around him, as if closing around his chest and stopping him from breathing. He summoned all his willpower to bite down on his tongue, the flash of pain momentarily clearing his head as he stumbled to his feet and staggered towards the door. He barely managed to reach there, stumbling and shivering with each step. But he knew if he were to collapse in his room, it would be hopeless for him!

With trembling hands, he struggled with the lock, praying that artemis was still there as he opened the door and swayed on his feet, almost petrified like a statue.

"Need... Help…."

As Percy sucked in a long breath, he suddenly felt his entire body shake fiercely as a dark and sinister aura suddenly exploded within his profound veins. This caused an indescribable pain to instantly spread throughout his entire body...

Could… Could it be...

Artemis smiled at him as the door swung open. Once she saw Percy her beautiful eyes twinkled as she crowed in delight, "so you decided to do the right thing and let your master back in huh!?"

"What happened in the ceremony? Got swept off your feet by some new teacher?" Artemis said as she scampered towards Percy. As she spoke, her nose turned up slightly as an adorable pout formed on her lips, displaying the jealousy in her heart.

But after she had finished speaking, she realized that Percy had not responded to her at all. Artemis let out a soft cry but just as she was about to ask a question, she saw Percy suddenly stumble and hit the ground fiercely. He remained curled up on the ground, his entire body shivering as his face contorted in incredible agony.

"Pe-Percy!" Color drained from Artemis's pretty face as she threw aside the thing she was holding in her hand and panickedly ran over to Percy, "Percy… You… what happened to you?"

As the voice of Artemis grew ever closer, Percy's remaining clarity allowed him to stretch out a quivering hand. After that, a soft and gentle profound energy pushed Artemis far away as he croaked out in pain, "Do not… come over here… Ah!"

Black energy that he was unable to suppress streamed out of Percy's body before slowly rising into the air, causing Percy to experience even more pain.

A few other students were in the hall, chattering as they walked around, making acquaintances. however, they realized that Percy was actually fallen on the ground, there unmoving and not speaking a single word. His expression was stiff and his pair of eyes was staring blankly in the air, not having the slightest of response to anyone around him as he curled up in the fetal position again.

It was as though he had suddenly lost his soul.

Artemis and the nearest students quickly drew back closer and hurriedly looked at Percy and only then did they suddenly realize his abnormal condition… He was lying there blankly, his stiff complexion was slowly being dyed with a layer of darkness and an abnormal black glow was even faintly seeping from his pupils.

"Percy! Percy! what…, what happened to you?" Artemis anxiously said.

Under Artemis's call, Percy suddenly groaned as he instantly knelt onto the ground. Like a sieve, his entire body was shaking intensely and his face constantly twisted and distorted, as though he was enduring an immense pain.

"Percy!"

The Nearby supervisors had both paled from shock as well, as they hurriedly arrived next to Percy. the senior most supervisor said with a solemn voice. "Could it be that some injuries of the past have suddenly relapsed? Ah… Brother Silence, if you please!"

"Allow me." The elf advisor who also served as a medic hurriedly stepped forward and within the palm he quickly stretched out, a jade-green glow was condensed. The unique nature energy which their elven race possessed had extremely powerful healing and calming effects, and this was nature energy belonging to the realm of an Overgod.

The elves palm flipped and while carrying a jade-green profound glow that emitted a pure, natural aura, it slammed towards Percy's chest.

Right at the moment his palm made contact with Percy's body, as though it had been devoured, the thick jade-green glow instantly disappeared. The medic's palm trembled and then, he hurriedly retracted it as though he was electrocuted.

The elf staggered back as he let out a painful moan. His entire arm was trembling intensely and his face revealed deep agony and fear.

"Brother Silence!?" the senior supervisor charged over like lightning and grabbed onto the weak and frail elf's's hand. He shockingly realized his palm had already turned charred black and a frail black energy was still faintly rising from it.

"This… What is going on?"

"Percy! what happened to you?" Startled, Artemis worriedly said. At this moment, she suddenly saw a layer of black aura slowly surging from Percy's body.

This layer of black aura was very thin in the beginning but it was gradually becoming thicker and it clearly carried an extremely ominous presence.

Percy's eyes widened to the limit, the pupils darkening, then exploding with radiant light." Artemis! GET AWAY FROM ME! THE ORB IS OUT OF CONTROL!" He roared frantically as he used his sudden burst of strength to roll away from everyone near him.

"everyone calm down." A sudden yet soothing voice rang out as the crowd around Percy unconsciously parted. A man with light golden hair and a friendly smile walked through, almost as if without a care in the world.

The supervisors stood up attentively and hurriedly bowed towards him." Master Alhorth! Forgive us, we did not know you were here!"

The man chuckled and waved his hands." Enough time for pleasantries later. It seems one of my students had had quite a dangerous condition so I rushed over as soon as I could." He glanced down at Percy." hmmm this case is quite curious." He murmured as he stroked his chin.

Artemis glanced up with hope, tears streaming down her face." P-p-p-please! Help Percy!"

The man lightly licked his lips." Don't worry dear. Doing this is my job. But I never expected it would get so easy!" he chuckled and covered his eyes with a hand.

Artemis stared at him in confusion as a dangerous sensation prickled down her back." W-wait…"

The man gave a sinister smile." I Never expected the boy had some Demon blood in 'im. Looks like we resonated with our bloodlines eh boy?" he nudged Percy's head with a foot." If that's the case, I should apologize for triggering your blood and your Demonification. Of course, you're going to die anyway so it won't matter if you suffer a bit before."

His leering face loomed over Percy and even through his fading eyesight he could clearly see dark wisps of energy floating away from the man and assimilating into his own body." Am i.. absorbing this energy from him?" Percy thought randomly.

Artemis threw herself in between them, stretching her arms out." W-who are you? w-what are you doing to Percy!"

His grin suddenly turned brutal and sadistic and he caught Artemis by the throat and flung her aside." I'm the Pure blooded Werewolf! Michael Alhorth!" His fingers suddenly glowed, turning into sharp and jagged claws." And I'm here to kill Perseus Jackson!"

He cackled and a wave of power exploded from him, batting away everyone near him without any resistance. Percy couldn't hear anything except for the buzzing in his ears and his sight was now entirely grey, as if concealed by the miasma pouring out of him. he felt a jolt and Michael lifted him up, using his forefinger to dangle Percy by his shirt." Not very impressive are you? even if you could unseal your powers, you would simply be a gnat, but as you are now… you couldn't even kill a fly!" then his expression turned serious." But since master himself warned me, I'll give you a swift and painless death boy. Don't want any new reaction from you!"

Artemis struggled to her knees. In her mortal form, even his normal speed was a blur to her, leaving her unable to even react to his attacks!" L-leave…Percy….y-you damn…. Bastard!"

He glanced at her with a smirk." This might sting a bit though!" he flicked his finger up, tossing Percy's body up like a lifeless rag, then his other arm shot forward, even as Artemis screamed, directly piercing Percy through his chest.

Artemis slumped backwards, eyes lifelessly wide, turning red on the edges as her mouth gaped, still screaming. Michael grinned and turned towards her, Percy hanging on his arm, blood trickling through the hole neatly pierced through him." not the fastest way, that would be crushing his skull. But it is the most romantic isn't it." he howled with laughter as he clenched his fist and then opened it, the bloody mess of Percy's heart dropping out.

He sneered." Well, that accomplishes my objective. Then to dispose- will you shut up!" he roared at artemis. She flinched, eyes suddenly closing as she shrunk back." That's better…. Wait what?"

His eyes widened, then his lips curved into another smile as he licked his lips. Artemis staggered to her feet, hair glowing silver as she unslung her bow. Her eyes were terrifyingly wide and droplets of blood were trickling down her cheeks as they glowed a molten silver." Percy… no… Percy… No… Percy!" she screeched and lifted her bow, fluidly drawing an arrow as she faced the werewolf.

" so you unsealed your powers eh? Good for you!" he giggled like a child at Christmas as he ran his eyes over artemis." That assassination was so bland. This one will help me cool down my blood a bit more." He bared his teeth as he chuckled.

"BASTARD!" Artemis roared and fired off her arrow, turning the wooden arrow into a silver meteor as it crashed towards him. Michael simply smirked and reached out, tapping the incoming arrow with a single claw.

'Boom!'

The entire hallway shuddered and trembled as her attack fizzled away into nothing, not even crossing an inch past his claw." AHAHAHA! Did you actually expect an unsealed Mortal like you could hurt an Overgod!" Michael waved his right arm, on which Percy's form was still impaled." Is this all the affection you had for the dead piece of meat!?"

He started to laugh again, when suddenly, he felt a hand tap his arm. He looked at Percy with bewilderment as Percy shifted weakly, the black miasma around him thickening. Percy looked up at him, eyes a swirling whirlpool of Black and crimson as he clenched Michael's arm with both hands." Damn Bastard! That is… my Artemis!"

Percy gave a choked cough and the miasma around him suddenly exploded. Michael's foot tapped the ground and he appeared a dozen meters back, clutching his arm, which now ended right above the elbow. Blackened blood gushed out and he winced, forcefully sealing his wound to prevent the bloodloss for the time being.

Percy slumped to the ground as the Dark Miasma was sucked into him." Haaah….aaahhh… " his skin boiled and tore as dark scales suddenly erupted from underneath, forcefully ripping out from under his muscles and skin. Black blood dripped from him as the scales hardened, then bulged as his muscles were remade. The scales spread from the hole in his chest, quickly sealing his wound, then spreading over his body. His face twisted in a grimace as spikes suddenly shot out of his back and his forehead shredding his already tightened and bloodied clothes. He staggered to his feet, growling softly as his bones crackled and popped uncomfortably, increasing in length, giving him the stature of an eight foot tall demon.

The tail suddenly erupted from the small of his back, rapidly expanded under the shower of black blood as it quickly lengthened to nearly six feet, dotted with small, barbed horns. It was as thick as his thigh at the base and slowly thinned down to a blunt tip as it squirmed and slapped the ground behind him. His hands were still faintly human, but his fingers were now claws, plated with hard black scales. The only color remaining on his body was the spot where he had previously had his heart ripped out from, a neat circle of Vermillion Red, almost like the pearl that was set into Hong'er's sword's hilt!

Percy's face was angular, almost like a sharks with an oversized mouth that almost split his face in half, lined with jagged and seemingly crude teeth. His tongue flitted out, almost as if tasting the air as he stared at the Werewolf. It was thin and dark, roiling with the miasma that had erupted from him, almost twenty centimeters in length. His eyes were crimson slits in his scaled head, and his hair had grown as well, long black, hanging down to his shoulders as he tilted his head.

Michael felt his heart nearly stop in fear." T-t-t-this Aura! This majestic presence! A God Tier Demon!? A human who can transform into such a pure blooded demon exists?" he shivered and half knelt as Percy's evil aura spread throughout the hallway, oppressive and aggressively bearing down on him.

Percy coldly observed him, then his deformed mouth opened, twisting his words till they were almost unrecognizable." I have a simple rule in life. Anyone who hurts me dies. But anyone who hurts my artemis, you can spend eternity begging for death!"

A.N.: yes a late update and a short one. But I've been sick. (cue the coughing sounds) probably from staring at the laptop for so long. I was binge reading manga's. it took all I had to get this done.( cue sad cough) so again, updates may be delayed even further. Also rewriting this story is taking ages! I decided to replace all the chapters at once, once im done so it's a long task… anyway, ciao and peace from Manhattan!

Also yes, a demonic Transformation for Percy! how could any xianxia story not have the hero wielding dark abilities! Percy's Devil orb was pretty much going to waste, so I gave him this new upgrade. Don't worry, the true significance is yet to come!

Also praises to my lovely readers for reviewing! PerZoe is in the pipeline, though it might take some time! The harem shall be completed!

For those curious, the current Harem is: Artemis, Calypso, Hong'er, Aphrodite, Hestia and Piper  
In Love/ Budding Romance: Rachel, Zoë  
In the pipeline: read and you might find out!


	74. Demon God Form

**Ninth Arc: Demon God Form**

A.N: sorry for the sudden changes. I Probably should have planned this out for later, but I am feeling the end approaching so I decided not to delay it.

Recap: Michael felt his heart nearly stop in fear." T-t-t-this Aura! This majestic presence! A God Tier Demon!? A human who can transform into such a pure blooded demon exists?" he shivered and half knelt as Percy's evil aura spread throughout the hallway, oppressive and aggressively bearing down on him.

Percy coldly observed him, then his deformed mouth opened, twisting his words till they were almost unrecognizable." I have a simple rule in life. Anyone who hurts me dies. But anyone who hurts my artemis, you can spend eternity begging for death!"

Michael shuddered, then roared." Shut your mouth! Don't act cocky Kid!" his body shook as his legs bent, turning longer and muscled. Even more fur erupted across his body as muscles bunched and knotted under his body. His face twisted and lengthened into a muzzle and his arms lengthened till they were hanging down to his knees. His face was surrounded by a thick mane of fur that spread down his chest. His healing speeded up, and the wounded arm started regrowing as well.

He let out a deep sigh and glared at Percy." a cocky brat like you needs to be taught manners!" he growled as his form blurred and he shot forward.

Percy tensed and raised his arms, darting forward as well. The werewolf and Demon clashed in midair, and blood sprayed as Michael's face was ripped open. He spun and landed, hunching over and growling in frustration. Percy landed in a crouch, then straightened. He raised a clawed hand and his tongue darted out, licking the red beads of blood dotting his scales." Jiejiejie. Is that all you have." He sneered as he licked his claw clean.

Michael shuddered and lowered his gaze. Percy himself wasn't strong enough to fight him! but he was unable to use his power while standing in front of Percy! this was suppression, the fear he had buried deep inside his soul! His werewolf bloodline felt like collapsing and bowing down before the sheer majesty of Percy's Devil Orb! The difference between their powers was bridged by this natural suppression.

Percy darted forward again. Michael forced himself to move, bracing himself as Percy's claws ripped through his shoulder muscles, before the tail swung around, smacking into his chest and sending him flying. He spun and half landed against the wall before pushing off, barreling forward towards Percy, claws outstretched. His claws clashed against Percy's scales, directly tearing through them like shredded tissue paper as he closed his jaws down on Percy's arm.

Percy winced as his scales shattered, leaking black blood, then his tail whistled around, landing with a satisfying thwack against Michael's head. His head jerked backwards, black blood spraying from between his teeth as he gouged off a part of Percy's flesh. He turned and spat a mouthful of bloody saliva and ran his tongue over his teeth.

Percy roared and his torn scales crackled as they started mending. He felt an animalistic instinct rise up from deep within him. and with that he rushed forward, footsteps shaking the hallway.

He tore straight through michael's defense, sharp claws directly tearing through muscle and sinew as he darted forward, clamping his own jaws around Michael's neck. Michael stumbled backwards trying to avoid the bite, but lost his footing as Percy's tail coiled around his leg, pulling him off balance.

The Black miasma suddenly boiled to life above Percy, faces of the long dead tearing through the void as they howled and shrieked, forming a vortex that surrounded the two of them. Artemis shuddered as a bone chilling fear pierced through her, a natural fear of death and darkness innate in all living things.

Michael felt an even intense sense of panic as his life force was placed under a severe burden. He heard his heartbeat speeding up, a painful sensation spreading across his chest as his blood flow sped up. He struggled to stabilize his vitality and blood essence as he looked around with horror. All the blood he'd lost, all the flesh that had been torn from him, all of it was being absorbed by the miasma and gathering around Percy. and even the blood within his veins was almost being dragged out of his body under attraction from the miasma.

"w-what is this pressure? This attraction? This… this is impossible!" Michael roared in frustration as he finished regrowing his arm and started running towards Percy.

The Miasma around Percy thickened, forming into a endless vortex that tugged at his life force itself. Percy himself let out a loud roar and swiped at him, both sides tearing open each other's claws as they shot past each other.

This had turned into a battle of attrition, with both sides competing to see who could last the longest while inflicting injuries on each other.

Bt even as they fought, the suppression Michael had felt at the beginning of the battle started to fade away. At the same time, Percy's sanity crumbled as his attacks steadily became even more ruthless and merciless, focusing more and more on offense and less on defense.

Michael pressed on, tearing through the miasma that surrounded Percy and protected him.

" Hehehe. Boy, you sure got me by surprise back then. To think your bloodline was so pure it would suppress me! But it's all for naught! In the end our power gap is simply too large! And once I eat that lovely body, my own bloodline will improve tremendously!" he cackled with laughter. Percy growled in response, spinning in a blur of black as his tail whipped out towards the Werewolf. Michael sneered and bounded upwards, dodging the attack and slashing across Percy's back, tearing open a swathe of scales from his shoulder down to his tail.

Percy's recovery was slowing down as his wounds slowly accumulated. His form was covered with broken scales that dripped with black blood and the vortex of miasma that had once engulfed the two of them was now in tatters of mist. Michael sneered and leapt up.

" I'm sorry, but it appears it's time for me to step in." there was a soft whisper and Michael felt space around him suddenly constrict. It wrapped around him like ropes, leaving him suspended helplessly in midair. Percy whipped his head around with surprise.

Walking up with silent footsteps, a figure wearing a simple wide brimmed hat walked over. She raised her arm and thrust her palm forward." An agent of Tartarus eh? Better off dead!" the werewolf was left paralyzed as the air around him sparked blue and golden, and a furious storm of electricity suddenly exploded forth, ripping through his body and burning his fur and skin in an instant.

She dropped her arm and the werewolf dropped to the ground as well, reduced to a whimpering burnt mess. Then she reached up, gripping the edge of the hat and pulling it off.

Thalia grinned at Percy." hello, perseus." She winked and dropped the hat to the ground as her black hair fluttered free, bright blue eyes flashing with amusement as she looked at Percy." that's quite the new fashion statement your sporting if I may say so. I much more preferred your Divine Sea Transformation, but I'll admit, this one is way more edgier."

Percy swayed on his feet and leaned against the wall." What… thalia?" now that the rush of adrenalin was fading away, he suddenly felt a deep sensation of darkness and weakness take over his body, spreading down to the depths of his soul.

Artemis scrambled to her feet and ran over hurriedly, throwing her arms around Percy. It made for a weird sight, the tiny petite girl hugging the gigantic monstrosity that Percy resembled now.

Thalia tilted her head." That's odd. I never expected you to have Demon blood. Poseidon's Lifeblood shouldn't have accepted a Demonic bloodline, especially such a powerful one."

Thinking was becoming increasingly difficult for Percy as he roughly gripped artemis's shoulder, trying his best not to tear her skin open with his claws as he pushed her away, raising his free hand to his head in an attempt to get his confused thoughts in order." How do you… know about Poseidon's Lifeblood?"

Thalia giggled." Getting harder to think? Probably because your soul is being devoured by your demon side. And the secret about you having Poseidon's Lifeblood? I know because I have Zeus's Lifeblood seaweed brain."

If not for the soul searing pain, Percy was sure he would have been alarmed at her sudden statements, but at the moment all he could do was hold his sanity together. Thalia tutted as she stared at Percy." I really didn't want to kill you without training you up a bit first. It's such a waste." Her arm flashed with electricity as she smiled at Percy.

Artemis could hardly believe her ears." Are you being serious? You want to kill Percy?!" she jumped up and glared at Thalia.

Thalia shrugged." I do know a lot about the soul, but I hardly know how to reverse the Demonification that's currently infecting his essence." She pointed a finger at Percy and a spark shot out of her finger." Don't worry, it's completely painless, I think. I don't know for sure, since I've never died before." She chuckled.

Before Artemis could react, the spark had already struck Percy's chest, sending jolting arcs of electricity across his scales. Percy growled and the red orb embedded in his chest glowed. Hong'er's Vermillion Aura suddenly spilled out of him, enveloping the tendrils of electricity and entirely subduing them. The scales on his body emitted light crackling sounds as they shattered and then suddenly, Percy's entire form was embroiled in the Dark miasma once again.

Even as the onlookers watched, the miasma twisted in on itself, forming a vortex that howled and screeched. Dreadful shapes and faces sprang out from within the fog, struggling to escape. Then the entirety of the fog collapsed and was sucked into the normal Percy.

Percy fell to his knees and stared at his hands in surprise. He reached down and touched his chest, but it was perfectly unharmed. Only a single circle of vermillion skin remained there, with a small spot of darkness embedded in the core. Artemis hurriedly pulled her jacket off and rushed to Percy's side, throwing it over him and embracing him at the same time.

Thalia tilted her head." Intriguing. Very… very intriguing indeed." She touched her lip as she spun away, lifting her wrist to her face. A small bracelet on her arm glowed as she spoke." Alice. Prepare the Infirmary. We have a patient. And also, set up dungeon 12 for me. I have a spy I need to interrogate."

Alice's response was immediate." Yes Ma'am. We will have both areas ready as soon as possible."

Thalia smiled." Good." Then she looked around at all the dazed onlookers." And you people. Forget everything you saw!" she snapped her fingers and a wave of soul energy radiated out from her. everyone, even the Overgod level supervisors shivered and slumped to the floor. Thalia glanced at Percy, who was still huddled half conscious in Artemis's embrace." Well, see you later Old friend." She licked her lips, then walked away.

- _Percy's Inner World-_

Percy's inner world seemed unusually dark, and the entire world was shrouded in a dark mist that hugged the ground. Percy had no idea when he had suddenly appeared in here. The last thing he could remember was hearing Hong'er calling his name as he was taken to the infirmary. Then he had suddenly ended up here.

He struggled to stand up, looking around. His body was quite weak, which surprised him. even in the worst scenarios, his soul had never been weakened so much that he had been left unable to even move properly within his inner world. Far off in the distance, he could see the Mountain which Gnome had made, but Percy doubted he had the strength to run till there, even if he was willing to try.

For now, all he knew was Hong'er had called him in here for some reason. And he had a vague remembrance of Hong'er's energy flooding through his body, dispelling the Demonification when it was taking over him. somehow, the red headed mystery had managed to reverse the Demonification even thalia said she couldn't.

"Hong'er! Hong'er are you here?" Percy called out as he looked around. He waited for a response, then suddenly noticed the mist in the distance swirling like as if being disturbed by something. Percy felt his eyes widen as he remembered how fast Hong'er could run, moving even faster than his fastest speed, all while eating swords! All he had time for was a single thought." Oh shit." Then Hong'er suddenly barreled out of the mist at breakneck speed, slamming into him with a bearhug.

Some time later, Percy regained his bearings, blinking the stars out of his field of vision. Hong'er was sitting next to him, wiping her eyes as she rocked back and forth.

"H-hong'er?" Percy said weakly and she turned around with a delighted smile.

"Master!" she screeched and tackled him again, thankfully with lesser force than last time.

Percy weakly patted her back." It's alright. I'm ok now… Hong'er? My ribs… my…my ribs!" Hong'er finally let go of him and sat up, smiling as cheerfully as ever as she looked at him with an adoring gaze, pouting a bit as she looked over him.

Then she suddenly leaned forward, licking Percy's neck. Percy yelped and sat up, grabbing a hold of his neck with surprise." H-h-hong'er?"

Hong'er simply giggled and shook her head." No master, Hong'er was simply making sure master doesn't have any more of the dark miasma left in his body." Her eyes flashed and she gave Percy a piercing gaze that sent shivers down his spine." Of course, to be completely sure, Hong'er will have to thoroughly check master all over, and lick every inch of Master's body to make sure there isn't any more of this miasma left."

Percy felt his body heat up and his thoughts immediately shifted to images of Hong'er soft red tongue running down his chest, trailing down her saliva along his stomach and all the way down to… Percy shook his head to clear his mind. He saw Hong'er's innocent and earnest gaze and smiled as he embraced her." It's alright Hong'er. Master is perfectly fine now."

Hong'er gave a dissatisfied pout as her wide eyes ran over him. then she grabbed a hold of his shirt and ripped it away, bending and running her tongue over his collar bone, softly kissing and sucking his skin as she ran her fingers along his sides. Hong'er glanced up a t him with a smile, then leaned down, nibbling softly on his skin.

Percy froze, unable to react to the sudden sensation of Hong'er's soft tongue trailing across his chest as she slowly moved downwards, replaying the fantasy in his mind as she reached his waist and mischievously giggled. She trailed her hand down, playing with the fabric over his thighs, then lightly brushing and stroking his crotch." Master~ are you getting turned on by Hong'er?"

Percy gulped down a mouthful of saliva as her eyes flashed suggestively.

It took all his willpower not to simply pull her up and start kissing her. Hong'er bit her bottom lip." Master… do you not like Hong'er?"

Percy shook his head so fast he nearly gave himself a whiplash." No no no! I really like Hong'er." He stammered hurriedly.

Hong'er gave another grin and licked her forefinger, dragging it down her chin, trailing it down to her collar and lightly pulling it away, letting just a hint of her cleavage peek out.

Hong'er lowered herself, draping herself over him, letting her cheek rub against his slightly wet and sticky waist, humming contentedly as she rubbed her cheek against him. she slowly clambered up, resting her forehead against his." Mmmm, well, it looks like master is alright."

Percy started." huh? What?" he was surprised to suddenly hear her say that.

Hong'er giggled naughtily as she cupped his face, kissing him before speaking again." What is it Master~? Were you hoping that Hong'er would molest you~? do you want an innocent little beauty like Hong'er to do such naughty things?"

Percy felt his face redden and he lowered his gaze. Hong'er giggled again, then slipped off him and stood up. She offered him her hand." Master, there's something's you need to know."

Hong'er skipped along happily as she held Percy's hand. Wherever she passed, the mist would curl up and retract, as if afraid of her. finally, Percy couldn't hold in his curiosity and spoke up." Hong'er, what happened to me?"

Hong'er tilted her head, seemingly deep in thought. Then she straightened and shrugged." No idea!"

Percy almost tripped over his feet. He caught himself and glared at her." what?"

Hong'er giggled and gave him a sideways glance." For some reason, master's Devil orb suddenly awoke and went berserk. Possibly because of the resonance between the Werewolves bloodline and your Devil orb. You've been sealing your Devil orb for all this time, trying to keep it from ever awakening. Of course, someday it is bound to go out of even your control and completely erupt, but in all circumstances, that should be many many thousand years ahead of now."

Percy shivered." There's no way to stop it?" the thought of losing his body to the devil orb was a terrifying one. That meant entirely losing everything he was and turning into a mindless monster.

"with your power alone, it is impossible to prevent such a fate. Perhaps even a true god would be unable to do anything, since the Devil orb is an existence of the highest level in the Divine Plane. Perhaps Gaia or Pontus would be capable of destroying it, but even if they did so, your very profound veins would be destroyed and you would be crippled, since the devil orb has already fused with your profound veins." Hong'er said calmly.

Percy shivered. Hong'er's sudden change in her speech was what intrigued him the most. Whenever she spoke so seriously, she seemed like some all powerful wise spirit. At other times she was his ditzy and clumsy Hong'er.

" However, this Princess is a Beyond Extinction Artifact, or at least a piece of it. and my attribute is the Holy Attribute, able to suppress and destroy all types of darkness! As long as this Princess is around, the devil orb will be unable to take over your soul, for at least the time being. However, this princess's power is limited by yours. Unless you quickly raise your own power, you will be consumed by the devil Orb!" Hong'er's eyes glowed slightly as she gave Percy a confident smile." But Hong'er believes in her master!" she crowed and leapt at him, embracing him again.

Percy absentmindedly rubbed her head as he quietly digested all the information he'd been given." Then Hong'er, how powerful are you when you are complete?" he asked her curiously.

Hong'er bit her lip." Hmmmm… able to kill True gods with a single slash, commanding all the Elements and Attributes, able to seal an entire universe or even destroy a Primordial's Domain. Ruling the Heavens with the power of a mortal. That is why this princess is known as the God Slayer Princess!"

Percy stared at her for a moment, then laughed." Sure whatever my innocent Loli says." He chuckled and picked her up, kissing her forehead.

Hong'er smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck." Master! Hong'er is being serious!"

- _Time skip: one week-_

When Percy woke, he felt extremely refreshed. For a moment, he lay back, thinking over the number of things that had happened over the week.

After being admitted to the infirmary, and given over what seemed a hundred tests and scans, Percy had been declared completely fit and perfectly fine to continue with his normal schedule. It was surprising how normal the entire thing seemed to him now, having to undergo extremely long periods of rest and lying down in bed after an intense fight. This was how every single fight of his seemed to end. But at least this time he hadn't blacked out, which had to be some kind of achievement for him.

He did miss Calypso's company however, since outsider's weren't allowed in the Tower. Artemis had taken up her job of sitting by his bedside, but unfortunately she wasn't as good it. she had the habit of suddenly flying into a rage at him for being irresponsible and insensitive. Then she spent the rest of her time ignoring him.

The only other company was june and Alice, both who popped over to inform him about Michael's death. Apparently, his soul sea had been shattered by his contract with his master Tartarus and his vow to never betray him or release any sensitive information.

Apart from that, Percy spent the rest of his time kicking back and messing around with Hong'er in his inner world.

And now, they had finally decided to release him from the infirmary since they saw no reason to monitor his condition any further.

Thalia crossed her legs and leaned back as she dumped the reports onto the table." So no signs of anything unusual? Or anything suspicious?"

Alice shook her head." No master. All the tests have shown he has an entirely human physique. he has no demon essence or Demon blood."

Thalia frowned and kneaded her forehead." I assumed he might have gotten some sort of monster bloodline from his homeland and that had somehow mutated.. but he has no monster blood either… this is an uncertain factor. One which is very dangerous."

Alice nodded." should we eliminate him? it appears that even his demon form is not much more powerful than him. even I would be easily able to get rid of him." her eyes flashed eagerly.

Thalia slowly shook her head." No. wait for your turn Alice. Anyways, at the end of the year, the tournament will be conducted. You can try him out then. And If I know him well enough, he won't give up so easily either. For now, we'll simply watch his antics."

Alice's aura receded immediately and she nodded." yes ma'am, as you say." She said subserviently.

Thalia laced her fingers together." For now, just send June. She should be enough to show him the difference between Earth and the lower realms. I know him all too well. He has always been the genius wherever he has gone. Time to show him how it feels to lose."

Alice smiled." Of course ma'am. As you command."

And so Percy started a weirdly normal life. He got used to living by a routine, waking up early in the morning, dressing himself in the uniform before heading towards the many buildings surrounding the Tower, where the classes were held. Entering the Tower itself was a very high privilege and First year students weren't allowed inside even the lowest floor.

However, Percy soon found out that entering the Tower was actually the least of his worries. Because of passing in all the exams, he was given the unfortunate job of attending every single class the tower had to offer. This meant, every day, from morning till night was packed to the brink with different classes, and many nights of his were filled with the different assignments he had been given by his teachers during the day. With such a hectic schedule there was no time for any type of exploration or fun, with him solely concentrating only on his studies all the time.

He usually woke up by six in the morning, hurriedly reviewing all his materials and assignments, then rushing off to Zither classes. These classes were held every morning, and were at least peaceful most of the time. They were mostly dominated by girls, and Elvish girls at that. The only class shared between him and artemis, not that they spoke very often in it. atleast her presence seemed to ward off all the girls from around Percy, so that was an advantage of sorts. He had assumed that after all of Artemis's training there was nothing left to learn but he was mistaken. The zither faction classes focused on the deep intricacies of long range attacks, on how to identify any enemies weak spot from far ranges, and the different ways of long range, not just by the use of bow and arrow or simple sound attacks.

Then they had the Magic classes, which Percy found disturbing and difficult to concentrate in. these were also dominated by the Elvish girls, but these ones had a creepy fascination with him, ever since they found out about his Divine affinity with every single Element in existence. This seemed to make him the most suitable target for their seduction. But Percy had to admit that he was already quite used to this. Back in the Flame seed sect, every girl had chased him because it was so rare for a male to reach the Divine realm and every single one of them wanted to dual cultivate with him.

Now every single girl wanted to get married to him since they thought that he must have an especially powerful Bloodline that would help their own bloodline. Percy had no idea whatsoever about how that thing worked, but he'd soon enough figured it out after a bit of reading through a few tomes that explained the different races and their belief's.

Percy had never actually encountered any sentient species other than the few odd exceptions that the Angel race of Athena, Bianca and Persephone and the others were from. He'd encountered a few legends and myths on how their races functioned, but they were vague and difficult to understand.

But after a bit of indepth study here, he soon found out that the Elves were a powerful race of nature spirits that were deeply connected to nature. They believed that it was this connection that let them manipulate the elements, and the purer one's bloodline was, the closer they would be to the Elements. The only bloodline till date that was capable of a perfect affinity with every element was the Royal Bloodline of the Royal Elven Family. Of course, such a powerful bloodline was carefully protected and it was rare for any elf with a royal bloodline to ever leave their Esmerald city present in the sealed western continent, the neighbouring continent of the Tower continent that was ruled by the Elves.

So suddenly, Percy was a unguarded piece of meat being eyed from every side. And while Percy would admit he wasn't going to grudge a couple flings with the cute elves, what scared him was the scarily obsessive look in their eyes when they asked him to marry them and bear his children. And if there was one thing Percy was sure of, he wasn't going to get himself tied down so early and easily. Anyhow, he didn't think any of his … ahem… girlfriends would appreciate him getting married to a stranger.

So despite being deprived, he did control himself and rejected all the advances from every girl. of course, there was always the chance that some girl would get desperate and try kidnapping him. but Percy was fairly confident in his ability to protect himself. And even in the worst case scenario, the Tower itself wouldn't let any students engage in activities such as kidnapping and the like. The Tower prevented outsiders from interfering in the Internal workings of the school as well as protected the students from each other as well as from any external threats. In such a case, Percy was fairly certain that he wasn't under a pressing threat.

And so Mage classes continued, though a tad bit uncomfortably for Percy. they were usually followed by Warrior classes, which in a way were Percy's favorite classes. He soon picked up on new fighting styles and even expanded his abilities, soon becoming fairly proficient in longer weapons like spears and tridents. He had to admit that these weapons in particular were quite suited for his abilities with the art of vibrations, able to puncture through any defense and offset any attack.

However his skill with the sword meant he remained dedicated to using the sword, though he didn't mind expanding his abilities with this new found chance.

Warrior classes were usually the most crowded classes, and it was here that Percy accumulated most of the dirty looks he got during the day. Of course, he was unruffled by the glares. Most of the students were unwilling to forgive his direct challenge to their skills when he had said he would rise to the top. Percy assumed that nothing he could currently do would change their opinion.

Array classes were actually quite advanced, but to Percy, everything they taught was something he had already learnt. He briefly attended the classes, then bunked them, using them to instead work on the assignments he'd been given. On other days, they had production and refinement, which Percy took to quite happily. While he had not much use for the theory, he used the practical classes to practice crafting and improving his abilities. It would prove handy to improve his alchemical and blacksmith skills if he ever needed it to earn any money for himself. And even more so, it was quite handy to be able to produce whatever gear and supplies he needed, or repair it in case of any problems.

The Puppet classes were irregular, and Percy was usually informed of them at the last minute by the puppet bird messengers used by their teacher. The class had the fewest students as well, just a half dozen, unlike the other densely populated classes. Percy found this very odd at first, then soon realized why there were so few students as w ell as why the exam itself had been so vague and unclear.

Each student seemed to have their own method of manipulating puppets. There was one boy, who reminded Percy of Hephaestus, a cyborg who used a machine puppet as his avatar. Another student, one half wrapped in bandages and half covered by a black cloak used a similar style to Percy, stitching the corpses of dead monsters together with threads of pure energy and re animating it. However he was even more proficient than Percy, able to make the puppet use the abilities it had possessed in it's past life. The classes were held in the underground auditorium of the Tower and were usually held late in the evenings.

The Soul and Spirit Classes were also one that Percy had no need of, since his mental and spiritual fortitude far exceeded the level of his peers. And so Percy settled into his new schedule, waiting for the interruption he knew would come. After all, it just wasn't his style to have a peaceful life. He knew that sooner or later trouble would find him, and just as expected, it soon did.

A.N.: that's it for today. Give me a cheer for Wawster. Because that was smart of him to pick up on hints. ZeRaXEs, sorry for my writing style, but my earlier chapters have the Xianxia writing style, which I admit is a smidge too obvious. Xoverfan4evaaaa, I wanted to use Pertemis feels, but I think that's getting to repetitive. So im focusing on Hong'er for a bit. And Duke69, yes, thank you for clearing that one out, Artemis herself is a genius, which you can tell since she became a Peak full god even before her teens. All the other competitors were all in their few hundreds years old remember? She has talent of her own, and she taught Percy everything she knows. Also I thought I should mention this sooner rather than later. This story will probably end in the Tenth Arc. Then Imma do a time skip and pick up from later on, after percy has developed a bit more. While it sounds annoying and more tedious, it seems the best way to end this story without stretching it too much. Which should explain the changes to all of you.

Ciao with peace from manhattan.


	75. Duel

**Ninth Arc: Tower Duels  
A.N.: I think some of you may have misunderstood. Im finishing the story and then writing a second part. Also, for those interested, a few of the starting chapters have been replaced, so the story now has slightly different events, especially in chapter 1 and 3. Further replacements may occur in the future. Also sorry for the long break, it was highly needed.**

Tower duels. The Battles held between students, in order to settle any type of conflicts or to bet upon anything. Rules are simple. A non Lethal battle, approved of by one of the Floormasters, and watched over by an eminent panel of an odd number of Teachers. The theme of the battle can be anything, from Brawls, to smithing. It can further be classified into a more specific concept, such as Smithing a sword, an axe, a shield, or battle using different weapon classes. The terms must be agreed upon by both parties, and the decision is absolute and irrevocable.

This was what Percy read from the manual provided to him, along with a letter from june, challenging him to a duel in for his Gold badge. Percy had found out that badges gave people different privileges. His collection had made him the envy of most of the first year students in his class, and even a no one had issued a formal duel yet, they had tried provoking him into challenging order to duel, they needed to offer an equal offer that he would accept. But June had offered him something that had indeed tempted him. an opportunity to meet Thalia. Even though he knew that this was almost certainly a trap, he was unwilling to let go of such a great chance to meet the person who might hold answers, and who might hold information precious to him.

Percy licked his lips." How difficult could it be really? It's supposed to be non lethal after all."

Artemis snorted and shook her head." Are you an idiot? What if she breaks your hands and legs and leaves you bed ridden? Thalia is clearly someone with a lot of power here!"

Percy smiled grimly and stood." You know me Artemis. Something like this won't scare me."

Artemis sneered." It would scare someone with a bit more sense in his head!"

Percy had ignored her as he folded the letter and left his room. He and Artemis had taken up residence in the dormitory of the Academy, and though they both had separate rooms, Artemis still spent all her time crashing out at his, since his was always stocked with better facilities.

Percy used the teleportation array to arrive at the administrative building. June was standing right by te side, smiling as she leaned against the wall.

"somehow, I get the feeling you were expecting to see me turn up here." Percy mumbled as he walked past her and into the building. June giggled and ran after him, twisting her hair between her fingers as she skipped over to the Desk where the applications for duels was processed. A woman in her twenties, with long silver hair at behind the desk, working at what Percy could only describe as a laptop, a sleek tablet with a complex set of symbols etched all over. Her fingers flew over the symbols at dizzying speeds, each symbol flashing as she tapped it. she wore a pair of goggles and Percy realized that they must be linked to the tablet, since small images flickered over the surface of the glass and her eyes followed each one.

She noticed June and pulled off her goggles as she smiled at her."Madam June. Are you here in regards of the duel?" June smiled and gave a nod. The woman turned to Percy. "and you sir are the participant of the duel?" Percy gave a curt nod and the woman reviewed the application." A basic combat duel, Single round, Terms: None. Stakes: Gold badge, Floormaster's pass."

Both participants nodded and the woman tapped a few symbols on her tablet and pulled on her goggles." Your duel has already been authorized…. By the Tenth Floormaster, God of lightning."

Percy felt his lips quirk as he heard the title thalia had picked for herself. She clearly enjoyed the fact that she was the successor of the Lightning God Zeus. And it was also clear now that she was the one who had planned this duel. Percy briefly wondered what she stood to gain, then shook his head as he turned his attention back to the present.

He pulled out his High class pass, placing the Badge on the counter. Beside him, June removed a simple card, one that looked a lot like an ID card. The Number 10 was emblazoned across it, and it was embossed with arcs of lightning . even from so far, Percy could sense Thalia's power and aura spilling out from it. he smiled and followed the assistant as she led them to another Teleportation array."Please enter here. This will take you to the Arena where the duel will be held."

The two of them exchanged smirks, then stepped into the array together. There was a loud crackle, and suddenly Percy was standing in an open arena, similar to the ones he'd been in, in the past. Surrounded by a large seating area, absolutely packed to the limit with students, all of whom were cheering loudly. Or rather… when Percy looked around, he was greeted by loud boo's. all the first year students were present, staring at Percy and screaming for june to slaughter him.

Percy shrugged." The way they keep going on, it's like as if I punched their grandmother." He hardly cared if every single one of these people were here to see him fail. But as his eyes scanned through the hostile crowd, he suddenly discovered a small patch of peace. Thalia sat in a separate booth of her own, Alice standing by her side. Thalia grinned and waved at Percy, and he saw that even Artemis was sitting next to her, arms crossed as she coolly looked at Percy, then gave him an encouraging smile. Percy shivered as he remembered the previous times she had given him that exact same smile. Her voice played in his mind by itself as her mouth moved. Even though he couldn't hear her, he could still recall exactly what she would have said. "if you don't win, I'll stab you with a thousand knives. If you do I won't"

Percy turned away from her, still shivering and saw June. Her smile turned poisonously sweet as their eyes met."Oh Percy, you really shouldn't over estimate your abilities. You really think that you, a mere mortal can defeat me, an Overgod?" she chuckled and shook her head." The difference between a Mortal and an Overgod is like the difference between an ant and a human. Even sealed, i still far outstrip you in terms of power! That is because…" she tilted her head and flung out her right hand and the force of her Aura slammed into Percy like a wrecking ball. He gagged and had to struggle to stay on his feet.

The force pushed back on him overbearingly and his feet started digging trenches on the ground as she stepped forward." ….because I, am a Level 50 Overgod, pathetic mortal!"

The Azure Dragon roared and Percy's bones popped and cracked as Hong'er's Vermillion seal glowed to life, unsealing his powers and stabilizing him as he stood up straight. Percy thrust his hand out and Riptide appeared, blade glinting coldly in the light." You'd do well not to look down on Mortal's since you were once a mortal youself!"

June laughed, her hair suddenly stirring and swirling as the earth around her began trembling." You want to know the difference between a Mortal and a God?" she thrust her palm out and a serene glow spread out from within her." I call upon you, my Avatar! Endless life and Vitality! Inner World Domain!"

Percy's eyes widened and he felt Gnome shift inside his inner world. The power of the Earth surged into his limbs and he leapt backwards, staring in horror as gigantic trees erupted from within the earth and pierced up to the skies." W-what the heck is going on here?"

June giggled and flicked a finger at him and the tree bent, swatting towards him. Percy winced as the tree slammed into him, sending him flying. Another tree behind him bent, whistling towards him. Percy twisted and slashed. Riptide and the tree clashed. The force of the tree broke straight through his guard and smashed into him, broken branches and leaves flying as it smashed him into the ground. Percy's eyes widened and he coughed out a mouthful of blood as he rolled away from the tree's return smash. Another tree to his right bent and swung straight at him, so fast he hardly had any time to react and roll out of the way.

His chest felt like it had been filled with molten iron and he was certain that meant he'd have broken at least a couple ribs, if not for the Dragon God's marrow making his bones nearly indestructible. He hardly had any time to react as all the trees around him swung at him with what seemed like minds of their own. Percy forced himself to think. At this rate, this would become a battle of attrition, and Percy wasn't sure his energy would outlast that of an Overgod.

June had used an ability that only Overgods possessed."Inner world Domain" the ability to summon your inner world into the real world, which would effectively make you the god of that world. The best way to defeat this ability would be to use your own inner world to cancel it out, only that Percy was unable to do this, being limited by his powers as a mortal. The next best way would be to use overwhelming force to directly tear through the domain. But even his most powerful attack couldn't destroy an entire forest! The last option? Defeat June directly! The only problem was finding her while this entire forest only existed to defend and protect her. even now, he was barely able to make it past her attacks in one piece.

"Are you really so dumb that you can't defeat a single opponent without my help?"

Percy stumbled and was almost swatted aside by a tree."A-artemis?"

He heard a soft snort from inside his inner world." We have a Contract of Life remember? Anyway, you can't defeat a forest, especially a forest that has a god controlling it."

Percy returned the snort." Amazing advice. Now what do you think I should do?"

"the domain is in no way invincible. It is still limited by June's power. As of right now, she's able to move a single tree at a time, and two together if she pushes herself. Also, controlling these trees itself is another drain on her power. But she has enough power to keep going till you're defeated. So we can't drag this out. So you need to take the fight to her!"

Percy felt a smile touch his lips."Gnome! Lend me your strength! Fusion style, Gnome's Sword Heart. Arc of Destruction!" Percy held riptide before him as the power of the earth filled his legs and he shot forward. Turning into a human bullet, he directly tore through the trees blocking his way as he raced towards the center of the Arena where june had been standing. She was still standing right there, smiling as he tore out of the forest and slowed to a stop in front of her.

"did you really think that if you found me you'd be able to defeat me? What makes you think that defeating me is easier than defeating my entire forest?" the trees ringing the clearing all shuddered and groaned. June held up a whip and swung it as the trees all bent closer.

"If you fight June head on, you'll have to deal with both her Combat power as well as the attacks of her trees. But even though she has enough power to keep fighting and defeat you, there's still a limit to how much power she can release in one instant of time. If you keep pushing her, you can make her entirely defenseless for a single moment, and use that to take her down!"

Percy placed riptide aside, then summoned the heaven smiting Devil Slayer sword. " Heavy Handled Heart Scythe style!" his eyes glowed with a touch of purple. The tree right behind him smashed down towards him and he twisted, turning into a blur of vermillion as he slashed his way straight through the tree, heading towards the tree right beside it. June's eyes widened and before she could react he had already reached the tree, slamming his foot against it and kicking off against it as he hurtled towards June. Her whip swung towards him, but he slammed his sword into the earth, using the force to fling himself feet first towards the ground. Right before the whip lashed across him, he collided with the ground, directly sinking into the Earth as he summoned gnome's power again, Earthwalking right behind June.

She obviously hadn't anticipated his sudden appearance and she scowled as her aura erupted, the three closest trees all swinging down and aiming at him. Percy simply smirked and twisted, a spark of fire erupting along the edge of his heavy sword and slashing his way through one tree and turning it into a fiery mess as he dodged the other two trees, twisting and kicking out towards june at the last second. June smirked and swung her whip, wrapping it around his foot and giving it a sharp tug as she pulled him off balance and her trees returned in a reverse sweep, smacking into him and sending him flying.

In midair, Percy had no way to change directions as a barrage of trees attacked him in succession, bruising him all over before smashing him into the ground. Percy barely managed to roll to the side, avoiding the next attack as he struggled to his feet and rushed back towards June. June sighed." Stop goddamn underestimating me!" she thrust out her palm and Percy was caught in a fierce galestorm that threatened to blow him off his feet even as he stumbled back, trying to control himself.

Another tree swung down on him, smashing him into the ground. It was followed by attacks from three simultaneous trees, before June's whip descended in a criss crossing pattern, each lash shaking the ground.

Percy was left battered and bloody upon the ground, firmly entrenched into the ground. June stepped closer, looking down disdainfully at him." even if you are a genius, geniuses are a common commodity in the Tower. A mortal could never hope to beat a god."

She snapped her fingers and the trees surrounding him all struck down towards him." Tch, what a waste of time, batting away a single bug." She sighed and shook her head, turning away from Percy's bloodied body.

"Tree of Enlightenment, Bloom!" the ground around Percy shuddered as the trees swinging at him were suddenly bent backwards, tearing away from their roots even as Percy stumbled to his feet again, eyes blank as he slowly lifted the heaven smiting Devil Slayer sword to his shoulders. His gaze was listless and lifeless as he looked at June, then sudden Killing intent exploded forth.

"Interesting! Percy's Balance Breaker!?" Thalia's eyes widened and she leaned forward, lacing her fingers together as she watched the battle with renewed interest." And this aura, it's just like that of a God's Artifact!"

June turned around, slowly unrolling her whip as she smirked." Will you not cry till you see your Grave!?" Her whip flashed and swung at Percy. Percy glanced up, and immediately time around him started slowing as he stepped forward. Moving in almost slow motion, he drew the Heaven smiting sword back, then flashed forward, appearing right behind June silently. June's expression froze, then her whip fell apart, neatly sliced into pieces at regular intervals. June stumbled to her knees, then blood spurted from her lips and she fell forward, innumerable cuts suddenly opening over her body with that single instant as she hit the ground.

Percy gave her a cold glance, then dropped his sword as the muscles on his right arm suddenly burst apart, and his arm hung by his side, nearly useless. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the chaotic aura surrounding Percy vanished, and life returned to his eyes.

Around the Stage, the audience were like roosters who had their necks squeezed. The cheering stopped as the cacophony of voices turned into complete silence that resembled that of a graveyard. All of this happened in a second.

They were still maintaining their standing positions with their arms high up in the air. Their expressions were that of excitement as if they were waiting to see the mayhem that was to occur. All of that had been frozen on their faces. However, the mayhem that happened did not befall on Percy, but instead it befell the unlucky June!

A group of people seemed to turn into a row of standing zombies. They were silent, stiff and twisting.

The reversal had happened too fast. They had yet to understood what had actually happened, as Percy slowly grabbed his weapon and stored it away. His lips quirked and he looked up at where Thalia and Artemis were sitting.

Thalia was leaning back into her seat, one hand covering half her face as she laughed silently. Artemis had a smug grin, almost as if she had personally won the fight. Percy returned the smile, winking as he smirked at thalia.

-Time Skip: Two months-

Percy was sitting in a library, Thalia sitting opposite to him." my my, you seem quite eager to meet me Percy." she chuckled and shut the book she was holding as she stood up and walked to the nearest shelf.

Percy leaned forward, lacing his fingers together." I need answers Thalia."

Thalia stopped in front of the book shelf, running her fingers along the spines of the books placed in there." Answers? How I know about the Lifeblood of Poseidon? How I got so powerful so fast? And where Kronos is? Am I right?"

Percy gave a silent nod. She didn't bother turning as she pulled out a heavy Tome from between others, then started flipping through it." there are many things I can't tell you. after all, it's the secret to my power. But I suppose you must be clueless. Artemis was the one who gave you the blood right?"

Percy tapped his chin with a finger."yeah. back when I was in the lower Realm."

Thalia giggled, then spun, carrying the heavy book and slamming it down onto the table." The Graveyard of Poseidon… had three gifts for his successor. Just like the Graveyard of Zeus." She didn't give him a chance to interrupt as she quickly continued." When I found the Graveyard of Zeus, I Found three relics. The first, Two Drops of Zeus's Lifeblood."

Percy stood up with shock." Two drops?"

Thalia raised her hand and a gentle surge of power pushed him back into his chair." I was only allowed to take one drop. But when I found this drop, I was already at the level of a Peak Full God. And I suppose you already know the rule? No one above the Level of Legend Realm can fuse with the Lifeblood, because if you do, your entire power will be lost." Thalia smiled knowingly at him and Percy felt a jolt of surprise.

"Wait if you fused with it, you went back to Level Nine warrior… then climbed back and even broke through to Overgod realm?" Percy felt his heart shake with horror.

Thalia smirked and held out her palm." The second Gift was what did that. Come! Bane of all evil, Destruction purified! Lightning Arc!" there was a soft crackle, and suddenly fine tendrils of electricity spread over her hand, gathering and forming a small seal over her palm. The smell of Ozone and rain filled the Air around her and Percy felt a sudden surge of fear towards that simple mark on her hand.

The Aura, the power… there was no mistaking it! the Divine Artifact wielded by the King of the Gods, used to shear off the top of Mount Orthrys in a single blow and Topple Kronos from his throne. The most Powerful weapon crafted by the One Hundred Handed Ones, Zeus's Master Bolt!

Thalia's smirk vanished as she closed her hand, making the aura and all signs of the power disappear." You must have guessed what that was. The energy within the Master Bolt Directly pushed me from Rank Nine Mortal Warrior… to a Level 999 Overgod."

Percy's jaw dropped." All the way to level …. How the hell did that happen?"

Thalia flung the Book open and started flipping through the pages." Stick to relevant questions seaweed brain. And in case you were wondering what the Third gift was, it was a Prophecy, one that I can't tell you."

Percy sighed and covered his face." What's with all the secrecy?"

Thalia chuckled." Knowledge of the future isn't always good. You should already know that."

Percy glared at her." I Like to be prepared."

Thalia turned the book around and pushed it towards him, her electric blue eyes gleaming." Enough of all that boring chit chat. I'm trying my best to help you. Now look at this."

Percy bent over the book and started reading it." The Tower continent has always faced severe threats of invasion from the nearing Tartarus Empire. Fifteen years Ago, The Tower Continent was attacked by a Troop of Quasi Emperor Level Demons. These Demons were Ancient Monsters that had been specially dispatched to destroy the Human forces Powerhouses. They were individually at the peak of power, and working together, they were nearly unstoppable. They slaughtered their way straight through the Continent, heading for the Tower City, seeming to be destined to bring the entire Human race under their rule. But on the decisive day of the Invasion, the Three Demons were met by three humans."

At that moment, Percy heard thalia roll a small orb towards him." this is the Record stone. It has recorded the battle between the Demons and the Humans. Take a close look at it."

Only when he triggered a certain disk array did he see the vast Tower City once again.

Above the City's Large walls, there was a black-armored warrior who was riding a black nightmare war horse, appeared, emanating a terrifying aura that was enough to freeze Percy's heart.

He held a long lance in his hands and the war horse was galloping through the sky with flames paving its route. He seemed to be breaking through the void, as if he would enter another world.

Seeing the black-armored warrior, Percy quivered as he held his breath.

And at this moment, another figure appeared above the City. He slowly appeared while riding the clouds.

This person was dressed in Simple cotton clothes. He held a Staff in one hand, and a five-foot long curved sword in his other.

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing the black-armored warrior, the person in cotton robes roared with laughter. His laughter caused the sky to turn chaotic as he did so in an unrestrained manner.

The black-armored warrior stopped, he got off his war horse and looked at the robed person.

Following that, without a word, 'Sou'!

The robed person attacked him. His long sword whistled and a bright flash that flashed across the sky flew towards the black-armored warrior!

"That sword move!"

Seeing this sword slash out, Percy unwittingly took a step back. A flash appeared in his head.

This sword technique was… something he had seen before!

The sword beam cut through the world.

At the moment the sword slashed out, they felt like their bodies were restricted. Their breathing and heartbeats stagnated. It felt like the sword attack was like an electric shock!

Percy's response was different from the others Thalia had seen. He was inexplicably shocked. Everything in front of his eyes had disappeared, leaving only an azure flash of lightning that had become the only thing in the world.

The sword beam seemed to have broken through the confines of space and time, coming from the nothingness of the ancient era.

Percy felt a shiver run down his back."That… was that… ?"

Thalia chuckled and nodded." Guildmaster of the Most powerful guild. Carter Kane, The Scholar!"

Then she flung her hand out again, rolling another crystal orb towards Percy. he reached out and tapped it with a finger, and just as he anticipated, a small image suddenly appeared, playing out a scene from the past.

Stormy skies spread across the horizon, webs of thunder covering them with occasional flashes of light. Suddenly, the curtain of clouds was torn open, and Percy's eyes widened with shock as a gigantic head snaked down, maw opening as a billowing rush of fire flooded forth, aimed right at the city.

Even though Percy knew what he saw was merely an illusion, it still felt like the air around him was burning away. An attack of this scale, was something beyond even his wildest imagination!

The plume of flame directly headed towards the city, causing even the gigantic walls to tremble and begin melting. But right as they were about to crash down into the City, a Glowing Golden barrier appeared, enclosing the entire city and deflecting and dispersing the powerful flames like they were nothing!

The reptilian, scaled head hissed in rage and the rest of the body descended, a monstrous Dragon that covered the skies as it reached out with a clawed foreleg, tearing at the golden barrier. The barrier sparked and dimmed, and started flickering. Just as its collapse seemed imminent, an explosion rang out on the back of the dragon. He turned and roared with rage. The air around him trembled, and even the illusionary image threatened to collapse.

The focus of this fury was a single cloaked figure. The powerful roar stirred the hood of its cloak and it tumbled away, unveiling a teenaged girl with light golden hair. She seemed tiny before the Monster that dwarfed even the city walls. The dragon roared again, and she raised her arm. Her voice rang out, clear and authorative even in the loud roar of the dragon." Beast of Tartarus. _Hah-Ri (Quiet)_ " a series of symbols appeared in the sky beside her and suddenly the dragon's roar was swallowed and silenced without a trace.

Dragon shifted uneasily, but before it could do anything more the girl waved her arm, summoning a staff into her hand. She sneered and swung it in the direction of the Dragon. The Dragon roared again, a volcano of flames erupting from it's mouth.

Right as the flames reached the girl, they sizzled and sputtered out of life. A divine glow spread out of the girl as multicolored wings spread from her back, nearly three feet long each as the entire dragon emitted a loud crackle, shuddering weakly one last time as its entire body suddenly turned to stone!

Percy blinked with surprise, but the recording was already over. He looked up at thalia, and she gave a smile."The Sorceress, Sadie Kane, Wielding magic capable of sealing even the Gods. Head of the mysterious Sorceress faction!"

Thalia pulled another crystal out of thin air, and looked at it wistfully." And this is the recording of the man who's help you need. The greatest swordsman of the human continent, The tower Master himself. Known as the Warrior for his unmatched combat prowess, Magnus Chase!"

She tossed the crystal into the air. A blur of figures and battles filled Percy's vision as a blurry recording appeared.

Amongst the figures was a man holding a sword. He was brandishing his sword without thought and every sword beam that slashed out had the power to destroy celestial bodies and cut open the Heavens.

The scene was in complete chaos. At times it was clear, but at other times, it was blurry. Percy could not see the opponent of the sword-wielding man. He only felt that the chaotic battle was earth-shattering.

At this moment, a giant appeared high in the sky.

This giant was as if he was casted out of bronze. His body was like a vast mountain, emitting a suffocating aura. It was as if he was a divine spirit that came from the Nine Heavens, a controller of the Heaven and Earth, a proud being over all existence.

He held in his hand a humongous bronze halberd. Just brandishing the halberd caused the world to fracture!

This shocking crack spread through the ground, all the way to the oceans and sky!

The oceans ripped apart as the sea water formed numerous huge whirlpools. Everything that entered the crack disappeared till the oceans was completely dried up. Following that, the sky tore apart. Eventually, a complete world had been ripped apart by the giant!

A halberd attack that could split an entire world!

Percy was greatly shocked. What sort of existence was this giant? In that instant he knew that even Carter and Sadie were probably only equal in power to this monster! It was truly a Quasi Emperor Demon!

He did not have time to think carefully as light began to distort. In the blurriness, he saw the sword-wielding man turn into a beam of light as he flew towards the bronze giant. Percy saw Carter and Sadie appear in the background, both of them calling out for him to stop. But the man was unstoppable, his indomitable will causing him to move forward without hesitation or fear! The way of the sword, Unstoppable Momentum!

At that moment, the man and his sword had combined into one. Perfection of the sword heart, human and sword turning into one! A realm Percy couldn't even begin to imagine, the Realm of Sword Soul!

The sword beam flashed past and the man stabbed the bronze giant's neck, almost to the point of cutting off the bronze giant's head!

Percy's pupils constricted. This attack was too terrifying!

The giant's strength was able to split a world apart with his halberd. Now, his head had nearly been chopped off by the man's sword?

Next, Percy seemed to hear a "ping" sound. The man's sword had broken because of the enormous impact!

The man was left with half a broken sword in his hand. Because it had been stained by the bronze giant's blood, it was slowly being corroded, emitting trails of green smoke.

The divine sword was originally covered in flowing light, but now the light rapidly disappeared. The sword seemed to have a life of its own as it issued out painful cries.

The bronze giant, whose head had nearly been chopped off, also let out a painful roar. He swiped his halberd towards the sword-wielding man!

The halberd flooded Percy's vision. He could only vaguely see the sword-wielding man being hit by the halberd and his body flying out. His body even flew out of this world. The recording gave one last unstable shudder and collapsed entirely. Even the crystal that had recorded the battle shivered and shattered into tiny crystals.

Percy was covered by cold sweat. What sort of an existence was that? To be able to cause the entire world to tremble with a single strike? And what level of power was the Tower Master at!? To be able to almost slice off that monsters head with a single blow!?

Thalia waved her hand, dispersing the remaining shards with a mournful look." That battle was too powerful for any recording crystal to contain. That is why after a single use, the crystal itself will collapse, shattering. There is a limited number of recordings so each crystal is precious. I had only three, and now I have only one remaining."

Thalia gave a sad sigh." That is the man mentioned in the Prophecy." Her eyes flashed." The Harbringer of the Wolf, the warrior destined to fight by your side against Kronos."

Percy stared at her, but rather than clear the questions in his gaze she tapped the book on the table." This is the Continent of the Tower!"

Percy's followed her finger and he saw a completely different map than the one he remembered from his previous life. It took him a moment to place the difference, then his eyes widened and he almost fell over as he shot to his feet." What the- where is the Ocean?"

The map that should have been covered by an expanse of blue, was now mostly land, with small patches of water bodies present in between like isolated lakes!

Thalia gave him a look reserved for idiots." The Ocean? You still think is the same earth as from our past lives? Everything has changed Percy. ever since that bastard Tartarus Opened a passageway between Tartarus and Earth. Gaia and Pontus have disappeared, and Pontus took most of the ocean with him. Gaia's disappearance has led to an almost extinction of the nature spirits and it was a struggle for most species to survive. And right when we were weakest, the Demons invaded from Tartarus into Earth. In fact you have to thank the DemiTitans for our survival."

Percy felt entirely misplaced and confused." DemiTitans!? Wait what the hell are you even talking about?"

Thalia giggled and tapped the map again." The answers are all here Percy. just read up a bit. Oh and the time of our session is up too. I'll be taking your leave now."

She stood up, then winked at him." Don't worry, we're still safe, for the moment."

She vanished, leaving him with even more questions. He grit his teeth with frustration and slammed his fist on the map." What the hell does she mean? Why is everyone so intent on only giving me half answers and confusing me!? Why didn't I ask her phone number while I was with her!?" such simple questions haunted him as he glanced down at the map. Even as he did, his body froze.

The entire map was covered with different nations and empires. But two were the Largest, taking up nearly 80% of the map by Themselves!

One was mainly stretched across the north of the map, and was marked with the bold words." Tartarus Empire- Dark lands". And stretching out beneath it, almost equally large as it haphazardly spread over map, sometimes sharing the border with the Tartarus Empire, sometimes veering away towards the South." Orthrys Empire"

The pieces started to piece themselves together. Percy stroked his chin." So then… what did she mean by… DemiTitans?"

A.N.: Many things being revealed, story picking up speed, and yes Magnus Chase as in Annabeth's cousin, Norse Demigod. No he won't replace Percy, but I like the idea of pulling all the main characters to fight their respective enemies together. For the Rick fans who've read all his series we all know that none of the heroes was ever strong enough to kill their enemies. Percy wasn't strong enough to take on the true Kronos, Carter and Sadie could only banish Apophis, Magnus could only seal away Fenrir. Now, I'm planning to have them Fight together, killing their respective enemies from each story. Of course, it won't be easy, but when is it ever?

Also , the explanation you've all been waiting for. Well, truth is with college applications taking up most of my time, I was simply too busy to plan and write. It might get worse once college starts, but we're anyways reaching the end of the story. Possibly another Ten to twenty chapters left for the grandfinale of Dark God Asura: Rebirth! Then moving onto the second book, Dark God Asura: Vengeance! I've already started planning so don't worry this story will not be abandoned! Unless I die, but then you can't blame me.

Time skips will be very common from here on. As for those wondering why Percy is so weak, the Original Percy in Canon can be described as a Level 50-100 Overgod in the Lightning thief, and a Level 500-600 Overgod by the time he reached Last Olympian. Of course, back then he was limited by his mortality, but right now, he doesn't have poseidon's powers like he used to.

And so we move on to the Tournament, and watch a mortal Percy take on multiple Overgods, using the balance breaker Chaos Seed! Ciao and peace from Manhattan!


	76. Tournament of Factions

**Ninth Arc: Tournament of Factions!**

 _-End of First Year-_

A bulky man with the build of a Giant, wielding a double handed battle axe was blown backwards, crashing into the wall of the arena. Percy lowered his sword and glanced at the man's team mates." Ready to give up yet?"

The people in the stand, numbering fifteen, all grit their teeth with rage. But not one of them dared respond. The giant, with the cultivation of a Level seven Overgod was the strongest among them and he wielded the highest combat power. But it hadn't taken Percy even five minutes to beat him to inches of his death. Naturally, they didn't dare respond to his provocation as they meekly surrendered.

Percy grinned and turned back to his own booth. Artemis, Hephaestus and Rachel were the first to run over and greet him. Percy accepted their praise with a modest smile. After having beaten June, one of the most powerful First years, the other first years had no choice but to accept his impressive combat prowess.

Percy had formed his own faction, originally only consisting of the people who had come with him. then slowly he had warmed up to a few other people and let them in as well. And now in this long awaited Tournament, they were his team, the people who fought by his side.

The tournament was the ranking list that allowed the students to understand their positions in the Tower. Currently, Percy's faction was ranked fourth, with them closely approaching the third most powerful faction! Once they accumulated enough points, they were allowed to challenge the Third Rank.

However, Thalia's faction, the first ranked Heaven Ascension Faction was unchallenged! With Thalia standing at its head, not a single student dared to even think of defeating it. the Second ranked Faction had tried, but even without Thalia, their Trio of Vice Leaders had been so powerful, they had easily eliminated the Faction. In fact, even the Leader was no match for the weakest Vice leader, Alice!

Percy wasn't the least bit perturbed by this fact and had constantly kept working on his skills, honing them. Thalia hadn't deigned to speak to him ever since their last meeting. But her instructions were quite clear. He had to get the Tower masters support if he stood any chance of ever beating Kronos. And after witnessing that battle, he had no doubt left in his mind that the tower master was an immensely powerful warrior! But to get in contact with such a powerful figure, how difficult would it be? Even Thalia, a floormaster seemed incapable of meeting him!

Even if meeting him was still naught but a distant dream, he still had to work on improving his skills. The first step would obviously be to break into the Overgod realm!

The next was against the Elven Faction, entirely made up of the most powerful elves in the Tower! They were originally ranked second, but they had dropped in rank after their disastrous defeat at the Hands of the heaven Ascension Faction!

Percy started to step onto stage, but he was held back by Artemis." Aren't you ging to give us some chances to shine? Or do you want to hog all the attention to yourself?" she chimed as she pulled him back to the seat.

Celia, one of the Few elven girls from his Mage class, smiled as she grabbed her staff and stood up." I've always wondered how I would compare to the Vice leaders of the Faction. This is the perfect opportunity to figure out my limits and my abilities!"

Everyone on his team all settled back as she strode onto the stage and challenged the Elven Faction. Meanwhile Percy focused on himself.

He was slowly growing aware of something within his soul. He had first felt it when Pontus had tested him. there had been a mysterious orb in the core of his soul, and it had slightly cracked under the tremendous pressure Pontus had placed onto his soul. When it had cracked, a mysterious power had flooded out, and a voice had spoken to Percy from within, telling him he was unworthy of wielding the power. Then he had blacked out, and when he had woken, he had passed the test!

Later, he had fainted after the shock and rage of Annabeth's death had overtaken him. in his unconscious state, he had killed more Overgods than he could even imagine. Though they were all weak, low level Overgods, they were still unsealed, Divine beings! While unsealed, they would be even stronger than the sealed June! Yet, he had killed them all!

And then he had taken on June, who had far outclassed him in both terms of Magical power and strength. By all means, he was no match for her! yet, he had beaten her in an instant. An instant… which he had no memory of!

Just what was that sphere? And what was that mysterious power in it?

Percy was shaken out of his reverie as a sudden explosion rocked the entire Arena! He opened his eyes, greeted by the sight of Celia, collapsed weakly in the center of the stadium. A crater spread out from around her. And her opponent was, the Level 112 Overgod, Leader of the entire faction, nicknamed the Elf of Death, Morgan.

Percy sighed and stood up. Celia was a Level 95 Overgod. For her to jump over twenty ranks while in battle was simply too difficult. And Percy himself was quite eager to try fighting powerful opponents. While activating that unconscious state was difficult, if he could learn how to use it, he would become immensely powerful!

Morgan gave Percy a guarded look as he replaced Celia. Percy was an unpredictable opponent that had astounded everyone with his unbelievable string of victories. Many even doubted he was a mortal. The most obvious thing however was his sudden boost in power right when his opponent had him cornered!

Naturally, with this type of a performance, Morgan had long since prepared a strategy to deal with Percy. Her plan? Defeat him in a single blow, leaving him no opportunity to react or defend himself, before his strange power could even activate!

Percy took a single deep breath as he unsealed his power. This entire year, he had spent a great deal of time and effort into honing his skills, rapidly learning and gaining more strength! The most important part of his learning was watching those three battles of the three great warriors of the Tower continent against the three Quasi Emperor Demons. He was learning on how to summon small amounts of Hong'er's hidden powers by using those techniques!

First was the Magic ability. His magic surged and flowed out as the heaven smiting Devil Slayer sword appeared in his grasp. A deep silver glow illuminated his body as his hair turned silver, and the Crescent moon symbol over his heart burned with power." Celestial Moon God's Transformation!"

Morgan Closed her own eyes." Inner World Domain, Vulture's Banquet!" the air around her throbbed and suddenly, the two of them were standing in a battlefield. Corpses of two armies were strewn across the land, blood watering the earth as their flesh rotted. Broken weapons and torn armor dotted the landscape as vultures wheeled about in the skies above, their screeches forming a cacophony of death even as the rotting stench of death permeated the air around them.

Her Affinity was one of the mostly godly and sought after affinities, the Level Nine affinity over Darkness!

Percy felt the power of her darkness suppress and drain his vitality even a s he stood within her domain. But even so he smiled and grasped Hong'er's hilt tighter and suddenly the suppression was broken. Hong'er grinned out from the Pearl inside the hilt as her Holy attribute formed a defensive armour over Percy, protecting him from the Darkness that surrounded him!

Morgan didn't realize how her suppressive power was so easily beaten by Percy as she suddenly converged all her power into herself. In order to defeat him in a single strike, using all her power in her strongest attack! All her power was concentrated into a single needle and hid inside her body as she drew her saber. It was six feet in length, and a pure black that didn't reflect any of the meager light within the domain even as she brandished it."Perseus Jackson! Receive my attack!"

She blurred and appeared before him in an instant, weapon cleaving down like a death sentence right over his head. Percy raised his own blade, Vermillion Blade clashing against the Black weapon.

Morgan sneered as her chest spurted a small stream of blood and the needle of Darkness burst out, almost instantaneously crossing that tiny gap of three feet between the two warriors as it homed in on his heart.

But before that instant could even end, Riptide appeared in Percy's left hand, turning into an arc of darkness as it swung downwards, intercepting the needle. Percy gave a grim smile." Your trick was a little predictable."

Morgan returned the smile." That wasn't the trick though."

Her thin tail erupted out of the ground from behind Percy and stabbed into his back. She smiled grotesquely as she stepped back from the staggering Percy." How does that feel? That's my family's special paralyzing agent. Non lethal, but very effective!"

Percy shuddered, then laughed maniacally as he crossed his blades and slashed across her chest." Idiot!"

Morgan's eyes widened and she staggered backwards to avoid being fatally wounded, using her left arm to block the worst of the attack."Y-you… how…"

Percy straightened and placed the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword away and held Riptide up firmly." I'm immune to poison." He stated simply as the Phantom of the Asura flickered faintly behind him." And if you really think that you want to use Darkness to suppress me, I think you should rethink your strategy."

"Way of the Asura: Emperor's Slash!" the attack performed by the Tower Master when he killed the Giant Demon flashed through Percy's mind. He traced the flow of the energy, the stance, the feeling of Sword and Man fusing, all energy converging into a single weapon, then exploding forth with a roar of majesty that ripped through all. Of course, Percy was still far from ever using that attack. Not only was his power insufficient, he had still yet to understand the path of the sword as well as the Tower Master.

But against this opponent, this small sliver, this weak reflection, this imitation attack was more than sufficient. Morgan was no weak warrior who would simply take the attack without responding. She raised her saber and growled as she summoned all her power forth. With the sound of a Dam breaking, the Image of a screeching Vulture appeared behind her as she slashed her weapon.

Percy breathed out and slashed Riptide Forward, even as the Asura appeared behind him, slashing down a Divine Sword that seemed to cleave apart the void. Its momentum unstoppable, it directly tore the Vulture into two halves before slashing across Morgan's body, slicing her open from shoulder down to her thigh.

Her expression was one of disbelief as she flew backwards, unable to believe she had been overpowered so easily. The Sword qi continued to slash down on her, before a bright flash of light appeared in between, dispersing the attack with a wave of his hand. One of the Judges had been forced to step in between, and judging by his expression, even he was horrified by the strength of Percy's attack.

He caught Morgan and immediately summoned the medics, staring at Percy as his gaze drifted down to Percy's hand still holding riptide. The entire arm had turned bloody, the muscles torn open from the force of his own attack. Even as he watched, Percy's hand spasmed and he was forced to drop the weapon he held, blood dripping down his now useless arm.

-Two days later-

Percy had mostly recovered from the wound on his arm, but surprisingly, the match scheduled for the day never happened. The Second Ranked sect, Flame god faction had simply stepped down and surrendered. Of course, it was because of the terror that Percy had become among the First years.

An unpredictable Mortal, with unbelievable talent and Combat abilities that exceeded even the limits of their imagination! The Leader of their faction was only on par with Morgan. They had no illusions on what would happen if they were to actually battle against Percy!

Percy was using his time to digest the new understanding he had gained of his attack after actually using it. naturally, this attack was nothing but a Last resort trump card, because not only did it consume too much energy, nearly 40% of all his energy, and the strain on his mortal body was simply too much. Once he used that attack, he would be left unable to use his arm until it recovered.

But his strength had increased by leaps and bounds! Now he could fight even a level 100 Overgod while they were sealed! Of course, if they were unsealed, it would be suicide for him to even face a level 20 Overgod.

There was still a month left to the end of the Tournament, but by now the top ranks were mostly determined. Thalia's faction was obviously first, with Percy's taking the second. The Elf Faction had taken the third place after defeating the flame god faction in a close battle.

These four were powerful factions, and now that they had decided their ranks, it was unlikely they would change.

However, the students were given opportunities to increase their strength by leaving the safety of the city and go outside. This was a dangerous matter, since outside the city they would all be unsealed, and it would be much easier to be killed.

Percy had contemplated leaving the city to try and train outside, but the risks far outweighed the benefits. He had far too many enemies and too little strength to protect himself. But at his current speed of growth, even reaching the level of Thalia would take him years! To ever gain the attention of the Tower master, he had to at least surpass Thalia! But even so, even his strenuous training had a limit to how much it could raise his strength! his mortal body was that limit! Once the strength of his attacks exceeded that natural limit, his body itself would break down under the strain!

The only way to ensure that didn't happen was to gain the powerful body of an Overgod. But he wasn't even a single step closer to becoming an Overgod. If this continued, it would simply become a bottleneck that he could never surpass.

Trying to get his thoughts into order, Percy isolated himself into his room, forbidding even Artemis from coming inside to see him or distract him. of course, she could simply enter his inner world, but even she understood the severity of the situation and she left him alone, leaving him to his thoughts.

Of course, rules didn't apply to the redheaded Loli that ruled over Percy's innerworld. Hong'er's voice soon piped up, pulling Percy out of his reverie." Maaaaaaster! Hong'er is getting bored sitting in here all day long! Come play some games with Hong'er!"

Percy sighed." Later Hong'er. I'm trying to think" surprisingly, Hong'er actually fell silent. However, she piped up a few minutes later.

"The way you currently are, it's almost impossible for you to break through into the Overgod realm. And as long as you can't break through, with this weak mortal body of yours, you'll be even weaker than you used to be in the past life! That is because without your demigod reflexes and recovery, as well as your affinity with your divine powers, you'll always be weaker!" Hong'er spoke in a stern tone, hands on her hips as she appeared outside Percy's Inner world.

Percy blinked with surprise and looked at her." What do you mean?"

Hong'er smiled lewdly, then slowly grasped the straps of her dress, sliding them down her arms as she moved closer to Percy." what Hong'er means is~ while it may be impossible for you to breakthrough to Overgod realm, what if you could just become an demigod? You wouldn't be a true god, but your body would fuse with all your bloodlines and they would become a part of you. your endurance and power would increase, as would your overall control of your power!"

Hong'er finished pulling off her dress, then slowly reached back to teasingly fiddle with her innerwear. Percy gulped a mouthful of saliva as she continued speaking." Of course the downside would be your Devils Orb would also fuse with you and it would henceforth become a permanent part of you!" with a soft rustle, her hands slowly moving away from her chest, unveiling her perky breasts, her pink nipples already hard and erect with anticipation. She slowly licked her lips and Percy was finding it increasingly difficult to control his thoughts and focus on her lecture. She bent forward, thumbs hooking either side of her panties and she winked at Percy." Master~ what do you think of Hong'er's idea?"

Percy snapped his head up, breaking away his gaze from her hips, meeting her vermillion eyes, sparkling with mischief."i… uhhh… it's great!" Percy's face turned red and he had to force himself to keep his eyes on her eyes as she slowly bent even further, sliding off her panties before straightening, twirling them around her finger.

"Perfect. Hong'er is so glad her master approves." Hong'er purred, the dropped her hand and leapt onto Percy, tackling him onto the floor, straddling his waist as she reached up and tore his shirt open, leaning forward to lick his neck as her hands fumbled on his clothes, before finally ripping off all of them as she sat up, panting with excitement.

Her eyes turned pure vermillion and it resonated as one with the vermillion ornaments she was wearing. The color spread over her skin, then it moved over onto Percy, spreading rapidly. Percy felt a refreshing surge of energy filling his body, just as Hong'er leaned forward, molding herself to his body as she kissed him.

A tempest of energy filled Percy's mind, like the roaring ocean pouring from Hong'er's lips into his body, filling him up.

 _\- Border of the Darklands –_

A young girl with shocking red hair, streaked through with black was running, face expressionless as she leapt onto a man who was trying to run from her. her knees crashed down on his back and he screamed with pain and crumpled on the ground, lower part of his body already paralyzed. He scrabbled, bloodied fingers digging into the ground as he tried to drag himself forward." P-please… who are you?" he whimpered and struggled to pull himself.

The girl didn't reply as she stepped forward, bringing her heel down on his neck and smashing it to a pulp. A sudden arrow streaked through the air, but she waved her hand, snatching it out of the air right before it pierced her.

An Overgod, with the cultivation of Level 220 suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Drawing his sword as he struck at her." You Demon!"

The girl bent backwards, kicking out and shattering the sword as it swept over her. then she straightened, reaching out and catching a hold of the man's collar and pulling him forward as she smashed her head into his face, caving in his skull and instantly killing him.

The Archer gave an anguished scream at the sight of her partners death and unleashed a barrage of attacks all at once. The Demon's eyes turned scarlet and her movements speeded to the limits of the human body with ease as she weaved through the arrows, confidently tracing the attackers location as she speeded towards her.

Her feet turned into shadowy streaks and she reached the hidden archer. The Archer was already prepared and she drew a small dagger, slashing upwards right as the girl appeared before her. the girl had no surprise in her cold eyes as she calmly reached out and caught the dagger by the tip, snapping the blade away and burying it into the archer's eye.

She screamed with pain and horror as she staggered back, covering her face with shock, blood pouring from her punctured eye. She spun and began running, but before she could even take a few steps, she felt her bones shatter and was sent sprawling into the earth. The demon calmly drew her leg back and moved in for the kill.

But even as she stepped forward, a piercing pain hit her head and she staggered backwards, clutching at her head as she moaned softly.

In front of her a faint phantom emerged, arm reaching out." _Don't… you must remember… Princess…"_

She clutched at her head and pulled at her hair, tugging as the pain grew, filling her almost to the point where it felt like her head would explode. In the eye of her mind, a silent phantom appeared, watching her with mismatched eyes. Her hair was silver, and hung all the way down to her feet. Her lips moved, but noise came forth, but her eyes were urgent.

If Percy had seen this image he would have been dumbfounded. The girl, except for her Bright Silver Hair and her Multicolored eyes was almost the same as his Hong'er!

The Demoness uttered a guttural roar and shook her head, almost collapsing as she felt her strength drain from her body.

The Archer seized this opportunity. Rather than run, she rolled onto her back before flinging her hands out, unleashing a wave of throwing knives from her inner world as well as summoning a pack of wolves. This was her inner world Domain!

But before the attacks could connect, the Demoness roared out loud. The air was stirred into a frenzy and the ground around her feet cratered even as the entire domain was torn apart just from her roar. The archer stiffened as blood spurted from her seven facial orifices, then she slumped onto the ground, her eyes lifeless.

The Demoness whimpered softly as she fell to her knees, still holding onto her head as she trembled faintly. Then her trembling stopped and she straightened, looking in the direction of the Tower City.

There was a shriek and suddenly a voice tore through the void." Spawn Of Tartarus! You aren't welcome here!"

The air trembled and suddenly a divine sword materialized, slashing down from the skies with unstoppable momentum. It was like a divine mountain that had descended from the heavens, carrying retribution as it slashed down towards the Girl.

She glared upwards as the sword swung down on her, then pulled herself tighter. Her bare feet scraped the ground as she shifted her stance. Right when the sword was an instant from crashing into her, she kicked upwards. It was the sight of an ant raising its arms to resist the sky.

Flesh and the sword made of pure energy collided. Her face twisted into a grimace of pain and she roared with frustration as her foot was tore open and she was smashed into the ground. But even as she was finally crushed down, the sword itself shattered!

She lay on the ground, panting and whimpering as her twisted foot slowly healed and realigned itself. Once it was completely healed, she staggered up to her feet before jerkily running away, heading back into the Tower continent with her mission accomplished.

- _Percy's personal Quarters-_

Percy felt Hong'er's pure and wild energy surging through his blood, rampaging through his profound veins, permeating his very essence, Body and Soul!

Percy consciously sent that energy to his Soul and blood, and compressed it!

Again and again, Percy's body was filled with energy. His breaths increased in speed, but each breath was deeper than the last.

Obtaining the essence of the Sun and Moon, and breathing in the energy present within the air itself!

If someone looked from a distance, they would see Percy's body engulfed in a thin layer of faint light.

Especially Percy's chest. There was a vermillion light concentrated there which slowly spread throughout his body.

This was the light the red orb like tattoo left in the center of Percy's chest after he had turned into his Devil Form. It emitted this pure light after absorbing the Qi from deep within Hong'er. The same energy she had always kept sealed deep inside herself, that made her impossibly fast, stronger than belief. Now all that ancient Power flooded into Percy, with her giving her all to Percy. When Percy breathed out, the Pearl in his heart would absorb the energies from the surroundings, helping Percy's last effort in trying to open up the meridians.

Slowly, the Vermillion light surrounding Percy grew denser. This Vermillion light resembled the dawning light of sunrise, bright and soft at the same time!

With the energy accumulated time and time again, Percy's body began to make sounds resembling the roars of dragons and tigers. His blood flow was like a mighty stream, flowing without restraint! The golden Ichor of Poseidon's Lifeblood slowly broke apart and started mixing with Percy's normal blood, as did the other divine bloodlines flowing through Percy. these Golden Ichor, the blood of the gods slowly diluted, then finally dispersed, completely fusing with Percy's normal blood as he was turned into a true demigod!

With each breath, the air around Percy swirled rapidly. It was as astonishing as a whale sucking in water.

"Phew–Phew–Phew–"

Percy's breaths became more and more heavy. Every breath would muster up his body, his body was like a boat being roughed up by the waves.

As his body moved up and down, the energy in Percy's body began to condense.

His tendons began to emit twang-like sounds, while his skin was like blown up leather. His bones emitted popping sounds.

When this accumulated to its extremes, Percy felt his body about to explode. He controlled his energy and sent the heat flow towards his Inner World, wave after wave, as if they were crashing on the rocks!

Percy slowly began to approach his limit. When the small vessels on the surface of his body was about to burst, he heard a "boom". With Percy in the center, energy exploded out. The rock Percy was sitting on cracked, and the trees in a five-meter radius broke!

Percy felt his body go limp. His nostrils, ears were all bleeding. But this wasn't fresh blood but black blood. Including Percy's pores, a greyish sweat pulp oozed out.

It's done!

Percy's eyes opened and a bright flash of Vermillion exploded forth. He had broken through to Demigod realm!

A.N.: quick update, since I love my readers. Thank you all for your support, without which I'd never have the will to keep writing! The next update will be another Hong'er Chapter. I'll answer any questions posted in the reviews, as well as the few pending questions from previous reviews. I'll also explain specifically how percy's strength is increasing and exactly how powerful he has become.

Also to motivate you and myself, you guys need to post ten reviews. Yes, I'm blackmailing you, and no, there's nothing you can do about it.

For now, ciao with peace from Manhattan!


	77. Hong'er Talks: Earth

**Hong'er Talks: Earth**

The Red haired Loli is found asleep in her usual spot, curled up happily on her bed. Her breathing is light and even, but she's drained out after transferring all her magic power into Master's body. Suddenly, her bright vermillion eyes flash open and she sits up, yawning softly as she stretches and looks around." Hmmm? When did so many people get into master's inner world?"

"Are you here to feed Hong'er Swords? Then there's no need to worry, she's already eaten up and she's nice and full. She just needs some sleep now, so you can leave." She looks up with a sweet smile, which slowly turns into confusion.

"You guys are here to trouble Hong'er again? Can't you see Hong'er is tired after transferring all her energy to her Master?" her cheeks tinge red and she shakes her head."N-no! Hong'er didn't do anything like that with her master! She just gave him her power through their skin! Really!"

About The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword

"Hong'er already went through this in Chapter 59, Date with Hong'er. Hong'er is a small fragment of the Original sword. It was a Beyond Extinction Class artifact, a weapon on the Level of Chaos, even higher than the primordials. Even in the hands of an ordinary human, it was a weapon which could kill gods in a single strike, and shatter the heavens! Of course, it isn't easy to get such a powerful weapon to accept you as its master, and for an unknown reason, the Sword was sealed away. But the daughter of the Azure Dragon God was curious about the legend and was influenced by the Serpent of Chaos, Apophis and she was led to the Sword. The sword was sealed and isolated, but after millennia, the seal was weakened. The Dragon God's Daughter was delighted at her discovery and attempted to unseal the sword and withdraw it. However, what she didn't know was the sword was in fact not sealed away. Rather, it was in fact a seal itself! This Heaven Defying sword was used to Seal the Two Original Entities, Niddhogg and Veorfolnir! With the seal unstabilized, the sword itself was unstabilized and broke apart, turning into four pieces as it tried to restabilize. Chaos realized the damage caused and immediately sealed the entire area, Sealing the main Body of the sword back into place. However, even the Daughter of the Azure Dragon God was caught in the seal, being sealed into the sword as a compensation for the three lost pieces. As a True Divine Artifact, the sword had a perfect affinity with all the elements in the world. The broken off pieces each carried away a bit of each affinity. Hong'er is the Attribute of Light! The Other two sword pieces Each carry the Attribute of Darkness and the Attribute of Fire! And each sword carries a part of the original power, able to slay the gods, and able to seal anything in existence! But the Price for a single attack is the lifespan of the wielder!"

Mysterious Demoness

" Author Nim is Introducing the Newer characters one by one! While this character won't meet Master in this book, she will make an appearance occasionally. Her actual story will start in the Second book. Just a brief introduction. Name is Velvet. Cultivation level is currently unknown, but we know she's of the Demon Race. Her combat ability should make it clear she has more strength than a Level 220 Overgod. Her current Alliance is also unknown so its unknown if she's Master's ally or foe."

XoverFan4evaaaa:

"Hong'er thinks you're kind of mixing this up. This simply has to do with the resources. Back in the Gaia continent, it was a big accomplishment to become a legend. Almost impossible to become a god. However, in the God realm, legends were the most common people around! This has to do with the energy present in the world as well as the resources. When Master first arrives in the god realm, he notices the powerful and rough energy. This energy is better for people to train and grow in, as well as allows them to break through into the Demigod Realm. This is why there were so many divine warriors in the god realm. Also, the people who become Demigod's in the lower realms, all come to the god realm to train further, just like Master. so it accumulates. As for the Overgods, this is because Earth has a cheat code to become an Overgod. That is, just accept the power of another Overgod. You become their follower, and in exchange they'll grant you just a bit of their strength and allow you to break through into Overgod realm. Just like how the previous gods could turn normal humans into gods."

"However, what Master is trying to do is Break into the Overgod realm of his own strength, breaking free of his mortality and becoming a god. That's why it's taking him so long."

"As for the Stages of Cultivation they are:"

The Gaia Continent:  
The Nine Mortal Phases: Training the Human Body to the absolute Limit  
Legend Realm: Exceeding the Realm of Humans, exceeding the Limits of your Body and Becoming a true Warrior.  
The Realm of Gods:  
Demigod Realm: Beginning to learn to use the Divine Qi of the World  
Minor God Realm: Able to use Pure Divine Qi.  
Full God Realm: Body begins to Transform into Divine Physique, Regeneration speeds up.  
Olympian Realm: Pure Divine physique, immune to all attacks unless your opponent is stronger than you.  
Earth(Ruined Realm):  
Overgod system:  
False Gods: People who accept the power of other Gods and Become Overgods. They are bound to their master and become their slaves, and are the weakest type of Overgods.  
Mediocre Gods: Accept the Power of Another god, then after becoming an Overgod, seal themselves into a human form and try to breakthrough again. Ability to Jump around ten levels against a False God.  
TrueBorn God: A human who dies, lets his soul disperse. Then by the virtue of his willpower and strength he reassembles his entire soul and brings himself back to life and Breaks through into Overgod realm. The Most rare and Powerful type of Overgod.

Overgod Level 1-1,000 (Minor Overgod): Able to summon their Domain into the real world and affect the area within.  
Overgod Level 1,001-1,100 (Major Overgod): Powerful enough to Permanently set up a Domain and rule over it.  
Overgod level 1,101-1,110 (True Overgod): Ability to Adversely affect the world around them, change the Climate and destroy large swathes of land.  
Overgod Level 1,111 (Peak Overgod): The Absolute Limit a normal Mortal can reach. Able to Attain the Teleportation of Gods and open Separate Dimensions. Can Store Living People and Creatures in their Inner World.

Celestial Realm: Realm of True Gods. There are no divisions between the different classes, but for the sake of convenience, the Realm is divided into ten Stages, depending on power.  
Primordial Realm: The Maximum Realm that any being born after Chaos can reach. At this level, the Warriors Inner World Will Transform into a Universal Domain.  
Beyond Extinction Realm: The Realm of Chaos, Yggdrasil, Niddhogg, Veorfolnir, Ratatoskr and Apophis.

"Now Hong'er will explain Master's increase in strength! First you have to understand is that till now, every battle Master has fought in the tower was against sealed enemies. Even though he has matched a Level 112 enemy in the tower, the enemy's Divinity was sealed away by the enchantments of the tower. Outside the Tower, they will be a thousand times stronger. So in reality, even though it looks like Master is quite strong, all he's doing is improving his combat skills and honing his body to the limit. Of course, this is a good thing, since his power is increasing to the absolute limit before his breakthrough. However, there is a limit to how much his strength can increase. For example, if Master could use an attack that could kill a Level 500 Overgod, in exchange, his own body would be destroyed in the backlash of the power. That's because his body is a normal mortal body. But Now, Hong'er has given him all her energy and fused his bloodlines together. Previously, the divine blood in his body was separate from his normal blood, making him a mortal. But now, with the bloodlines fused, he's a Demigod yet again! His reflexes have increased, so has his Body's endurance and his affinity for his power. Now you can see just how powerful he has become once he makes his appearance in his next battle!"

A.N.: Hope this answers all your questions. Goodnight. Special Dedication to Velvet.


	78. Chapter 78

**Important Author Note:**

Greetings fellow readers. It is I, Author Nim Herself. And today I come to you bearing the most grave of News. This story has unexpectedly been thrown into Hiatus. Yes, you read it right, Unfortunately, my parent's believe my spending of time on my laptop to be unhealthy for my studies. Hence, they have confiscated my laptop in order to ensure my undivided attention on my studies. I can attempt to write the story on my mobile, a task i find both unpleasant and difficult, and so I promise to continue writing this story. Updates will be made as soon as possible, but mqy take up to a month. I beg your pardon for the inconvenience that may be caused, but I am helpless in this matter. All I can do is keep writing and hope for the best.

Ciao, with peace from Manhattan.


	79. Demigod of the Sea

**Tenth Arc: Dark God Asura: Rebirth**

 **Challenging the Tower!**

The power of the ocean once again ran through his veins. As soon as he stepped into water, he felt that burgeoning power flood through him, filling him to the absolute limit. His Reflexes speeded up, his healing accelerated, his power surged!

On the other hand, the night brought new terrors to Percy, terrors he had long since forgotten. With the return of his demigod abilities, the Nightmares returned as well. Nightmares of the Dark pit he had seen back when he had first found out he was a demigod. Tartarus.

But now, there was a faint outline in the absolute darkness. A lean figure, holding onto the scythe that had claimed Percy's life. Kronos, Titan Lord of time chuckled as he viewed Percy." Perseus Jackson. Come to die again? Was one life not enough to convince you? the age of the gods is over. The Western Civilization is barely on its last legs. Without the help of the Titans, all of Humanity will perish at the hands of Tartarus and his Horde. Only I, the true king of the Universe can help you withstand Tartarus's invasion"

Percy was able to respond, despite this being nothing but a dream vision." What do you mean? You think you're any better than Tartarus?" he sneered.

Kronos sighed." You fail to understand. Tartarus is a being beyond your comprehension. And he holds no compassion for you or your kind. At the very least, I do not wish to see all of creation on earth destroyed. But Tartarus wishes to eradicate everything. Human, elven even the Nature spirits and non sentinient reatures. He wishes to destroy all of this. Which of us do you think is better to rule over earth? As long as the Titans stand guard, humanity has a chance of survival. But without us… you are already doomed."

Percy fell silent at his words. Then he shrugged." But if I have the strength to stop you, then I'm pretty sure I'd be able to deal with Tartarus myself."

Kronos boomed with laughter." When my Seal finally breaks, all the Titans shall be released. This time there will be no gods to protect you puny mortals! All that awaits you is another futile death!"

Percy's eyes flashed Vermillion in the darkness and suddenly, the darkness of the pit was driven back from around him, recoiling as if in fear." We'll see about that." He said coldly, and the darkness of the pit around him receded even further and he gasped as he woke up. He found himself lying in what looked like a small pool of salt water. He felt a nostalgic buzz filling his body, like his senses were finally waking up after a long sleep. The sharp scent of the water surrounding him lulled him into a peaceful daze. This daze was interrupted by a soft knock on his door.

Percy frowned. He had told them not to disturb him, so this naturally had to be a particularly worrying matter if they were calling him. he stood up and walked to the door, his skin naturally drying out as he stepped out of the pool. He quickly pulled on a new pair of clothes, replacing the ruined pair he had on, then opened the door.

Celia stood there, arms crossed." What have you been doing? Its already been three weeks since you entered isolation! The tournament is almost over!" she swept her golden curls over her shoulder and turned away from him." This is the last date to issue challenges. Have you decided on what you want to do?"

Percy shrugged and followed after her. Of course, most of his faction Members believed even he wouldn't be suicidal enough to challenge Thalia's faction. They were content with second place too. But some of the people who were closer to Percy all knew that he had a tendency to make extremely stupid decisions, led by his irrational ability to back up each of those decisions with strength.

And that was how the 'Surfing Faction', which was busy celebrating their securing second place in the tournament, was suddenly informed of Percy challenging Thalia's heaven Heaven Ascension Faction!

What ensued was a rush of everyone trying to get to Percy a nd ask him if his recent victories had driven him insane! Thalia was the strongest student of the Tower! Even the teachers, most of who were Major Overgods, were afraid of her strength! She was a true genius, able to jump almost a hundred levels in battle!

Of course, many people ignored the fact that Percy himself w as actually quite capable of jumping over hundred levels, as shown after he had defeated the level 112 Morgan with his level 0 cultivation. But the situation with thalia was entirely different! Even a hundred Morgan's were nothing compared to Thalia.

Of course, Percy knew all this already. Even with all his greatest strengths, he was simply too weak to ever compare to Thalia. But the difference was that he was still a mortal! If he could at least match up to her vice leaders, that by itself would be a big enough event to gain the attention of everyone in the Tower!

Since he had already anticipated that he would soon be besieged by the members if his faction, all who would take turns yelling at him for a while over his stupidity, he blockaded his room and decided to isolate himself from everyone till the battle began. He needed to be in his peak condition for this battle and he couldn't afford to be distracted before the battle.

However, just as he was finished and turned away from the doord he was immediately greeted by the sight of a familiar figure." Carter?"

Carter glanced up, almost as if he hadn't seen Percy before he spoke out. "Hello Percy." He smiled lightly and Percy shivered as his body was swept over by Carter 's dark eyes and he felt like he was being scanned down to his soul." you've been growing faster than even I anticipated."

Percy smiled drily. "thanks for the praise. But someone as busy as you would hardly turn up just to congratulate my growth." His eyes turned cold. "so tell me what brings you here today?" Percy sat down on the chair opposite to Carter. From what he knew about Carter it was unlikely he would mean any harm Percy. And even if he was planning to attack Percy, there was no way Percy could protect himself from such a powerful opponent. So for the moment he had no choice but to go along with whatever he was planning.

Carter smiled diplomatically. "such suspicious thoughts. But yes I admit that I do have other motives in this visit." he leaned forward resting both his palms down flat on the table between them. "I suppose thalia must have already showed you the video depicting the battles that the three of us fought against the three demon kin."

Percy nodded hesitantly. "Yes she did show me the three videos."

Carter chuckled softly. "Don't worry about revealing something that you shouldn't. I already know quite a lot more than you do. Thalia had approached me first, before even joining the Tower. And she already told me about the connection that you have with the Tower master."

-First Person POV: Percy-

It was like a bolt from Zeus that struck me. Why hadn't I thought of it before?! Carter was obviously someone on the same level of power as the Tower Master! He had to have some connections with him! If that was the case then they could just ask Carter's help in meeting Magnus!

Carter's smile widened was if he had guessed my train of thoughts. Then he wiped the smile off his face and shook his head grimly." I'm sorry Percy, but I cannot be of any help in getting you an audience before Magnus."

My hopes instantly flattened and my shoulders drooped. " W-why?!"

Carter sighed softly and gently placed his hand over his eyes as he leaned back against his sighed, then opened his fingers and peered at Percy. " the Tower master. Magnus chase... He... He was my best friend, my comrade in arms. I would have given my life to save him, and I know that he wouldn't hesitate to do the same for me..."

Carter dropped his hand and rested both fists on the table and glanced up at me, his eyes piercingly intense." Magnus... Came in search of me. Back when we were kids, I already had a terrifying reputation, born into a powerful family, taught Godly magic, with the most pure bloodline running through my veins. I had been taught from birth of my superiority to other people, and of how I was to use my strength to protect Humanity. And while I was the young master of the Kane household... Magnus was already living the life of an outcast in the Village of Elves. "

I sat up with surprise, mind spinning with surprise." village of Elves?! "

Carter seemed to be staring right through me, into a time long gone." yes... He was originally from the Village of Elves... Because he was not a human... He... Was a halfling, born of both Human and Elf!"

"A halfling?" i was baffled. So the strongest warrior of the human continent, Master of the Entire Tower... Was half Elf? This was something that I could never have expected!

Carter continued. " The village of elves is the strongest organization of elves present in the Tower Continent. But in comparison to the Humans, the elves in this tower are simply too weak. Even if they are the second most influential race, in reality they are oppressed and face discrimination from the more Dominant human race. And so they have strict laws and rules that must be followed at all times. One of those was the rule forbidding any warrior of the Village from falling in love with a human. However... The to be chief, the current chief's son happened to go out of the village for training. While he was out, he was ambushed by a band of Demons. He slayed every on of them, but in turn he was grievously wounded. He was waiting for his death when he happened to be discovered by a mortal farmer who had been traveling in the wilderness. This Human farmer brought him home and cared for him, using what meagre resources he had to try and heal him. Alongside the farmer was his daughter, who spent a great deal of time at his bedside, caring for him every time he needed anything. He had been severely injured but with the constitution of an Elf, he eventually recovered, but in exchange lost a great deal of his former power. He was already assumed to be dead by his village when he returned, but with a woman along. A mortal, human, woman."

Carter sighed and gave me a desolate glance." the entire village was swept into an uproar. If not for his status as the chieftains son, and the debt he owed her for saving her life, the village would have killed both of them for their blasphemy. But gradually, the village began settling down, when the news of her pregnancy came out. " at this, Carter made a pained expression." you must realize this Percy, Humans and Elves are separate species. We look alike, are similar in many, many ways, but we are not the same species. A human pregnant with an elves child... That is a difficult phenomenon. A child born with the comprehensive power of a human, and the magical affinity of an Elf would be a miracle that transcends the limits of belief. Thus the chances of conceiving such a child are low to the point of being non existent! Hence when Magnus's mother was found pregnant with a child, the elves naturally believed her to be a liar and a trickster, who had an affair with another human, but was trying to trick her husband into believing it was their child. Her husband had faith in her words and yet again he was forced to bear the brunt of his village's objections and shield her as best as he could. But even सी, how long could even he make it through all this? He was already weakened by his old wound, and now the burden placed on him by his family drove him to the limit as he once again suffered a relapse. She gave birth to the child whilst he lay in his death bed, and soon after he has vanished, unknown whether he had been spirited away or if he had left. But the village mourned his loss nevertheless, especially his wife Trisha, now a widow in a place where she was hated, bearing in her arms what her neighbors and family believed to be a bastard. Thus Magnus was brought to this world."

Carter gave a soft sigh, as if he was done, then smiled at me as he continued." unfortunately, this story did not end here. A halfling... Can be a blessing or a curse Percy. A blessing because the child born will be a genius, a true hero. But if mistreated, then this genius, once he matures, will destroy all his enemies. The elves knew that, hence they raised Magnus with utmost care, ensuring that he had the best facilities from birth, along with the best resources in the village. But what they did not anticipate was that Magnus proved to be a cripple, a waste with no talent, who despite all his resources, was unable to grow in strength."

I felt a tinge of surprise." the Tower master was a cripple?! "

Carter nodded." the elves of course were furious. They believed that this was proof that Magnus was not a Halfling. They had been tricked! Now Magnus, as well as his mother was shunned. They were cursed as decievers and liars, and both were outcasts in the village. Now Magnus was even more driven by the hatred of the people who mocked him and his mother, determined to prove them wrong. But despite his best efforts, his strength never rose. Finally, after he was twelve years of age, he was nearing the edge of sanity. That was when he heard the voice that changed his life. "

I looked up, my curiosity burning brighter with each word. Carter seemed to be getting his share of the fun by narrating this story. But then he simply stopped. I opened my mouth to protest, but he waved his hand." I've spoken enough on the matter. Rambling on like this is unbecoming of me"

"but now you've simply created more doubts about this than you answered!" I protested weakly.

Carter looked at me oddly, then stood. " I've found that the most difficult of questions can be answered by rest. You even have a battle coming up. You certainly need your rest. "

Before I could resist or even react, he stretched his hand out and lightly tapped the centre of my forehead with his finger. An irresistible drowsiness swept over me and my eyes fluttered shut and the world around me went black.

For the first time in my reborn life, dreams found me. In my dream I was standing outside a small but made of straw. In this life I had seen many poor dwellings but this certainly took the prize. It was a ruin, crumbling and teetering, patched with mud and straw, and it looked as if it would melt away in the rain or topple to a strong gust of wind. The windows, or misshapen holes in the walls were covered by thick pieces of yellowish paper, and the door was only blocked away from the outside by a curtain.

Even as I watched, suddenly the curtain was pulled out of the way and a thin, scrawny boy who could not have been any older than twelve years of age slipped through the gap and snuck out. He was obviously malnourished, with a bony figure and scrawny blonde hair he had left to grow in a disheveled heap down to his shoulders.

The boy glanced around, his furtive and guilty movements betraying the fact that he was upto some form of mischief. But that wasn't what caught my attention. It was the strong sense of familiarity, though Percy could have sworn this was the first time that he had seen the boy.

Suddenly a host of whispers filled the air around us and the boy glanced up with surprise. Then his eyes narrowed and he walked in the direction of the whispered words, and I was dragged along behind him. Clearly this vision wanted to show me something about this child.

As he walked, the whispers grew louder and more intense, echoing through the night. My body was covered with an unpleasant prickling sensation that grew stronger with each passing moment. My breathing sped up and I felt a sense of oppression cover me even though I was in a vision.

The child abruptly drew to a stop and the force tugging on me also disappeared. It was then that I noticed the many complex array symbols all carefully etched into the ground at his feet. They curved off into the distance, and even though I couldn't figure out how the array formed would work, just the sight of all the crowded symbols immediately sent a shiver through me.

These were all defensive symbols, all meant to create a powerful barrier impervious to all forms of attack and penetration methods possible. They were capable of withstanding powerful magic attacks, destructive physical damage, creating an isolated spatial seal that would prevent any teleportation. And the most fearsome part was the fact that only half of the symbols were created to prevent anything from entering the seal. The rest of the symbols were creating an equally powerful barrier to prevent anything from getting out!

This wasn't just a forbidden area! It had something dangerous trapped inside!

I wanted to yell at the kid to stop, to turn back at once. But my voice wouldn't work and all I could do was watch helplessly as he slowly stretched out a thin hand and rested it onto the solid barrier blocking him out. As he did, the whispers seemed to rise in a frantic rhythm, almost like a demonic form of music and the symbols on the ground flickered before losing their Lustre.

The symbols before him turned dark and suddenly a section of the barrier dissolved and broke apart, and the young boy stumbled in with surprise.

At that moment, the whispers finally Began making sense. My eyes widened as the aura hit me. There was no doubt about it. In the middle of the sealed ground, there stood an alter. And in the heart of the Alter, a sealing array was set up.

Devil God sword. Wasn't that what Carter had called riptide? Suddenly everything began to make sense.

There in the core of the Array, a single sword lay sheathed in the ground. It had a simple hilt, it's decoration simple but elegant. The blade was broad and flat, sheathed into the ground.

The boy... No... Magnus stepped forward as the whispers surrounded us. " Jie jie jie... Is that you my old friend? Finally... You have come back to reclaim that which was yours? To accept your power, as well as your destiny?"

Magnus stared uncomprehendingly at the weapon. "W-who are you?" his voice quivered with fear, but he didn't falter as he stepped closer.

"Me? I am your Birthright! The weapon your father left for you to claim, the testimony of the fact that you in fact are the Harbinger of the Wolf! If you accept my strength, I can make you a king, crush your enemies for you, and build you an empire to last for eternity! Accept my strength and I can grant you any wish you want! "

All these promises were the same as the one Riptide had made to me and I hoped that the kid wouldn't get tricked. But even as I watched, he reached out, almost as if in a trance. He took a firm hold of the hilt with his left hand then looked at the Blade again. " any wish that I want?"

"Jie Jie Jie. Yes, any wish you could dream of!" the blade vibrated intensely as it spoke and I tried to shout out that it was tricking him, but my voice was silent.

Magnus suddenly drew a sharp breath. " then Grant me my wish! I want strength, strength of my own, to vanquish my fears and protect my loved ones!" a bright glow, like the sun rising in summer spilled out of him as he unsheathed the sword and raised it high.

The blade hummed, almost as if it was resonating with him." Yes. As promised I will grant you your wish! Even the gods shall bow down before your might, and your swordsmanship shall be unsurpassed!" the blazing light grew so bright it blinded me and I was startled awake.

For a few seconds, I lay in bed, contemplating all I had seen. Then I raised my hand and examined it intensely." it seems like I wasn't mistaken" and I wasn't mistaken. There was a light hum, a buzz in my mind that hadn't been there before. And there was no mistaking it. Riptide had awoken.

A.N.: typing this on my phone was way more annoying than I thought it would be. Auto correct screwing up the whole thing. So there might be a few more mistakes than usual. But if I streamline the process, it won't be a problem to continue updating through my phone. This chapter is short, since I thought I owed you guys an update. Enjoy!


	80. Blazing Trail!

**Tenth Arc: Blazing Trail!**

The battle between the Surfing faction and the Heaven Ascension Faction became the hottest topic among all the students in the following days. Percy was nowhere to be found, and the entire faction was going wild with worry. The time of the battle drew ever closer and it was still uncertain as to what the strategy for the battle would be!

Celia, the one who held position of the Vice Leader in the faction was continually bombarded by the rest about what Percy's plan was and many people even begging her to cancel the challenge entirely!

However, Celia had seen enough of Percy's remarkable abilities in the past and she for one was firmly convinced by his skills! She firmly believed that since Percy was the one who made this decision, he must have a plan to back it up as well!

On the day of the battle, the last day of the entire tournament, all the First year students were all crammed into the seats of the largest Arena of the entire Tower. Similarly, many of the Second year students and even Third year students were present. After all, the Heaven Ascension faction was shockingly powerful! Not just Thalia, even her three vice leaders were Geniuses who would have been top of their class if not for the presence of thalia! Thalia herself was a Genius capable of Overwhelming even the third year students!

The heaven ascension Faction had also taken this challenge quite seriously. For the first time, all three Vice leaders were all present, though Thalia herself was absent. Of course, no one believed Thalia's presence was necessary. It would be a great fluke for even Percy to manage to outfight even a single Vice Leader! Because, each of them was a warrior above level 300!

They were all the most outstanding of thalia's followers!

Wicked eye, Master of soul warfare and illusions. He had single handedly pulled the entire Elven faction into one huge illusion and defeated each one of them in mere minutes!

Then there was Alice, the head Vice Leader, Thalia's assistant. Her swordsmanship was said to be almost unparalleled in the Tower, and she was terrifyingly powerful in battle!

The last Vice Leader was the mysterious Blaze. He was the only vice Leader who hadn't fought yet. But no one dared to doubt his strength. That was because Thalia herself had said, if not for her, Blaze would be the most powerful student in all of the Tower!

And while the rest of the warriors gathered in the arena, Percy Left isolation. His aura was calm and withdrawn deep into himself as he walked out of the room. To everyone else, there would be absolutely nothing different about him. But Percy himself knew what great changes his body and inner world had undergone. Of course, these were all his trump cards, something that he couldn't reveal so casually.

After all, according to the knowledge of others, after the realm of Mortals was the realm of Overgods. Percy had entered an entirely new realm, between the realm of Mortals and Overgods, and this was the realm of Demigods! The Body and blood of a God, but the soul and magic of a Mortal!

Not only was Percy now able to control his abilities to a greater extent, but even his body was stronger, and his depth of energy had increased as well. And he was finally able to control the Tree of Enlightenment blooming in his inner world!

-Arena-

After the referee finished announcing the names, he carried on, "Next, may the Heaven Ascension Faction and the Surfing Faction's warriors come up on stage!"

After the referee said that, a fatty dressed in yellow jumped up on stage from the Heaven Ascension Faction's side.

He was holding the dark gold gourd in his hand. As he raised the gourd high up, he loudly screamed. His presence was domineering!

The Heaven Ascension Faction audience was riled up as they started shouting back, "Wicked Eye! Wicked Eye!"

The fatty stretched out his arms and closed both his eyes. He was enjoying the cheers and screams of the audience. As a member of the Wicked Eye family clan, he enjoyed the infinite glory he got from allowing his surname to reverberate within the Tower's arena.

The cheers lasted for a long time, when they ended the fatty lowered his head slightly and looked at Percy with a provocative smile.

"Percy, I will go up first!" Celia said to Percy. She knew that it was impossible for her to win against fatty, but at least she could share some of Percy's burden. By scouting the battle ahead, she could allow for Percy to gain a better understanding of the fatty's fighting techniques.

"There is no need. I alone will be enough for this overall group competition."

Percy's words stunned Celia, "Percy, you want to fight against all of them alone?"

Percy said, "Actually… Not all of them will fight. Except for a few people, the rest are just there to make the numbers and can simply be ignored."

"Eh…"

Celia was speechless. At this moment, Percy had already walked up on the Stage.

"Percy! Percy!"

In the arena, there were also people from Tower shouting for Percy. Although this was the overall group competition and the hopes of the Tower winning were slim they could not lose their stance, even if they lost the match. Having more people, the Tower's cries managed to drown the Heaven Ascension Faction's cheers."

"It's useless to shout with that much strength. Although Percy is not bad, his abilities will be suppressed by Wicked Eye and he will not be able to use them at all." a Heaven Ascension Faction Elder said unhappily upon seeing the Tower's cheers drown out the Heaven Ascension Faction's cheers.

Percy's strength came from his 'Fire Attribute' and his Sword Dao.

However, fighting against Wicked Eye, what mattered most was the depth of one's Profound energy and the strength of one's spiritual mind.

There were only two ways in which Percy could turn the tables. Either Percy's cultivation level had to be higher than Wicked Eye, so that he could use his thick Profound energy to withstand the illusion technique, or he had to have strong spiritual mental powers so that he would not be affected by the illusion technique.

And for these two conditions, the former was not even up for consideration as Percy was still not at the Overgod realm, the depth of his Profound energy was inferior to Wicked Eye's.

As for spiritual mental powers, Wicked Eye had cultivated the Wicked Eye clan's mystic technique, which was a mystic technique that focused on training one's spiritual mental powers. So, his spiritual mental powers were much stronger than his peers, even more so when compared to a younger Percy. Why would Percy, a sword user, specifically train his spiritual mental powers?

Percy's sword techniques and cultivation techniques had no effects in a illusion technique battle.

This was the reason why Wicked Eye was so confident in himself. No matter how peerless your sword techniques were, so what if you could slash apart a mountain with your sword techniques? Once you get lost in the illusion, none of those abilities could be used effectively.

Although Wicked Eye was confident, he did not underestimate Percy. He took out the golden gourd from the beginning and planned to use the Seven Illusion Wolf Smoke.

"Percy! You are sure to lose!"

When the referee announced the beginning of the match, the fatty immediately opened up a distance and pulled out the stopper of the golden gourd. Right after, the Seven Illusion Wolf Smoke emanated out from it. It was like a colorful cloud.

The illusion only needed an instance to activate. It was impossible to use the short time gap to attack the fatty.

"Percy, preserve your mind. Do not fall under the influence of the illusion. Attack with your sword and finish off the fatty. He is not good at actual fighting, so if you were to inject the strongest combat power of the Heavy sword into your attack, just one attack alone will secure your victory!"

an elder's Profound energy transmission rang in Percy's ear. The old man's voice sounded anxious.

"Got it."

Percy responded tersely. He closed his eyes as his body was slowly covered by the Seven Illusion Wolf Smoke.

"If you think closing your eyes is of any use, then you are too naive!" The fatty grinned. Between his eyebrows was a glimmering ancient mystic mark. This was the Wicked Eye clan's symbol and was also the source of the illusion.

Under the shimmering of the mysterious mark, the Seven Illusion Wolf Smoke completed the forming of its barrier. The Stage was completely blocked off as the fatty pushed his illusion to the extreme.

At this moment, Percy still remained motionless.

The fatty did not lie. One could not withstand the Wicked Eye clan's illusions even with their eyes closed.

Percy saw that he had arrived in the desolate wilderness. This place looked familiar and resembled Snow song city when Percy was out training in the Gaia continents wilderness. And right in front of Percy was a huge Dragon!

This Dragon was staring at Percy with its red eyes. Its mouth constantly dripped with saliva while its fangs reflected a cold beam.

"the level nine Dragon…This is a desolate beast I have seen before. It is also a terrifying monster that I could not defeat back then. The Wicked Eye clan's illusions can dig up my memories of terrifying existences."

Percy's spiritual mental powers and Profound energy were indeed weaker than the fatty's, so he was not able to shake off the influence caused by the illusion. However, Percy's mind was clear, and he would not succumb to the illusion.

Actually, the fatty's illusion technique had not yet reached the ultimate realm. If so, he could easily cause his opponent to be lost in the illusion, and kills in the illusion would be reflected in reality.

However, even so, the fatty's illusion technique was still very deadly.

It was equivalent to cutting off the five senses of a warrior. Even if you knew that you were in an illusion, even if you knew everything in front of you was fake, you would not be able to do anything about it.

You would see the things in the illusion coming forth to kill you. At that moment, no matter how you resisted, you would not be able to break out of the illusion.

As for the fatty who was outside the illusion, he could attack at anytime, killing you in one strike.

At this moment, Percy was standing silently in the illusionary world. No matter how much the Dragon growled, he remained motionless.

Percy calmed his breathing, then shifted his consciousness into his Inner world before the fatty activated his illusion.

'tree of enlightenment! Bloom!' the Divine tree within Percy was able to absorb and control all forms of energy. And by using this ability, Percy could directly see through the illusion!

In the energy vision, all sorts of illusions lost their meaning. Percy was able to directly see the origin of the energy flows within this world.

He clearly saw, in his energy vision, that the fatty was huddled in one corner. His energy was not strong.

Percy even saw thread-like energies flowing from the fatty's body. It was likely that these energies were responsible for conjuring up the illusions.

"The Wicked Eye clan's illusion technique is quite impressive indeed. To any ordinary warrior, he would be doomed with no chance of winning!"

Many thoughts flashed past Percy's mind.

As for the fatty's illusion technique, It was completely ineffective against Percy.

Percy stood there without a single motion. His eyes remained shut as he pretended to still be trapped within the fatty's illusion.

Next, he allowed the fake Dragon to attack at him.

Phew–

The Dragon passed right through his body and disappeared like the wind.

Seeing Percy's reaction, the fatty laughed.

"I was pondering over the reason why you were so arrogant. So it is because you think that my illusions will be useless against you if you closed your eyes and remained motionless by not attacking or defending, letting the illusions attack you. It's ridiculously funny! The attacks within the illusion are indeed fake, but some attacks are real!"

The fatty laughed out loudly as he took out an axe from his inner world. He was not afraid to let Percy hear his words as Percy's five senses were being controlled by the illusion technique. Percy was unable to hear a single thing.

The fatty played with his Soul Cutting Axe as he slowly walked towards Percy. The axe was very short and there was an extremely hideous, ghastly face drawn on the handle.

"By falling into my illusion, you will lose your body's ability to resist. Let me use my Soul Cutting Axe to send you on your way!"

The fatty laughed. The axe could be injected with spiritual mental energy. Although he was not good at actual fighting, he could imbue a spiritual attack into his physical attack. One attack could severely injure his opponent's spiritual soul, making his opponent turn into a retard.

He purposely measured Percy's neck and head with the axe, as if he was choosing his angle of attack. Attacking Percy now was no different than attacking a motionless straw target.

Seeing the fatty gain complete control over the situation to the point of freely choosing the angle of his attack, the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors off-stage turned excited.

"Wicked Eye! Wicked Eye!"

They shouted loudly as their emotions amplified in excitement.

"Wicked Eye! Chop off the kid's head!"

"Wicked Eye! Cut him to pieces!"

Many of the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors were standing up due to their excitement. They were waving their arms. Some even drew their weapons and gestured motions that resembled the act of cutting off Percy's head.

With the Soul Cutting Axe in hand, the fatty raised both his hands to enjoy the cheers. Following that, his eyes immediately turned cold as intense killing intent appeared in his gaze towards Percy.

"Kid, don't blame this Fat Lord."

The fatty grinned as he leaped up to charge at Percy!

His fat body began moving and he looked like a bouncing ball. His speed was not very fast, but there was no need for speed as his opponent could not dodge.

The fatty rushed right in front of Percy and he injected spiritual mental energy into the Soul Cutting Axe, making it emit a black light. The ghastly face on the handle began to emit wailing sounds that were like a ghost crying!

At this moment, the referee in charge of this match turned nervous. He was, after all, a Tower law-enforcer, so he was worried that the fatty would heavily injure Percy on purpose. He was prepared to make a move at anytime to save Percy. This was instructed to him by Carter as Carter had to guard against the fatty's strange illusion techniques.

However, just as the referee was about to make his move, he was stunned. In his extreme focused spiritual perception, he suddenly noticed that Percy's body was circulating immense amounts of Profound energy. It was as if a calm pool of spring water had suddenly transformed into a violent vortex!

At that instant, the Soul Cutting Axe's black light seemed to stall. The originally motionless Percy reflected in the fatty's eyes suddenly opened both his eyes.

Percy's gaze contained a hint of sneer and sinister playfulness.

What!?

The fatty's grin immediately froze. He was like a mortal who was sneaking up on a tiger and, when he raised his metal fork, the tiger suddenly woke up.

Percy's right hand, which had been constantly closed this entire time, suddenly sprang up and in his hand appeared a cold metallic brick.

Everything happened in a split second!

Percy suddenly took a step forward and with his Profound energy exploding, the pure profound energyi from the 'Golden Crow bloodline' was injected into the brick. The pure Yang flames burned as the brick came crashing down at the fatty's head.

The fatty momentarily went into a daze. Although he was not good at actually fighting, as long as he was mentally prepared, he could dodge, but… Percy's sudden attack had exceeded all his expectations and understandings. This resulted in Percy's attack completing about half its trajectory before the fatty suddenly woke up from his daze to retreat.

However, it was already too late!

How could the fatty's speed compare with Percy's?

Percy quickly caught up and, like a maggot that could not be shaken, the brick hit the fatty's oily forehead!

"Peng!"

A thud boomed out and people heard the unmistakable crack of a skull fracture. The fatty's body bounced off as if it was a ball that had impacted a wall. He then flew out tens of meters before heavily crashing into a purple tungsten wall.

"Boom!"

Like the sound of a dead pig crashing down from a high height, the fatty's body was like a large pancake that slapped onto the wall. After a few seconds, his body slowly slid down to the ground.

Left behind on the purple tungsten wall were gruesome blood stains. The fatty's face was covered in blood with his eyes staring wide open. His expression was that of seeing a ghost.

Percy's attack had been too sudden. The final explosive attack at the last moment was Fast! Accurate! Ruthless! It did not give the fatty any chance of dodging.

Around the Divine Wilderness Stage, the Heaven Ascension Faction audience were like roosters who had their necks squeezed. The cheering stopped as the cacophony of voices turned into complete silence that resembled that of a graveyard. All of this happened in a second.

They were still maintaining their standing positions with their arms high up in the air. Their expressions were that of excitement as if they were waiting to see the mayhem that was to occur. All of that had been frozen on their faces. However, the mayhem that happened did not befall on Percy, but instead it befell the unlucky fatty.

A group of people seemed to turn into a row of standing zombies. They were silent, stiff and twisting.

The reversal had happened too fast. They had yet to understood what had actually happened.

This included the Tower's warriors who were also confounded. They did not understand how Percy won. Was the fatty's illusion useless against Percy? Even Morgan could not break through the illusions, so how was Percy able to do so?

A. N. : who else wants to see all the new abilities percy has gained. To the confused souls. Percy isn't an Overgod. He's a true Demigod now, with a pure divine bloodline. Also, hopefully updates for the next three chapters will happen on a weekly basis!

In reality all these chapters are just to describe[Fill] Percy's[up] new[words] powers[and] and Abilities[chapters].

First, we've displayed Percy's latest ability, Divine Tree of Enlightenment!

The battle with Alice will showcase his Swordsmanship!

The battle with Blaze will... Keep reading to find out!

The story might go into hiatus before the final battle of the book. That is the battle between Percy and Magnus. That needs a lot of planning and will be a long battle, with not just battle scenes, but flashbacks and breakthroughs, as well as scenes of explanation by Chaos and Nyx. And the reason for this long author note is to let you know that the story has entered the final stretch!

Ciao with peace from Manhattan!


	81. Jade Maiden vs Asura

"Percy, are you alright…?" Celia worriedly asked as Percy came off the stage, but she quickly realized that her question made no sense.

Percy looked as if he couldn't be any better. In fact, it looked like he never took part in a huge battle. He had casually loosened his muscles, warming up his body before casually defeating the fatty.

Thinking back to the battle process, Percy had won far too easily. From beginning to end, he had only stepped forward once and attacked once. Besides, the weapon he used wasn't even his Heavy sword…

If one ignored the time it took for the fatty to prepare his Seven Illusion Wolf Smoke and illusion technique to bewitch Percy, then it took them less than the blink of an eye to exchange blows. This was definitely the fastest Percy had ever taken care of an opponent.

Celia did not really know what to say.

This fatty was not some nobody. He was from the Wicked eye clan and this mysterious family clan's mystic technique was dreaded by countless numbers of people. In the Heaven Ascension Faction, this fatty should be ranked in the top 3. He had defeated Morgan and countless other geniuses, but against Percy, this fatty had suddenly transformed into a straw sack. If Celia had not seen the match between Morgan and the fatty with her own eyes, she would have never have believed that the fatty was a top expert.

In the Elder stands, Carter was stroking his chin and he was also very alarmed.

"Could this kid have specially trained his spiritual mental powers?"

Originally, he did not have any hope in Percy truly defeating the fatty, because he could not conceive how Percy could win. It was only because Percy often surprised him pleasantly that he hoped that there would be a pleasant surprise this time. This was the unconditional trust and anticipation he had in Percy.

However, not only did Percy give him a pleasant surprise, it was such a ridiculously pleasant surprise that it made it hard for Carter to believe it.

Though, now was not time to question Percy in detail. Carter stroked his chin as he suddenly recalled something. He turned his head and looked at the Heaven Ascension Faction Elders with great interest.

As expected, Carter saw the two white-robed Heaven Ascension Faction Elders look like their dear sons just died. Their expressions were extremely ugly.

This made Carter overjoyed. His current feelings could be described in one word: "awesome".

"Alice, what are you doing!?"

One of the white-robed Heaven Ascension Faction Elder was fuming with anger. Especially after seeing Carter's sardonic, wretched and arrogant smile, he was so angry that even his liver ached.

Letting go of the fact that Percy won the teenager group competition, now he also flaunted himself in the overall group competition. Many of the Elders could not bear it any more!

"Elder, I do not know what happened either. Wicked eye's illusions seem to be ineffective against Percy." Said a girl, in a palatial attire, from the Heaven Ascension Faction's participant benches. She was the leader of the Heaven Ascension Faction's participants.

When they first reached the Surfing Faction, this girl and the fatty had been over watching everything, looking down at all of the Surfing Faction cultivators. Back then, the fatty was commenting on others while being highly spirited and vigorous.

Unexpectedly, when the real battle happened, he was nearly beaten into a retard by a kid with a brick.

Alice found it fascinating. Even when she fought the fatty, she had to be extremely careful. She had to use the accumulation of her family heritage's "Clear Minded Curse", the fact that her cultivation level was higher than the fatty's and the experience that she gained from fighting warriors with illusion techniques to barely beat him.

Percy had nothing. How did he win?

"No matter what the reason is. I absolutely do not wish to see a loss in the next battle!" The Elder said unhappily.

Alice took a deep breath and said, "Do not worry, Elder."

While Alice was conversing with the elder, the Surfing Faction warriors in the arena were filled with high emotions!

Percy's brick really allowed them to vent their frustration!

When they saw the fatty's various forms of arrogance earlier, the Surfing Faction warriors had to suppress their anger, wishing they could go up and step on his fat face.

However, everyone knew that the fatty was very strong. He even defeated the entire Elven faction singlehandedly. Even Percy would find it difficult, what more them.

They never expected to see the fatty jump up and down on the stage, acting smug and all, only to later be bricked down by Percy. What else could be more exhilarating than that?

Therefore, the Surfing Faction warriors now only wished that they could rush up to the Stage and toss Percy up into the air.

In this state of excitement, the Surfing Faction warriors cheers went on without any signs of abating for just a bit under 15 minutes.

Only when the referee went on stage did they slowly quieten down.

"Next match, Heaven Ascension Faction, who is fighting?"

The referee did not bother asking Percy as Percy was already standing in the middle of the Stage.

Seeing Percy's calm expression while standing on the stage, the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors did not look too good.

"This kid must have some method of breaking through illusions. Senior Brother Wicked eye isn't good at fighting. Furthermore, Percy took him by surprise and made him suffer. He might not have that much of an ability, I'll go up and finish him!" A youth dressed in a red shirt said just as he was about to jump up on the Divine Wilderness Stage.

However, just as he jumped, he was pulled straight back by Alice.

"Shut up!" Alice suddenly boomed.

"Senior Sister, I…" The youth in red was left dazed by Alice's berating.

"Do you think we haven't lost enough face? You really think Percy is weak? Or do you think that you can squash him just because he's young? Do not forget that you need to suppress your cultivation level. Back then, even Morgan lost!"

Alice's words left the youth in red speechless.

His strength was only ranked above average in this group of people, so he naturally did not dare to refute Alice.

As the leader, Alice had the right to decide who was to go up on stage. Alice was originally considering letting their 4th or 5th rank person battle Percy as they wouldn't fight too poorly.

However, now, with Elder's authoritative command, Alice was thinking of going up herself.

This match had to finish Percy off. For even if they won after letting Percy go through a series of battles alone, it would be too shameful.

Before Alice went on stage, she subconsciously looked at the corner of the participant benches. A pale faced youth in black sat there. His hair covered his eyes. Even when the fatty was defeated by Percy, he never seemed to have any reaction.

Alice took a light breath of air before she walked straight up on stage.

"I'll fight you!"

"Oh?" Percy's heart thumped. In the Tree of Enlightenment's energy vision, Percy had sensed that this girl in palatial attire had surging energy.

"This girl's strength… is very strong!"

Percy knew that he had easily defeated the fatty because he used trickery, thanks to the Tree of Enlightenment.

Unfortunately, the fatty's abilities were completely countered by Percy. Furthermore, Percy had purposely given the fatty the false impression of "I've fallen into your illusion, you can attack me now", luring him to come closer to him. And in the moment that the fatty thought he had already won, Percy beat him with one strike.

This fatty had really been badly cheated by Percy.

The battle was won easily, but Percy would not look down on the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors because of it.

Amongst the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors, there were people who were extremely frightening, so much that Percy did not have complete confidence against them.

For example, this Alice was not an ordinary person.

Against this girl, Percy immediately retrieved his Heaven smiting sword.

"Percy, I never expected that in my trip to the Surfing Faction, my first battle would be against you, a child."

Alice looked at Percy as she slowly took her palatial gown off.

Alice's body was slender and she was an elite of the Heaven Ascension Faction. Although she wore a tight combat attire under her palatial gown and wasn't revealing anything provocative, the blood of the hot-blooded teenagers present started pulsating through their veins upon seeing the stripping scene.

Some of the Heaven Ascension Faction's youths even started cheering loudly, shouting out Alice's name.

Alice was very popular in the Heaven Ascension Faction. She was the object of admiration for many of the male cultivators.

Alice was different from Fatty Wicked eye as she did not have the slightest reaction to the cheers. She was only looking at Percy. At this moment, Alice had already appeared in her combat attire that clung closely to her body, perfectly showcasing her relatively well-developed mature figure.

She slowly took out a broad and tall, ice-blue metal box from her inner world.

There was a slender, foot-long sword hilt on the top of the ice-blue metal box.

It was a sword case.

The sword case was wider than Alice's waist and it almost looked like a door. It did not match Alice's figure.

Percy looked carefully at the weapon, "Truly… an exotic weapon, but… you seem to be older than me by only a few years."

Percy found it amusing. This bunch of elites liked to act older than they were. Just because they were a few years older, they would label others as children. However, it was likely that, as the leader of these people, this young girl was used to being a young leader and considered herself mature.

"My sword, is actually not exotic…"

As Alice said that, she lightly pressed on the sword hilt as if activating a mechanism. With a soft "Ka" sound, the sword case opened and numerous small sword cases popped out of the main sword case as they split into two sides.

There were a total of 18 sword cases and they formed into a semicircle, like a peacock's tail. Every sword case had a sword hilt to it.

"Oh? This is…"

Percy looked at the ice-blue, fan-shaped sword cases. These weapons seemed very gaudy.

A single person using 18 swords? Why did the people from the Heaven Ascension Faction like to use so many swords?

Alice smiled, "My swords are different…"

As she said that, she gently pulled out a sword. This sword case was made of an unknown metal which was ice-blue in color, and so was the sword itself. The sword was about four feet long and the blade was not more than three fingers wide. On the blade, there were blue lines resembling ice cracks, making it extremely beautiful.

Alice said, "Usually when I fight others, using up to my fourth sword will be enough. Today, I have to suppress my cultivation level to the early stage of the Overgod realm while fighting you. I wonder how many swords I will need? I might even need to use all of them."

As Alice said that, her figure moved, and an unbelievable scene occurred. Behind Alice, water vapor started concealing her, causing her figure to turn blurry, as if she was conjuring many phantom images.

After that, those phantom images suddenly turned into real bodies as they walked out one by one from behind Alice. These girls were identical to Alice, as if she was part of multiple births.

"Huh!?"

Percy was shocked. What sort of cultivation technique was this? Cloning technique?

A person could suddenly split into so many people?

Percy knew that these were not after-images formed from extreme speed but actual bodies!

Every Alice was identical in terms of clothes and dressing. They all came before a fan-shaped sword case and pulled out a sword.

In a split moment, there were 9 Alices standing in front of Percy, each with a sword in hand.

"For this battle, let's begin with 9 swords!"

The 9 Alices held up their swords and a row of flashes from the ice-blue swords' ice fragment cracks was reflected, creating a dazzling scene.

"Percy, this is a water-elemental mirror-image." Carter's Profound energy transmission rang in Percy's ear.

"Oh? Water-elemental mirror image?" Percy was shocked. The water-elemental laws of the five elemental laws, was a law that had multiple transformations. Different warriors would end up with completely different insights when they tried to understand the water-elemental laws.

For example, Alice was currently manipulating the mirror-like properties of water.

Others would use the water-elemental healing properties, the water-elemental defensive properties, water-elemental attacks or water-elemental elixir refinement.

Every realm, when completely understood, could give rise to a top expert, or a talent many factions would woo to fill a support role.

At this moment, the 9 Alices formed a circle, enclosing Percy in the center.

Percy knew exactly which one that was Alice's actual body, but identifying which one did not have much meaning to it. The water-elemental mirror images were not used to confuse the enemy but they were used to kill.

"Jade Maiden Nine Swords Array!"

All nine Alices moved together! Their motions were uniform as four swords stabbed at Percy's head. Percy brandished his Heavy sword, warding off the four swords. However, at this moment, from between the bodies of those four girls came another 4 sword attacks that stabbed forward like venomous snakes!

The other four girls were behind the initial four girls. They coordinated their attacks and their sword techniques were extremely precise!

Percy had not yet recovered from brandishing his Heavy sword, so he was unable to do anything but use his Minute Subtlety movement technique to dodge to the side, surviving the second round of attacks.

However, at this moment, another Alice came attacking out from thin air.

This Alice was the real Alice!

"Autumn Waters of a Sword!"

Alice's sword slashed out. In the sky, her Profound energy formed into the phantom image of rippling autumn waters with the setting Sun shining as the sky darkened in the golden lit sparkling autumn lakes. It was extremely beautiful.

This sword's beautiful scene was intoxicating, but Percy knew that behind the beautiful scene, there was deadly killing intent!

Percy gathered an amount of Profound energy as the phantom image of a Heavy sword mountain in the midst of a sea of blood appeared behind him, as if Ashura hell had entered the human realm. This phantom image was in deep contrast with Alice's Autumn Water Sword image.

Heavy sword Truth's 32 Words – Killing At Its Core!

Percy's killing intent exploded as his Heavy sword beam was stained blood-red. Red Profound energy gushed out, breaking the Autumn Water Sunset in front of him apart!

"Clang!"

The Heavy sword and sword clashed, issuing a clear ring!

The strong impact made both Alice and Percy retreat backwards. With a thought, Alice used her Jade Maiden 12 Swords!

"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!"

Another 3 female figures flew out and, with a chime from the sword cases, 3 swords flew out and entered into the hands of the 3 girls!

These 3 girls attacked at Percy, sending another 3 swords stabbing right at Percy's face!

At this moment, Percy held his Heavy sword back. Seeing the nonstop attacks from the water-elemental mirror images, Percy's eyes were filling with killing intent. He bit the tip of his tongue as he gathered Profound energy.

Golden Crow's Flames!

Boom!

Percy's Radiant Sun Qi exploded and behind him, the phantom image of the Golden Crow formed.

Percy slashed with his Heavy sword, which now contained the Radiant Sun's power.

The Heavy sword Truth's 32 Words – Reigning Supreme!

The flames burned as the pure Yang Profound energy surged. The sky above the arena was immediately dyed golden by the golden crow flames, as if a Sun had fallen into the human realm!

"Peng! Peng! Peng!"

The 3 closest girls exploded in front of the Radiant Sun, turning into water vapor. Under the pure Yang flames, they instantly evaporated.

Three swords fell to the ground.

With his attack succeeding, without pause, he and his Heavy sword flew out in a beam. His target was the fan shaped sword case that was erected on the ground!

He could tell that the core of Alice's Jade Maiden Sword Array was the large sword case, so Percy wanted to destroy the sword case's power!

Seeing Percy's actions, Alice grunted coldly!

Jade Maiden Sword Array – Ten Thousand Swords Firing in Unity!

In that instant, Alice's sword case shot out ten thousand beams of golden light. Each golden beam was a beam made out of Sword Qi!

The remaining 6 swords issued a clear ring as they left the scabbard and directly flew towards Percy!

The six swords flew together with 10,000 sword beams!

Percy constricted his pupils and quickly retreated!

There was no way to dodge such a dense amount of sword beams. As Percy retreated, he brandished his Heavy sword to break the attack.

"Cha! Cha! Cha!"

The Heavy sword beam directly clashed with the sword beams while Percy's protective Profound energy was constantly punctured by the swords!

At this moment, Alice's main body attacked Percy from behind.

Jade Maiden 18 Swords!

Alice circulated her Profound energy to an extreme as 18 mirror images simultaneously appeared. Even the 3 mirror images that had previously been destroyed by Percy's Radiant Sun Qi were once again recreated. As long as Alice had any Profound energy left, she would be able to constantly create new mirror images!

Out of the 18 Alices, 12 of them wielded swords while the other 6 were using their fingers as swords. A cold beam emerged out from their slender fingers that were no different from swords!

The 10,000 sword beams, together with the 18 Alices, attacked Percy from the front and the back!

At this moment, everyone in the audience were highly focused on the match as they held their breaths!

Percy had no way of dodging. He sent his thoughts to the Tree of Enlightenment, and activated the Golden crow Soul's energy. Immediately, all the pure Yang Qi around him rushed towards Percy.

Golden crow Soul, explode!

"Boom!"

In the Tree of Enlightenment, what was a quietly burning Golden crow Soul now completely exploded. It was as if a Sun was born inside Percy's body. By using the Heaven Earth Profound energy, Percy was able to attack in all directions! Even the phantom image of the Golden Crow behind Percy exploded.

The flames burned, repelling Alice's 17 mirror images and completely shattering the 10,000 sword beams.

Even so, Alice's main body broke through the pure Yang burning flames, but her sword's momentum was greatly reduced.

The main body's sword flew directly at Percy's heart!

"Cha!"

The sword Qi stabbed through Percy's protective Profound energy, heavily impacting the pure Yang energy. Percy flew backwards, like a kite, flying diagonally out of the Stage.

Alice's attack had lost all of its momentum, so she was still unable to hurt Percy at all.

Percy pressed his chest lightly as he adjusted his breathing and his Profound energy as he looked up at Alice.

At this moment, Alice's long hair was a mess. There were many tears on her clothes. Even with the protection of her protective Profound energy, her combat attire could not withstand the powerful Heavy sword Qi.

And behind her, the 17 mirror images had completely exploded into a pool of water.

Percy's attack was powered by the Golden crow Soul's energy. He may have expended quite a bit of energy, but he finally managed to break Alice's Jade Maiden 18 Swords Array.

Around the Divine Wilderness Stage, the audience stared on in silence as the battle was so intense.

In comparison, the battles before were similarly intense, but they were, after all, only sword and Heavy sword attacks. There was plenty of aggression and blood, but they were not as magnificent as this.

They were unlike this battle. The gorgeous lights and the picturesque phenomenon formed in the sky was a feast for their eyes.

The audience around the Stage were staring unblinkingly at the stage, afraid to miss any of the exciting scenes. The atmosphere in the entire arena seemed to freeze.

Especially the Surfing Faction warriors, who were even more nervous. At this moment, only Percy could fight for their Surfing Faction.

And until now, the battle between Percy and Alice was a close call. It was hard to predict what the outcome of the battle would be.

"You really are impressive!" Alice looked at Percy and showed some appreciation of him, "Unfortunately… your cultivation level limits you, dooming you to fail in this battle!"

When Alice said this, before Percy could respond, the Surfing Faction warriors off-stage immediately roused up, "This Alice sure can brag. Wasn't her 18 chicks array or whatever broken by Percy!?"

"Right, she couldn't even beat him with 18 people. What's she so cocky about!?"

As Percy had created a series of victories previously, many Surfing Faction warriors had absolute confidence in Percy. Although the outcome of the battle was currently not clear, they still hoped that Percy would be able to create a miracle at the very last moment.

Some of the Surfing Faction warriors were already standing up, jeering at Alice. However, Alice was not affected by it and simply turned a deaf ear.

Alice continued, "Percy, the accomplishments in your Heavy sword techniques is shocking. As for your understanding of the 'Golden Crow's Flames', it far exceeds your peers. Unfortunately, your cultivation level has not broken into the Overgod realm, so you are lacking in Profound energy. Your struggle in gathering Profound energy could be seen when you were dealing with my Jade Maiden 18 Swords Array."

Alice's words pointed Percy's weakness out in the previous round. When Alice attacked with 18 people, there was no gap in her offense, and the attack was like a relentless rain.

Percy could handle the first wave of attacks, but the second wave would follow closely behind!

This meant that Percy had no choice but to forcefully gather his Profound energy. This created extreme pressure on his body and meridians.

If Percy was in the Overgod realm, the depth of his Profound energy would prevent that from happening.

Even the Surfing Faction warriors had to admit that what Alice said was true.

But so what if it was the truth, Percy might still have hidden moves. At the final critical moment, he could conquer and secure victory!

In the audience stands, there were Surfing Faction warriors beginning to shout words of encouragement to Percy.

However at this moment, Alice grabbed the sword handle on the opened up sword case with a single hand.

"Oh? Could it be…"

Percy's heart thumped. After Alice's sword case was opened, there were 9 swords on both sides of it. All the hilts were pointing upwards, like that of a opened peacock's tail.

However, the fact of the matter was that right in the middle of the sword case was another sword hilt. Percy had previously thought that the sword hilt was the handle to the sword case, but it did not seem so anymore.

"Clang!"

With a clear ring, Alice pulled out a huge sword from the top of the sword case!

The sword's blade was 156cm long, it was as wide as a palm, which meant that it was much larger than the other 18 swords.

This heavy sword was more suited for a stout man. It looked quite jarring to see Alice holding it.

"This 19th sword's name is the Angel Sword, and it is also my last sword…" Alice said as she threw the sword into the air.

And at this moment, Alice's body began glowing, as if countless pieces of silver was shimmering.

In this light, a light entity in the shape of a young girl appeared from within her. Her arms were covering her chest and her body was curled up. And on her back was a pair of wings.

"Pa!"

The girl spread out her wings and they spanned nearly three meters, covering Alice completely.

The girl stood up from the light. She seemed to have hatched out from a cocoon. Finally, the "Angel Sword" floated in front of the girl.

She slowly grabbed the Angel Sword and pointed it at Percy!

This winged girl was more than two meters in height. The huge sword suited her very well!

"Inner World Manifestation?"

Percy constricted his pupils. From the beginning of the battle till now, Alice had not conjured her Inner World Manifestation. Percy never expected that Alice's Inner World Manifestation was the shape of a girl. Looking at the girl, besides the wings behind her back, she looked identical to Alice.

""Phew! Phew! Phew!"

With a soft sound, water-elemental mirror images began appearing beside Alice!

A row of Alices stood. And in the air, there was a winged girl totem.

"19 swords!"

Seeing Alice's Inner World Manifestation and her forceful stance, all the Surfing Faction warriors who had previously cursed at Alice immediately shut up.

Against such a Alice, they too began to lack confidence.

"There's such an Inner World Manifestation?"

The Surfing Faction warriors looked at each other. Amongst the Inner World Manifestations, they had seen beast-like ones the most, along with Nature type Ones. They had also seen Inner World Manifestations in the shape of weapons, such as Heavy swords, swords, spears and halberds.

However, it was very rare to see a humanoid Inner World Manifestation.

For a person's Inner World Manifestation to resemble themselves identically, and with another pair of wings was shocking. It was like the mythical legends of gods!

The winged girl had a listless expression. She seemed to ignore everything, including Percy.

Her wings were gently flapping as a layer of hazy light covered her. The sword in her hand shone a cold beam that threatened one's soul!

"Percy, he…" Artemis, Celia and company, who were sitting in the participant benches, could not help but be worried. One could tell a warrior's strength from their forceful stance.

The current Alice was as such.

The Surfing Faction warriors were all silent. Those who were standing up began to sit back into their seats as they looked nervously at Percy.

And opposing the Surfing Faction audience was the Heaven Ascension Faction audience who started cheering. Many of them had never gotten the opportunity to see Alice display her ultimate combat power.

In such a state, Alice gave off the feeling of a fairy landing in the human realm.

"Breaking my Jade Maiden mirror-images was useless too. My Profound energy is thicker than yours. I can conjure an endless number of Jade Maiden mirror-images. As for your Profound energy, can you sustain it?"

Alice's cold voice rang as she pointed the icy marked sword at Percy.

A total of 19 swords uniformly did the same!

Percy's face turned serious at being pointed at by 19 swords.

Alice was indeed very strong. Percy knew very clearly that with the powers that he had displayed, it was impossible to defeat Alice.

Percy was even considering if he should conjure his Inner World Manifestation.

At this stage, Percy could no longer hide the fact that he had Broken Through his mortal form and entered the Demigod realm.

If he needed to explain to Carter and company, it might be complicated, but it wasn't like he was unable to explain it away. As long as he retold the story of how he had a special artifact that contained ancient energy. It was reasonable. The only thing that was incredulous was how he managed to halfway become a god, still retaining his mortality, yet gaining abilities of a god.

Percy's Inner World Manifestation may be powerful, but it had a problem, that was it expended too much Profound energy!

Alice was right. Percy's cultivation level was his weakness.

Percy estimated that using his lacking Profound energy to support his Golden Crow totem only allowed him to use about one to two attacks.

After conjuring the Golden Crow totem, even if he defeated Alice, Percy would likely take days to recover his Profound energy.

But, this overall group competition was one where his opponents would fight him one by one.

Later on, Percy still had to face the other opponents from the Heaven Ascension Faction, especially the youth in black. That youth's strength was extremely mysterious that made him worry.

In an extremely weak condition, it would be difficult for him to carry on fighting against the youth in black.

Percy realized that it was extremely hard for him to win the overall group championship alone…

Regardless, he had to do the best he could. Everything else was left to providence.

"Percy, now I will combine all my 19 swords together. Let me warn you that, due to my present cultivation level and also it being recently learned, I am unable to control the strength of this move well once it is used. It might cost you your life. As a genius, there is no need to risk your life for an alliance tournament. It's still not too late to admit defeat now!"

With a sword in hand, Alice looked elegant with her hair fluttering in the gently wind!

Percy looked at Alice and took a deep breath. He touched his interspatial ring and a simple sword appeared in Percy's hand.

Sword!?

Everyone in the audience was stunned seeing Percy take out a sword. Wasn't Percy a Heavy sword user? Why did he pull out a sword?

Percy looked at the sword. Its blade was four feet long and emitted a cold shimmer.

Carter had told Percy that story for a … It was one of the highest quality swords, a cursed Demon God Sword.

Even experts were unable to use the sword to its greatest capability.

"Indeed…" Percy gently touched the sword blade and seemed to be speaking to himself. "There are some moves whose power is difficult to control. Although it is not a life and death match, it might still cause death. After all, in a final confrontation, when going all out, one cannot guarantee how much strength is used when using a move that you have not perfectly grasped…"

"You may have one, but so have I…" When Percy said these words, the entire audience went into silence.

What did Percy just say? "But so have I?"

By saying that, didn't he mean that he too had a move that he found it hard to control, that might even take the life of Alice!?

Alice was so strong, yet Percy could actually take her life?

Could it be related to Riptide?

Is that really true?

Percy had always used a Heavy sword, so this made people find it hard to believe that he could have a more powerful move using a sword. After all, since ancient times, warriors would usually specialize in one weapon. In the history they knew, it was extremely rare for a person to train in both sword and Heavy sword!

"You have used a sword before… but you specialize in heavy swords do you not?" Alice's eyebrows frowned slightly as she looked suspiciously at Percy. Before, she had some information on Percy. In the Surfing Faction, his weapon had always been a long Heavy sword.

"I've never used it in the past, but now I have to use it. I have a vague understanding of this attack. I too am not confident I can use this attack to its full extent. And you will be my first opponent to face my sword attack!"

After Percy said this, Alice's eyebrows knitted even closer.

"A sword attack you just learned?"

If not for Percy previously beating the strong Morgan , using some unknown technique to defeat Wicked eye through trickery, and having a remarkable battle record, Alice would have suspected that Percy had a mental problem. He was actually going to use a sword attack that he recently learned to attack her with all he got when he had never even used a sword before.

"there is an astounding recording of a sword master. . I had the privilege of viewing it and gained some insight." Percy gave a vague explanation. Alice was stunned upon hearing this. There was a sacred ground for learning the way of the Heavy sword and sword in the Surfing Faction?

Alice did not despise Percy. Her powerful stance was continuously rising. It was as if she had become a Jade Maiden mountain that could not be looked at.

In the Elder stands, Carter's fingers were rapping on the table. His thin palm was oozing with sweat.

What is this kid doing. Does he really want to use a move he just learned ?

"Carter, Percy was learning the ways of the sword from the recording?"

At this moment, the stern voice rang in Carter's ear.

Carter felt bitter. It was him who had told Percy that story.

Carter was helpless. Percy had a bright future ahead of him with Heavy swords, yet he wanted to learn swords. He really was someone that made one worry.

And at this moment, Carter had no time to explain any further. The 18 Alices as well as Alice's Inner World Manifestation raised their swords.

The sword beams were intertwined as they filled the sky. Seen from a distance, it was like an immense ocean. This ocean was a vast expanse of misty, shimmering, rolling waters.

The ocean was filled with a vast amounts of water.

People held their breaths. From the beginning of this match, Alice's moves were all too shocking.

At this moment, Alice struck. 18 sword beams, together with the Inner World Manifestation's sword, entered the vast ocean, giving rise to a huge wave. This wave was filled with killing intent. It was not a phantom image of Profound energy, but formed from sword Qi.

There was not only one wave. One wave followed another as each wave rose higher than the other. There were a total of 9 huge waves now surging right at Percy like mountains.

Within the waves were terrifying sword Qi!

At that moment, the warriors below the Divine Wilderness Stage, especially those who were facing the surging wave, felt the sword Qi at their eyebrows. It made them feel frightened and distraught. Many people subconsciously moved backwards.

One could tell how terrifying Alice's sword attack was just from the sword Qi's prowess which was enough to force these favored children of the Heavens to retreat!

At this moment, Percy, who was standing in front of the roaring ocean and huge waves, appeared small in size. He looked like a little boat in a storm, completely negligible.

Percy held the Riptide tightly. In Percy's vision, time seemed to come to a stop. The huge, surging wave seemed to move extremely slow.

There he stood, silently in front of the huge wave. In his mind, the Tower Master's huge sword scar became even clearer. It was as if he had actually seen the past scene of the Magnus creating that scar with his very own eyes.

And that world destroying battle in the strange time-space. The bronze giant who was brandishing his halberd, ripping off a corner of the world, but still nearly had his head cut off by the Tower Master !

Percy could not reproduce the attack, but in this imagery, Percy had managed to capture a trace of the sword attack's concept.

This conceptual trace slowly fused with the sword moves Percy learned from Hong'er.

Immediately, Percy's mind seemed to be blessed. It was as if something had been activated as the concept and sword moves fused together.

He closed his eyes, ignoring the roar of the ocean. Without any conscious thought, Percy raised Riptide and gently slashed downwards!

At that moment, Heaven Earth Profound energy was pulled in. Everything began to condense into sword Qi. These sword Qi began roaring from all directions. In the sky, the phantom image of a huge divine sword began to condense!

This resembled the sword Magnus once used! However, what Percy was now using was a sword move from Hong'er.

Only… Percy had added an inexplicable concept into the sword move.

This was one of the strongest concepts. This concept seemed to be like a god having graced the lands, showing disdain at all life!

"Weng–

In the audience stands, the swords of some cultivators began to roar with a clear sound. Some of the swords even began to violently shake. Without the control of their owners, they even unsheathed themselves!

"My sword!"

A person quickly pressed and held onto his sword. The lower the cultivator's cultivation level was, the greater the influence on their swords were!

In the air, Percy slashed the huge divine sword that had been condensed downwards, right into the raging huge waves!

Strangely, this fierce impact was without sound. It was as if everything in the world had lost its voice.

The huge waves were split apart by that one sword. It was like a mountain having been split by a divine sword!

After the first huge wave was split apart, the divine sword did not lose its momentum. It was an irresistible force.

Wave after wave was split apart one after another. The divine sword slashed straight at Alice's eyebrows!

"What!?"

Seeing the powerful sword Qi coming towards her, Alice was in a shock. At that moment, she really felt the approach of death!

"Alice!"

At this moment, a white-robed Elder in the Elder stands stood up!

At the same time, Alice pointed with her sword tip, and behind her, the 17 water-elemental mirror images, as well as her Inner World Manifestation, charged directly at the sword beam.

"Peng!"

With an fierce impact, the 17 water-elemental mirror images exploded, turning into water vapor before completely disappearing. Even Alice's Inner World Manifestation was split apart by the sword beam.

Alice's body violently shook as a sword scar appeared from Alice's shoulder, going all the way down to her thigh. Her body flew out just like that!

While flying backwards, Alice could feel that her body had almost been torn apart by the sword Qi!

Having her body torn apart would no doubt mean her death!

And at this moment, she suddenly felt her body become light. A white-robed old man had appeared behind her like a ghost. This white-robed old man grabbed Alice with one hand, and flicked his sleeve with the other!

"Peng!"

With a loud explosion, the huge phantom sword image formed from sword Qi was shattered by the white-robed Elder!

However, the shattered huge sword still formed into tiny pieces of sword Qi as the fragments spread out wantonly as they emitted "Chi Chi Chi" sounds. These sword Qi wandered around in the air for a long time…

"This sword Qi!"

The white-robed Elder focused his eyes. These sword Qi actually had a trace of an undying property.

Clearly his strength exceeded that of Percy and could easily destroy the sword Qi instantaneously, but the destroyed sword Qi still remained lethal. It made people feel apprehension.

At this moment, Alice, who had been saved by the white-robed Elder, was pale in the face.

There was a shocking wound on her body. It was almost as if her body had been cut open. If not for the white-robed old man suddenly appearing, Alice would really have been killed by Percy's sword attack.

The entire audience turned silent upon seeing this scene.

Alice's terrifying final attack, with 19 swords as one, was broken by Percy? And it was broken in such an easy fashion?

Even Alice herself nearly got killed by Percy!

What attack was this? Wasn't it too terrifying?

"This attack… how could it be?"

Carter found it fascinating. He could faintly feel that this attack was somehow different from the previous attack Percy had used against Morgan.

He could not explain what this tiny difference was. Could it be something that Percy had added?

As for Carter, being the person who told Percy that story, his expression was as if he had seen a ghost after seeing Percy's final sword attack.

He still did not understand what had just happened.

"This kid… he…"

Carter looked at Percy with his eyelids twitching.

At this moment, Percy's right hand, which wielded Riptide, was completely covered in blood.

On his arm, one blood vessel after the other burst open and blood flowed out of them without stopping. It looked as if he had been fished out of a blood pool. It was shocking!

The hand which Percy used to hold the sword was trembling. It looked as if he found it difficult to even hold the sword.

Riptide's attack had actually burst all the blood vessels in Percy's right hand!

A.N.: you probably expect a big explanation. Truth is pretty simple though. I got grounded for almost two months. Back to updates


	82. Inner World Manifestation

At this moment, Blaze quietly stood up. Without a word, he walked up the Stage.

When Percy saw Blaze appear, his pupils constricted. He gripped his sword's hilt tightly and breathed slowly. At this moment, Percy was a like a desolate beast that was poised to attack.

Finally, he was going to fight this youth in black!

Percy could guess the difficulty of this battle. If he was still at his peak condition, he would definitely look forward to the battle with Blaze, and would be filled with confidence.

However…now, Percy was lacking in confidence. He did not know how strong Blaze really was, nor did he know what moves he had.

The entire arena immediately turned silent.

Everyone was watching the Stage quietly, awaiting the final battle.

In the participant benches, Artemis, Celia and other Surfing faction warriors were worried for Percy. Unless a miracle happened, Percy was unlikely to be able to use the strong sword attack he used to defeat Alice.

Without that attack, could Percy win against the unfathomable youth in black, Blaze?

Amongst those people included the people in the Elder stands. There, the expressions of Carter and company were solemn. They did not know what the outcome of the battle would be. Now, Carter no longer cared if Percy won the overall group championship, he was only worried about Percy suffering any mishaps. If that happened, it would not have been worth it.

In the corner of the arena was a girl in Black clothes. She was watching all of this quietly.

She was Thalia.

Thalia gave the reason of her not being interested at actual combat to not participate in the alliance tournament. However, she had quietly come to the arena to watch the final match.

Since she was just there to watch, she was not worried of having any abnormalities discovered, as long as she didn't reveal the special energy within her body.

Up on the Stage, the black-clothed youth was hugging his sword and did not attack Percy.

"Are the two of you ready?" A Surfing faction referee asked.

At this moment, Blaze extended a finger and looked at Percy, "One two-hour period! I will only wait one two-hour period!"

When he said this, the entire audience became slightly stunned.

Two hours? This black-clothed youth was giving Percy time to recuperate?

In the seats of honor, the Elder in charge of the Heaven Ascension Faction frowned.

Although he was extremely confident in Blaze, that even if Blaze were to fight against Percy in his optimal state, he would have 80-90% chances of winning, he did not wish for Blaze to give the other party time to recuperate his physical strength.

After all, this match was of grave importance. If a 100% guarantee could be accomplished, then it should not be any less.

"Blaze! You are being too arrogant!" The Great Elder said with a stern voice that rang in Blaze's ear. "You do not have the right to underestimate the enemy at this moment!"

"I'm not being arrogant, nor am I underestimating my enemy. I just want to have a proper and real duel. If the Great Elder isn't agreeable, you can always find someone else to replace me."

"You…" The Great Elder glanced at others as he frowned even more. Without Blaze fighting Percy, it was useless hoping for the others to win.

The Great Elder knew Blaze's personality. No matter what others said, once Blaze made a decision, he would not waver. His personality caused one headaches.

The Great Elder had no choice but to accept it. He knew that punishing Blaze was also pointless.

"Two hours?" Percy looked at Blaze with surprised. He never expected the other party to have such a request. He looked at the Heaven Ascension Faction's authority, the Great Elder who did not have any objections.

As such, Percy sat down cross-legged, "Even if you are giving me time, I will not go easy!"

"That suits me!" Blaze's voice was clear. "Resting for two hours will also not restore your arm, this actually…isn't a battle I want."

Blaze looked at Percy's hand and felt a sense of regret. He wanted to experience the power of that sword attack.

"You will have the chance in the future."

Percy hurriedly began conditioning his breathing. He calmed his mind and slowly the Power of the Great Way of the Buddha began circulating through his body. Though there was no water lending his its strength, the water deep within his soul suddenly welled forth, flooding his inner world and cleansing him thoroughly. Even as people watched, the damaged flesh on Percy's arm started wriggling as it started healing rapidly in front of their very eyes!

Two hours of rest was extremely important for Percy.

His opponent was not only Blaze, but the rest too.

He expected the fight with Blaze to be even harder than the battle with Alice. After finishing the battle, even if he won, he would be left with even less Yuan Qi.

Time slowly passed as everyone watched the stage with bated breaths. No one spoke a word, nor did anyone leave.

People were waiting for the two hours to pass.

Percy's hand no longer bled, and his meridians were slowly joining up. As long as he did not use the complete sword intent from the Tower Master, Percy's hands would be completely fine.

Percy, who was meditating, slowly felt the Golden Crow species blood in his body burning. This energy made Percy's body fill with fighting spirit.

Blaze watched Percy from a distance of 30 feet away. Bit by bit, he wrapped a white cloth around his hand. When he finish winding the cloth, Blaze stood up and said calmly, "The time is up."

As Blaze stood up and drew his sword, the arena, which was originally very quiet, became so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Blaze was finally fighting. Due to the Heaven Ascension Faction's side being so strong in the alliance tournament, Blaze had never needed to fight until now.

This was the first time he was actually fighting in any real sense of the word.

Percy also stood up and, with his right hand, took out the Heaven Smiting Sword.

A Heavy Sword in his right hand and a sword in his left.

"His Heavy Sword is in his right hand while his sword is in his left hand. Is Percy going to rely mostly on the Heavy Sword?"

Many people began to worry upon seeing Percy use his Heavy Sword against Blaze.

To them, Percy's sword was much stronger than his Heavy Sword.

"Why is he not using his sword?" Many people were curious.

Someone shook his head, "Against Blaze, it is likely that Percy cannot continuously use his sword, or maybe it is that he will not be able to handle the energy drain."

Percy's sword attacks were only stronger than his Heavy Sword attacks when the Devil God Sword's sword intent was used. And once the Devil God sword intent was used, even just a tenth of it would be beyond that which Percy's body could handle.

Nonetheless, if Percy was going to rely mostly on his Heavy Sword, how was he to defeat Blaze?

"Thank you for giving me two hours to recuperate! Are you not afraid that by giving me two hours to recover, it might led to your defeat?"

Percy casually shook the Heaven Smiting sword as he injected Yuan Qi into it.

"Weng–"

The Heavy Sword blade emitted a clear hum that sounded like the roar of a dragon. The sound waves alone could kill.

Blaze however, was not affected by the hum. When the sound wave was 3 feet away from him, it was destroyed by his protective sword Qi.

"If you want to thank me, just go all out! It has been a long time since last I looked forward to a fight. I can only wish for you having the ability to defeat me. It is a pity that, in the past two years, I have never suffered defeat against the Heaven Ascension Faction's younger generation."

"One victorious battle after another, not only does it not make me feel delighted, it also makes me feel perplexed. The Heaven Ascension Faction is just a tiny stage, I do not want to be blinded by the halo titles of being 'Heaven Ascension Faction's Number One' or 'Invincible amongst the Younger Generation'. If I do, I might not know how strong I am when I leave the Heaven Ascension Faction and enter a stronger faction. Maybe I would be as ridiculous as a frog in a well?"

"I do not want to end up in that situation. Therefore, your appearance has made me excited. If I were to be defeated by you, I will feel glad. I am not afraid of others surpassing me, I am only afraid that I do not know how far a real elite has progressed. If humans do not have a goal, they will be lost! Only with a goal will I be excited!"

The usually silent Blaze suddenly spoke a lot.

Percy was slightly stunned upon hearing this. He never expected Blaze to have such thoughts and vision.

Indeed, be it the Heaven Ascension Faction or the Tower continent, they were just a drop in the ocean of this vast world.

Blaze could not see how vast the world was, but he could foresee it.

As for Percy, he really had seen a corner of that magnificent world. In the past, he had been a proud demigod, battling Gods and Titans!

The mushroom knows not the alternation of day and night, while the short-lived cicada does not know the seasons. If one were to see the vast world yet not explore it, turning to dust hundreds or thousands of years later, then what difference was there between them and the mushrooms and cicadas?

Such a life was too insignificant for people not resigning to fate. Percy wished that he could be an equal of the world, becoming a main character of the current generation.

With the LifeBlood of Poseidon, Percy was already standing higher than others. As such, did he have any reason to slack off?

"Words are needless, let us fight!" Blaze said and with a light "Chi" sound, lightning emerged from his sword's blade.

The purple lightning were like small snakes surging wantonly.

The law Blaze cultivated was Lightning!

Overgod Realm realm elites all cultivated a certain law. Thunder-elemental laws belonged to one of the nature-based elemental laws of Wind, Snow, Thunder and Lightning. They were ranked equal to the five elements, but exceeded them in power.

"This sword's name is Black Light." Blaze stretched out his index and middle finger as he gently stroked the sword's blade. The sword blade was black and did not reflect a single beam of light. It was only three feet long and the sword's pommel was unsophisticated while the sword's hilt was covered in old snake skin. Under the illumination of the lightning, the snake skin's scales had a luster sheen.

"I am going to attack!"

Just as Blaze finished speaking, a purple beam suddenly flashed. The Black Light sword had stabbed straight through Percy!

Blaze's sword was so fast that it exceeded the limits of human recognition.

People only saw a purple flash and then Blaze's sword had pierced through Percy's chest!

"What?"

Some people gasped, but in a blink of an eye, Percy's figure slowly blurred before completely disappearing.

Percy's body had already appeared more than a hundred feet away.

It was an after-image that was stabbed.

Seeing Percy look completely fine, many Surfing faction warriors let out a sigh of relief. This attack was too soul-wrenching. Before they could even react, the sword had already hit its mark. Thankfully Percy's speed was very fast, if it was switched to them being on stage, they would have died.

"Your movement technique is not bad. !" Blaze praised, "However… Sword Stances is just a form of controlling one's body. By perfectly doing so, one can dodge the attacks from enemies, but…"

Once Blaze said that, his words took a sudden turn, "There is a limit to how well you can control your body. The potential of Sword Stances is only that much. It is only able to work wonders at a low level. When one's level slowly increases, especially when one begins to learn laws, the power of laws will far exceed that of Sword stances and will completely replace it! As for Thunder and Lightning, it is the law that is best for speed."

"If what you just did was the limit to your speed, then I am afraid you have already lost!"

As Blaze said that, purple lightning flashed all over his body. Just a simple movement of his formed multiple layers of after-images around his body.

"Extreme speed!"

Blaze shook his Black Light sword and after-images began to appear. It was impossible to tell Blaze's position. This time, Blaze's speed was even faster than before!

Soon, the stage was completely filled with Blaze's after-images. There were tens of after-images!

Many people focused their minds, trying with great difficulty to see through Blaze's after-images, but it was to no avail. It was as if Blaze had completely transformed into a lightning bolt. His figure was surging around on the stage freely, leaving behind traces of lightning.

There were streaks of lightning and after-images of Blaze everywhere!

"Such a fast speed! This black-clothed youth can trump many just with his speed. Besides, speed should just be a small aspect of his strengths." Even a Surfing faction Elder's expression changed upon seeing this!

All the martial arts in the world could not be defeated if one was fast enough. If the speed reached an extreme limit, one could pierce through an opponent's throat before they could even react. This was the split moment that decided victory.

People looked with bated breaths as the after-images surrounded Percy.

Percy tightly clenched his heavy sword and became extremely wary. Blaze's speed was indeed very terrifying.

"Cha!"

A purple beam flashed and like a lightning bolt, appeared before Percy and sent out a hundred stabs in an instance!

These dense sword beams formed a lightning web that covered Percy.

Sword stances! Dance of the Sword God!

Percy's pupils constricted as he hurriedly retreated backwards. However, Blaze's attack was too fast, so fast that it far exceeded Percy's dodging speed.

"Chi! Chi! Chi!"

Along with the sound of lightning, Percy's protective Yuan Qi was torn apart. The lightning current surged into Percy's meridians and made him feel paralyzed.

Percy's clothes were cut apart by the sword Qi, blood appearing on his arms and shoulders!

Golden Crows Flames!

Percy circulated his body's Yuan Qi. With the pure Yang Qi, he annihilated the lightning powers within his meridians. His body flashed and he was now 200 feet away!

It was too fast!

Percy felt awed. He had just used a perfect movement technique, yet he was still unable to completely dodge Blaze's sword beams.

No matter what law it was, once it was understood well enough, it would be so powerful that it was shocking. And Blaze was no doubt a youth that had reached an extreme level in the Thunder and Lightning elemental laws.

"I have not met my match amongst the Heaven Ascension Faction younger generation because none of them are able to keep up with my speed! I can easily attack anyone who is slower than me. It's even to the point where I even have many methods that I have never tried before. It is a huge regret of mine! Percy, is this as far as you can go? If that is the case, then I am too disappointed. Originally, I was looking forward to going all out when fighting against you!"

As Blaze said this, there were many lightning after-images around his body. Above the Stage, there were surging purple bolts everywhere. Clearly, it was very easy for Blaze to maintain this speed; hence, he could speak this calmly.

Upon seeing this scene and hearing Blaze's words, the Surfing faction's warriors were shocked. They finally understood how strong Blaze was. If their speed was inferior to his, then they would be defeated by him. However, with such speed, who could match him?

Percy's speed was already very fast, but it was still inferior to Blaze's!

And taking 10,000 steps back, even if he could catch up to Blaze's speed, Blaze still had other tricks up his sleeve.

Extreme speed was just a small portion of Blaze's Lightning laws.

Completely opposite from the warriors' astonishment, the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors were burning with excitement. Blaze was their Heaven Ascension Faction's god of war, and was also known as the Son of Lightning.

Most of them had only heard of Blaze, but had never seen him fight.

Today however, seeing Blaze's prominence, they felt extremely excited and were greatly looking forward to it!

"As long as one's speed is inferior to yours, they will be defeated by you?"

Percy gently wiped off the blood from his body. Percy had always been confident when it came to his speed. Back when Percy's strength had not greatly increased, he had relied on his speed to take on Luke. Percy had previously amazed everyone, but now however, he could only admit that he was slower than Blaze.

With slow speed, one was at a greatly disadvantaged, whether it was offensive or defensive!

If he could not block Blaze's stabs or touch Blaze's sleeves when attacking, then there was no doubt that the results of this battle would end with his loss.

This was why Blaze said that if Percy's speed was inferior to his, then Percy would be easily defeated.

At this moment, Blaze's speed increased again. There were more and more after-images appearing on the stage, and each after-image was surging with lightning, completely surrounding Percy!

No matter who faced Blaze, that person would end up experiencing extreme pressure!

Other than his extreme speed he also had unfathomable strength.

Percy's speed clearly could not keep up with Blaze's. This worried many of the Surfing faction warriors.

At this moment, Percy closed both his eyes. A human's eye would have the after-image of a person left behind in it if the opponent was faster than a tenth of a second. As Blaze's speed was too fast, one would only see numerous after-images due to his blazing speed. As a result, it was very difficult to lock onto Blaze's location.

Tree of Enlightenment! Bloom!

Percy opened up his energy vision. Within the energy vision, all the after-images disappeared, only leaving behind a energy beam that moved at high speeds!

The energy vision could see through to the most fundamental energy flow, leaving no after-images behind.

In his energy vision, Percy was able to clearly see Blaze's location.

"Percy closed his eyes!?"

"Is he only relying on his perception?"

Seeing Percy close his eyes, people were alarmed. To Mortal realm warriors, their Yuan Qi perception was relatively weak so it was inferior to using their own eyes.

In this split second, people had no time to think over it carefully as they saw a purple beam flash past!

"Cha!"

The Black Light sword's trajectory left an energy ripple in the air.

Percy felt as if he was standing on a lake. Blaze's sword was like a swimming fish, and as it swam, it agitated the lake's water, forming ripples that reached Percy's heart.

At this moment, Percy made his move. With a Heavy Sword and sword, Heavy Sword and Sword Combined!

Percy did not use the sword intent. His own understanding of the sword exceeded most humans!

"Ka-cha!"

Percy's sword and Heavy Sword clashed against the Black Light sword!

The energy collision set off a fierce explosion as purple light swept across the area, as if many purple snakes were dancing in the air. And within this surging wave of purple, there was also burning pure Yang energy!

Percy's Heavy Sword and sword Qi were burning like the Sun. He had blocked Blaze's attack head on!

Blaze's attack speed was fast, faster than Percy by a lot, but Percy's sword and Heavy Sword moves had characteristics that Blaze lacked. They were steady, as Percy's domineering stance was like a towering mountain. His energy was like the roar of the ocean!

In a blink of an eye, Blaze and Percy had exchanged hundreds of blows!

During this period, the number of attacks Blaze did were at least twice those of Percy's as their speed differed by a level.

If this was any other person, an opponent whose speed was inferior to Blaze, that person would have been defeated by Blaze's fast attacks.

However, this time it was against Percy, as such, the situation was completely different.

Although Blaze's attack speed was faster, he was not able to break through Percy's defenses.

That sword and Heavy Sword were like a dragon and a tiger. They defended Percy's body flawlessly. It was impossible to break through them.

Blaze would attack twice, but Percy would use a single move to block them both.

The exchange of blows became more intense. People could only see the numerous after-images in the middle of the stage. It was like a crazy storm. Blaze's speed was obvious, and although Percy's speed was a bit slower, that was only relative to Blaze. To others, it was still an unattainable speed!

Sword beams! Heavy Sword beams!

Pure Yang energy! Lightning energy!

Marks began to appear on the purple tungsten tiles of the Stage due to the unrestrained surging energies.

"This is too terrifying. Is this the battle scene of the number one people from the Heaven Ascension Faction and the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom?"

Quite a number of people in the audience came from other smaller factions. Their tournament was separate from the Heaven Ascension Faction and the Surfing Faction.

Seeing Percy exchange blows with Blaze, no matter how much the factions did not want to admit, they definitely had no temper left.

"This speed… This strength. Our number one person may be pretty wild, but compared to them, he will probably lose in just a few seconds…"

"Ours is about the same. There is always someone stronger…"

A few warriors from the smaller factions said as they swallowed their saliva. They had never thought that it would be possible for the younger generation to fight at such a high level, let alone see one.

At this moment a "Peng" sound rang out as some Yuan Qi exploded, sending out a shock wave. Percy and Blaze separated from each other.

The exchange of blows before was like a storm. It was unknown how many blows they had exchanged.

Percy and Blaze stood about 200 feet apart. The remnant Yuan Qi still lingering between them.

"I have to admit that even with my speed being faster than your's, I still cannot beat you by using speed!"

Blaze's voice was solemn. Before this, he had always won just by using his speed. However, today, against Percy, he had to change that view.

One could still break through fast speeds.

Previously, the opponents he faced were all lacking. Now, against an expert, such unexpected scenarios could happen.

Percy said, "When you are obsessed with speed, your attack power naturally weakens!"

"You are right. Fighting with you has not disappointed me. You and I have to battle to mature. Only by facing more experts will we learn. Only then will we no longer become flustered when we face unforeseen circumstances in a life and death battle."

Blaze said as he stabbed his sword into the purple tungsten tiles.

"Zi Zi Zi!"

With the sound of electric currents being released, Percy felt a current from from the tiles. It made him feel numb!

Percy immediately circulated his pure Yang Qi to withstand the attack.

"Oh? Blaze transmitted lightning into the purple tungsten tiles, using the ground to attack Percy?" Many people were stunned. The ground seemed to be adverse against Percy.

Soon however, they shut up. They realized that a purple light curtain had appeared above the Stage. Like a huge bowl, it engulfed the Stage.

"This is?"

Many people were confused.

"It's a force field!" Amongst the crowd, a person at the human lord level alarmedly said, "Force fields are also known as a domain. Only a very limited number of people are able to have such supernatural affinity with certain laws . Only then can they gain such insight. Unexpectedly, this youth in black can have his own force field at such a young age…"

Anyone could learn laws when they reached a high realm of cultivation. The only difference was one's level of understanding of the laws.

Force fields however, were different.

Force fields were extremely profound. Non-geniuses amongst geniuses would not be able to gain such insight.

If one's affinity with the laws were insufficient, then one would not be able to gain insight into force fields throughout their entire lives. And this affinity with laws was decided congenitally. The results from subsequent hard work was extremely limited.

When Blaze used his lightning force field, even the Elders in the Elder stands were shocked, let alone the audience.

This black-clothed youth was no doubt a darling of lightning. He was a natural Son of Lightning.

His understanding and affinity with the lightning laws were shocking!

Being trapped in the lightning force field, Percy felt the current passing through his skin, which made his whole body feel numb.

"Since I can't defeat you just with speed alone, let me fight you directly!"

Blaze's body was encased by purple lightning in a spasmodic manner. His clothes and hair moved along with the purple lightning.

By setting aside his speed, Blaze's energy soared. At this moment, he was like a god that controlled thunder and lightning.

"Roar—!"

It was as if a behemoth roared from Blaze's body as he made his move. This was the first time he was using all of his strength.

The Black Light sword, which gathered the divine lightning within the lightning force field, slashed towards Percy as it emitted a tumultuous whizzing sound. The purple lightning gathered in the air as it reached an extremum, turning black in color. This black lightning eventually condensed into the shape of a lightning beast that was tens of feet long!

This lightning beast looked life-like and it's appearance was that of a black tiger. It charged at Percy.

"Lightning Kill!"

When the black lightning beast flew at Percy, the purple tungsten ground beneath it melted into a molten metal.

This sort of power made the audience hold their breaths.

Seeing the black lightning beast attacking him, Percy's body surged with Golden flames as his aura rose.

Percy knew that this attack from Blaze was extraordinary. Due to the difference in their cultivation levels, it was impossible for him to withstand it just with the power of his flames'.

Phew–

Within Percy's body, the Golden Crow spirit's energy surged as he pushed the golden crow soul to an extreme. The Golden Crow spirit rapidly absorbed the pure Yang energy from the surroundings. The soul spirit, which was originally burning quietly, transformed into a blazing brilliant Sun.

The Golden Crow Soul nearly charged out of his inner world. It's searing power was like a tidal wave that filled Percy's limbs. Percy felt as if his body was burning up.

Heavy Sword Truth's 32 Words – One With the Heavy Sword!

Percy slashed his Heavy Sword. His body and the Heaven Smiting Sword combined into one, and shot out like a meteor.

Boom!

The strong impact resulted in an aftershock that cut the purple tungsten ground up like sharp Heavy Swords.

"Careful!"

The warriors closest to the Stage could clearly feel the terrifying sword and Heavy Sword Qi. Even with the protective shield separating them, they still felt the immense pressure.

The first direct clash resulted in Percy's body shuddering as his hand numbed from it.

He felt the lightning entering his body as it wantonly surged through his meridians. Blaze's lightning seemed to have an endless flow of power that even the pure Yang energy could not easily dissipate.

Similarly, Blaze did not feel any better. Percy's Heavy Sword Qi was too sharp. Besides, after gaining an insight into the Demon God sword intent, Percy's Yuan Qi had an additional trace of an undying property to it. This undying power would appear even when Percy did not use the Pure Yang Sword Palace's sword intent on purpose.

As such, Percy's pure Yang energy was like an inextinguishable flame that burned in Blaze's body. It was ineradicable so Blaze's entire body felt the pain.

Both of them retreated more than a hundred feet from each other. Their faces were pale as their blood was in turmoil.

"Percy!" Seeing Percy's pale face with a deep frown, Artemis, Celia and company started to worry for him.

Blaze was too strong!

From the strength Percy had displayed up till now, it was already very difficult for him to win this battle. Even if he had won, it would have been a Pyrrhic victory!

Just from that clash of blows, both of them sustained severe internal injuries.

Blaze being injured was no big deal, but with Percy injured, the situation turned sour.

After all, after Blaze, there were still more Heaven Ascension Faction warriors left!

These people may be far inferior to Blaze and Alice, but they were also strong. Relatively speaking, Morgan, who Percy defeated in one sword attack, was just average amongst the group.

Percy had expended a lot of Yuan Qi when handling Morgan, even though it appeared as if it was easy.

If he were to fight against these people after fighting Blaze, how much Yuan Qi would he have left?

At that time, it was unlikely Percy could use that sword move again.

"Good Heavy Sword attack! Such strong pure Yang energy!" As Blaze said, an unnatural flush appeared on his face. He wiped the corner of his mouth, and a tiny stream of blood flowed out.

In the direct clash with Percy before, his meridians had been damaged.

"However, you can't be feeling too good now. My lightning isn't that easily annihilated!"

Blaze looked at Percy as the corners of his mouth turned into a smile. This was a smile that arose from the excitement of meeting someone his equal. Fighting against Percy made him more and more excited.

Opposite from Blaze, Percy looked straight into Blaze's eyes as he clenched his Heaven Smiting sword tighter.

It was indeed extremely difficult fighting Blaze. In the end, it was too demanding for him to face elites from the Heaven Ascension Faction alone!

If he were to conjure his Golden Crow Inner World Manifestation, Percy believed that his energy would be emptied out in a short period of time!

But if he did not use his Golden Crow Inner World Manifestation, how was he going to beat Blaze?

"Again!"

Blaze roared loudly and attacked once again.

"Roar—!"

Again with another roar, the black lightning beast appeared behind Blaze once again.

The lightning beast was infused in Blaze's Black Light sword, resulting in radiant black beams being emitted by the entire sword!

Blaze leapt up high in the air, with countless number of lightning current flowing around him. It was as if numerous thick purple snakes were surging towards Blaze. Within the lightning force field, he could use his full power!

Blaze came attacking from the top as he charged downwards at Percy.

Percy constricted his pupils. With the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand, a Golden phantom image appeared behind him. However, this time, a mountain of corpses and sea of blood that resembled Ashura Hell appeared as well!

"Hum Hum Hum…"

Wailing sounds accompanied the burning pure Yang flames. The two powers, which were nearly exact opposites in terms of properties, were injected into the Heavy sword as Percy attacked from bottom to top and slashed at Blaze!

"Heavy Sword Truth's 32 Words – Killing At Its Core!"

Ka-cha!

A fierce impact with the high temperatures made the purple tungsten ground below Percy's feet crack and a crater formed. Percy's entire body was nearly piled deep into the Stage!

However, Blaze's body was sent flying tens of meters back from the impact, while he spit a mouthful of blood out in the air.

Boom!

Blaze slammed heavily into the purple tungsten wall outside the Stage, deforming it. He slipped to the ground before using his Black Light sword as a crutch to stand up. His eyes sparkled with fighting spirit that exuded excitement.

Percy also leaped out from the purple tungsten hole. The Heaven Smiting sword formed an angle with the ground as its tip trembled slightly.

At this moment, Percy's shirt was torn. One could see the contours of his chest muscles, but there were blood stains and numerous spots that had been burnt black from the lightning on them.

Blaze's attack this time was even stronger than before. It was as if he had compressed all the lightning force field's energy into that sword attack, causing Percy's blood to go into chaos!

The audience were quiet. From the speed battle in the beginning to the direct head-on clashes now, the battle was intensifying. Furthermore, Percy and Blaze's injuries were getting more severe!

What would be the outcome of this battle?

"This really feels great!"

Blaze was extremely excited. It was as if he became more excited the more injured he was. "Amongst the younger generation, it has been a long time since someone has managed to fight me to my heart's content."

As Blaze said this, his aura did not decrease but increased!

It was as if the injuries he had sustained were nothing to him.

"Oh!? Blaze's aura is increasing?" People were alarmed. They had originally thought that the battle between Percy and Blaze would slowly become less intense as their energies were depleted, but now, looking at Blaze, it looked like the battle would become even more intense!

"Blaze still has a lot of strength he has not revealed. Or maybe it should be said that due to the excitement from fighting Percy, he was able to release his body's hidden potential power."

"Blaze still hasn't conjured his Inner World Manifestation!"

People from the Heaven Ascension Faction turned excited.

To them, although the overall group championship was filled with ups and downs, and even though Percy was extraordinary, the eventual outcome still wouldn't change.

Blaze was their Heaven Ascension Faction's god of war. Other than Blaze, there was no lack in strong experts amongst the other people !

"This mad man…"

In the Elder stands, Carter looked at Blaze as he swore.

Even he had to admit that this battle was getting harder. Blaze was the type that grew stronger the more he fought. Fighting such a war junkie was the trickiest!

On the Stage, Percy and Blaze were standing about a hundred feet from each other.

Both of them could feel the other's powerful strength.

"Percy! I know you are worried about the battles after this, but… I think your worries are unnecessary. That is because you will not have a single chance defeating me if you do not go all out!"

"Even if you were to go all out, the chances of you winning is slim. Without being able to use that sword move, it is nearly impossible for you to defeat me!"

Blaze felt regret as he really wanted to encounter Percy's sword attack. He wanted to battle a Percy that was at his peak!

As Blaze was speaking, a black lightning beast phantom image appeared behind him for the third time, "I wish that our battle was able to decide the champion of the overall group match between the Surfing Faction and the Heaven Ascension Faction. However, it is is a pity that I do not have the power to make this decision. Letting you rest for two hours was the limit!"

Blaze said frankly as Percy nodded, "I understand!"

Blaze could at most make decisions in his own battle, but he could not arrange the battles of the other people in the overall group championship.

Blaze flicked his sword blade and a glimmer flashed in his eyes, "Being able to fight with you to such an extent has left me greatly satisfied. To show you my respect, I will use my strongest move to defeat you next!"

Just as Blaze finished speaking, the presence of the phantom image of the lightning beast grew stronger. The lightning force field around Blaze also began to create thunder, as if it was going to spit out all of its energy.

Crackle!

The force field formed a lightning barrier around Blaze, placing him under its protection.

"Roar—"

The lightning beast issued a roar that shook the heavens and earth, piercing through people's eardrums. Even from behind the array barrier, the audience could still feel the powerful energy that resided within the sound. This sort of energy seemed like a bolt, hitting their insides, causing their blood to go into disarray. It was extremely uncomfortable.

"So terrifying!"

People were alarmed. Just the lightning beast's roar alone was something they could not handle. If they were to stand where Percy was, how would it be like to experience the frontal impact from the lightning beast?

At this moment, Blaze extended his hand out and grabbed the lightning beast's neck.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The lightning beast began to roar crazily as its body began to intensely convulse. While convulsing, it was actually reducing in size.

As its size reduced, the lightning beast's lightning energy grew even stronger. The lightning's color turned from a purplish black to pure black!

Just as people thought Blaze would conjure the lightning beast to attack Percy, a shocking scene happened. Blaze actually pressed the lightning beast into his own chest.

Whew! The lightning beast entered Blaze's body and with a "Chi La" explosive sound, the clothes Blaze was wearing exploded after the lightning beast entered his body. A strong wind blew the remnant cloth and Blaze's hair around until they stood up vertically.

What!?

People were alarmed. They could not help but stand up.

At this moment, the lightning beast's phantom image appeared on Blaze's chest, it was like a tattoo on his skin.

Many of them were completely speechless upon seeing this scene.

Blaze had actually devoured the lightning beast!

The lightning beast tattoo spread across Blaze's body. Wisp after wisp of tiger stripes slowly encroached Blaze's neck and face like Lichtenberg figures. Blaze seemed to have completely transformed into another person. With this look, Blaze made everyone tremble with fear.

At this moment, the lightning barrier around Blaze contracted once more. Finally, all the energy condensed together, forming into the phantom image of a long, thick snake.

The snake became more and more realistic and increased in presence. It was 70-80 feet long and completely black. It had six heads and its body stripes looked like lightning.

"Six-headed Lightning Snake!?"

Someone exclaimed in the audience stands. This was Blaze's Inner World Manifestation!

Blaze's Inner World Manifestation turned out to be a Six-headed Lightning Snake. It was a terrifying existence amongst lightning-elemental desolate beasts. In the Divine wilderness, even a Major Overgod might not be able to handle Six-headed Lightning Snakes.

And Blaze had actually obtained a Six-headed Lightning Snake as an Inner World Manifestation.

Typically, the Inner World Manifestations that were in the forms of beast, corresponded to the desolate beast a warrior killed.

The desolate beast killed would form the corresponding Inner World Manifestation.

To condensed an Inner World Manifestation, one had to personally kill the desolate beast. It did not work if it was killed by someone else..

And Blaze had actually condensed a Six-headed Lightning Snake Inner World Manifestation.

This proved that he might have personally killed a Six-headed Lightning Snake!

It was also possible that Blaze had killed a lot of Three-headed Lightning Snakes, causing his original Three-headed Lightning Snake Inner World Manifestation to evolve into a Six-headed Lightning Snake. If a Six-headed Lightning Snake were to evolve once more, it would become a primordial species-grade Nine-headed Lightning Snake.

However, even Three-headed Lightning Snakes were strong desolate beasts that even peak Minor Overgods would not be able to handle.

How did Blaze manage to kill Three-headed Lightning Snakes?

With the appearance of the Six-headed Lightning Snake, black clouds started to gather together as lightning started to cover the sky.

Boom!

As the lightning flashed, the dark clouds grew bigger. From the open dome of the arena, the spectators could see the dark clouds gather, as water vapor began to appear.

Not a second later, it started to rain in the arena!

"Thunderstorm?"

People felt the cool rain drops pattering on their face as they felt appalled.

Lightning resulted in rain. So when Blaze conjured his Six-headed Lightning Snake Inner World Manifestation, due to the powerful lightning he released, it affected the weather, causing it to pour down.

It was simple inconceivable for a Minor Overgod realm warrior to influence the weather.

"Is this Blaze in his strongest state?"

People looked at Blaze with alarm.

"Hahaha! It has been a while since I have felt this good!" Blaze loudly laughed. Currently, he was naked from the waist up, revealing his taut muscles. His body was covered in tiger stripes and lightning tattoos, and on his chest, there was a roaring black tiger lightning beast, while a Six-headed Lightning Snake was rising up from behind him. The Black Light sword in his hand also manifested a large amount of black lightning. All of this made Blaze look like a statuesque thunder god!

Percy took a deep breath upon seeing Blaze's state, his expression turning solemn.

After devouring the black lightning beast, inserting its energy into his own body and then conjure up a Six-headed Lightning Snake Inner World Manifestation. The present Blaze, who was at his peak, was too strong.

He had to go all out against Blaze. However, by using all of his strength, that would mean that he would not be able to fight in the subsequent matches.

"Percy, make your move! In my current state, what I look most forward to is the sword attack that you used to defeat Alice! I really want to know how much damage it will cause me to take on that attack."

Blaze did not say whether the attack would defeat him or not, he only questioned how much damage it would cause him. Clearly, he believed that he could withstand that attack completely! He would only be injured and not defeated!

Blaze had complete confidence in himself, that he could handle the sword attack that nearly killed Alice, this showed how presumptuous he was!

However, no one said anything about how presumptuous Blaze was, this was because his strength gave him the right to say such words!

"Unfortunately, you can no longer use that attack. I feel regret, but I will still use my strongest state to defeat you. Make your move, maybe… you will surprise me and not disappoint me!"

Blaze pointed the Black Light sword at Percy!

Percy sighed as he touched his sword and helplessly smiled.

"Indeed, I can no longer use that sword attack… I was still having that tinge of hope about winning this overall group championship. After all, I have been reserving my strength and not use certain moves if I could help it. The energy consumption of using them will be too great, resulting in me not being able to fight the battles after. However…"

Percy paused upon saying this and gently swiped his hand across the sword, opening up a gash on his palm, resulting in blood flowing onto the sword.

Percy's blood seemed to be like hot lava. It started burning the moment it flowed onto the sword.

"However, against you, I indeed have no other choice. So be it! I will not care so much anymore and fight a magnificent battle with you!"

Percy's eyes were burning with fighting spirit as he said those words.

Percy was staring right at Blaze, with Blaze staring back at him.

"Oh? Do you still think that you have the capital to fight against me? In my upcoming attack, I will be going all out!" Blaze loudly said.

Percy laughed, "I will also be going all out. I believe that my full-powered attack will at least 'not make you disappointed'!"

Percy used Blaze's words back at him.

Blaze laughed loudly, "Great! I look forward to it! Let me remind you that you might die from this attack!"

As Blaze spoke, killing Qi surged from his body.

The Surfing faction warriors, especially Artemis, Celia and company who knew Percy, held their breaths. Blaze, in his peak state, was indeed too terrifying. He was so strong that he made people not have the courage to resist him.

In the Elder stands, Carter was even more concentrated. He was afraid that Percy would suffer a mishap. In his opinion, even geniuses in their youths did not match up the current Blaze!

The rain became heavier.

Water vapor permeated the visions of people.

Blaze and Percy, two contemporary proud sons of heaven, were less than 200 feet away from each other. They were looking at each other, separated by a curtain of rain.

At this moment, Blaze made his move!

He brandished the black sword in his hand, and like a black bolt of lightning within the rain, he cut through the thick curtain of rain!

The power of that one sword attack was enough to shake the heaven and earth!

The entire Stage as well as the thick purple tungsten ground was slashed opened by the sword, resulting in a huge sword scar!

Blaze's sharp sword beam, along with his Six-headed Lightning Snake, rushed at Percy!

Percy constricted his pupils. At that moment, he too made his move. It was still the move from Hong'er mixed with the Demon God sword intent. This was also the strongest sword intent Percy could handle at the moment.

However, just this sword intent alone was far from enough.

At this moment, a clear cry rang from within Percy's body!

This clear cry seemed to be cry of a phoenix that transcended the heavens. No matter how loud the falling rain and the rumbling thunder was, they were drowned by that clear cry.

"What was that!?"

The spectators became alarmed as the sound was too loud. It was as if it was ringing within their own ears, straight into their hearts. Yet, it was not harsh on the ears, it instead had the power to refresh their minds!

Boom!

The pure Yang flames burned, and like a Radiant Sun that exploded behind Percy, the phantom image of a Tang Valley appeared behind Percy. Before people could react, they saw a divine light rise up into the sky. Like a divine sword, it charged into the clouds, splitting them apart!

"Xiao!"

They once again heard that clear and loud cry. The audience helplessly watched on as a Golden Crow, covered in pure Yang flames, rushed out from Percy's body, following the divine light's path all the way up!

This Golden Crow had a wingspan of tens of meters and nearly covered the entire Stage.

Under the burning of the pure Yang flames, the raindrops and water mist around it immediately evaporated!

"Heavens! What is that?"

People were extremely shocked. The divine bird that rushed out had the eyes of a crow, the beak of an eagle and the feathers of a phoenix. It had three legs and all of its feathers were burning with golden, pure Yang flames!

"Golden Crow!? Three-legged Golden Crow!?"

Some people incredulously shouted out the name. This Golden Crow had rushed out from Percy's body. Could it be Percy's Inner World Manifestation!?

"How is that possible!?"

A typical warrior, whose Inner World Manifestation was in the form of a King-grade Demon, was already extremely stunning!

For example, Blaze was as such.

If it was a primordial species, it would be even more fascinating. However, only True Overgods would have these types of Inner World Manifestations.

After all, the Inner World Manifestations warriors gained were obtained from the process of their hunting. Typically, those who could hunt primordial species were only True Over God's.

Even Major Overgods, who might have the fortuitous luck of killing a primordial species, might not have the ability to absorb it!

A Three-legged Golden Crow!

It was a level higher than primordial species!

How could it appear on a Mortal warrior!?

The audience did not have time to think about it carefully. All they saw was the Three-legged Golden Crow rush at the Six-headed Lightning Snake and with a fierce cry, stretch out the sharp claws of its three legs to grab the Six-headed Lightning Snake.

Crackle!

The purple lightning roared as the pure Yang flames engulfed it. The lightning snake and Golden Crow fought a fierce battle in the sky!

Snakes, were by nature, not the match of eagles, so how could a Six-headed Lightning Snake be the match of a divine beast like the Golden Crow?

In just a few seconds, the three legs managed to hit its mark and the Golden Crow tore the Six-headed Lightning Snake open!

The Six-headed Lightning Snake began to bleed like it was a real desolate beast, made up of flesh and blood!

Percy's sword followed right after the Three-legged Golden Crow killed the Six-headed Lightning Snake, sending a slash down along with the Three-legged Golden Crow!

At that moment, it was as if Heaven and Earth had lost their sound. A golden sword beam was all that was left in the sights of people. The beam illuminated the world and even the dark clouds in the sky were split apart!

Boom!

The lightning broke apart as the pure Yang flames engulfed it, burning everything to cinders.

Percy's sword heavily smashed into Blaze's lightning force field, and the force field shattered like it was made out of paper!

Blaze was greatly alarmed and raised his sword to face the incoming attack. However, under the pressure of the terrifying pure Yang flames, as well as the Three-legged Golden Crow divine beast, he felt it was impossible to compete with them with his power alone.

Peng!

The sword beam exploded and Blaze felt a strong surge rushing towards him. He was like the leaf of a tree, helpless in a stormy hurricane!

"Blaze!"

Hidden in the audience, Thalia constricted her pupils and rushed out straight away. The chair beneath her was instantly smashed to smithereens!

At the same time, Blaze spat out a mouthful of blood. His protective Yuan Qi had shattered, and his sternum had completely collapsed. He was sent flying like a piece of paper. As for the deadly pure Yang sword Qi, it was still locked onto his body, wanting to take his life!

However at that moment, Thalia seemed to instantaneously appear beside Blaze and grabbed him.

"Peng!"

With a flick of Thalia's sleeves, that terrifying pure Yang sword Qi completely shattered, before even coming close to him.

Seeing Thalia grab the heavily injured Blaze, no one spoke a single word.

The outcome of this battle was completely different to what was expected. Blaze had been defeated by Percy!?

In the end, Blaze actually needed the strongest person of the Heaven Ascension Faction's entourage, Thalia, to personally come and save him!

The audience felt like they were in a dream, especially the Heaven Ascension Faction warriors who could not accept this.

Blaze was their Heaven Ascension Faction's god of war, yet he was defeated by a youth who was younger than him and of a lower cultivation level than him. How was this possible?!

People looked up at the sky. The rain had actually stopped. Percy's attack had slashed apart the dark clouds, dispersing the rain clouds that resulted from Blaze's lightning!

One could cause rain, while the other had the ability to disperse clouds!

It was difficult to imagine that this battle actually reached such an extent. It was difficult to imagine that they were both only warriors from the younger generation!

However, what was most shocking of all was the Three-legged Golden Crow that flashed past in the final moments of that battle.

The mysterious phantom image that burned with golden pure Yang flames was still lodged in the iris of everyone in the audience, unable to be removed.

That was no doubt a Three-legged Golden Crow, but how could it have appeared? Was it Percy's Inner World Manifestation?

People looked at Percy and felt incredulous.

How could a Mortal realm warrior have a Three-legged Golden Crow as an Inner World Manifestation!?

A.N.: weekly update! IllI be at a camp this weekend but I will try to get the next update ready for you guys! But dang we're getting closer to the end! Also I got spammed in the reviews by some guest who apparently didn't speak English.

And kudos to the smart readers who figured out that the owner of this account changed. The previous writer was more focused on smut stories and while I enjoy reading lemons, i suck at writing them. But we collaborated on this particular story, since I happen to be the expert at crossovers, and the original idea was mine as well. And since he's off to college, expect more crossover style stories in the future!


	83. Heavens Smite

Thalia gripped blaze and slowly landed back into the stands. Percy's eyes immediately locked onto her and he watched her with a cautious as she handed Blaze over to the medical administrator before turning back to him. There was a n explosive burst of lightning from around her and even though it failed to even ruffle the hair of the people around her, it tore through her clothes, turning her originally baggy clothes to ashes, leaving her clothed only in a simple black armored set of clothes that completely covered her.

Percy's eyes widened and he immediately stepped back as an oppressive wave of power slammed into his chest. He grit his teeth as blood surged up his throat and he was forced to swallow it back down. Thalia smiled sardonically and drifted down the to the stage and stood before him.

Percy's eyes flashed and his grip on Riptide's hilt tightened as Thalia's overwhelming aura drew closer to him, sending his blood flow into disarray.

"Tsk Tsk. Honestly speaking,I was certain even Alice would be enough to defeat you, or at the very least,draw out all your trump cards." Thalia flashed Percy an unconcerned smile as the already silent arena held it's breath. The ultimate powerhouse of the Heaven Ascension Faction...No, the most powerful student of the entire Tower had finally shown herself! At this point of time, not a single student was willing to jeer at Percy. To force the Heaven Ascension Faction to this point single-handedly,not one of them doubted the awe inspiring power Percy wielded.

Thalia's smile turned conscending as she slowly stretched her palm out." Regardless, to be able to defeat even Blaze, all while still remaining mortal... You are certainly full of surprises. You still are a mortal aren't you? Your soul's aura isn't divine yet. Yet capable of summoning an inner world manifestation... You're body should have exploded from the strain..."

Percy chuckled softly,then raised his blade and pointed it at Thalia, clearly provoking her. The entire arena was filled with soft murmurs, as everyone's faces filled with astonishment. Defeating Blaze was one thing, but challenging Thalia while he was nearly wiped out? That was sheer insanity!

"Cut to the chase know I'm not a match for you,yet you keep provoking me to fight you. What's your plan?"

Thalia giggled and her palm flashed." Exactly! You're no match for me... And at the rate you're improving, you might only be my match once you reach your third year. But that's not enough! If you want to meet the Tower Master, you'll need power far greater than mine! The time you have is simply far too less and the task you have is far too difficult... But thankfully I happen to have good news for you~" Thalia's eyes glinted with mischief and a foreboding feeling overcame Percy.

"Y-you! What do you mean Thalia?! What are you planning?"

Thalia smirked and held her palm as a Small crystal floated up. The crystal flashed and even as Percy watched Hestia's pale face floated out. Her eyes were wide and red,her face marked with tear tracks. Her voice trembled as she spoke." P-percy... Forgive me... P-piper... S-she... S-she..." She gave a loud gasp and her shoulders shook with a sob.

She started to speak again, but before she could, Thalia pinched the Crystal and with a crisp 'Ping' it shattered to dust before Percy's wide eyes.

Thalia chuckled at his expression."Oh dear, forgive my clumsiness"

Percy's face grew cold and even his air started carrying faint traces of killing intent as he glared at Thalia." What have you done to them?!"

"Me?" Thalia shot him a hurt look."You know I'd never hurt a hair of one of your friends"

"Cut the crap Thalia and tell me..." Percy's mind was whirling with thoughts and possibilities as he tried to understand why Hestia could possibly have messaged him." What did Hestia message me for!?"

Thalia raised her hand and another crystal flashed into existence from her inner world." Well, I'd be willing to let you have it if you can defeat me now~" she caught a sight of Percy's expression and grinned." And even if you forfeit this match and try leaving the Tower, I'll personally prevent you from exiting this tower!"

Percy's glared at Thalia with bloodlust."why are you doing this!?"

Thalia simply smiled and withdrew the crystal into her inner world again. Her smile widened as she saw Percy's bloodthirsty look. Then she spoke in a soft voice that only she could hear." Let's see how far the power of the Asura can pull you forward...If not you're no match for Magnus... Or even his tests."

Suddenly Percy's face whitened and he bent over, coughing up a mouthful of black form swayed as he used Riptide as a Crutch to forcibly hold himself the golden crow inner world manifestation had cost him almost all his profound energy,and now hr had less than 30% remaining. His injuries were also severe and a full recovery might take months.

A few of the heaven ascension faction members exchanged uncertain looks. The silence grew strained. Then one of the heaven ascension students spoke up."it's clear that he's on his last legs right now! Now's the perfect chance for us to finish him off!" Some of the other students began murmuring in assent and their eyes gleamed with a wicked light.

Even though he was almost burned out, being the one to defeat Percy, the warrior who had managed to defeat all three vice leaders of the heaven Ascension faction, would give them unparalleled prestige and pride!

The surfing faction members faces darkened and they started cursing them."Damn wretches! If Percy had a single hand,he could anhilate all of you retards!" They felt themselves boiling with rage and wishing that they could stomp all over their thick skinned faces. But it was obvious that Heaven Ascension faction exceeded them in overall battle power.

But not a single insult fazed them. After all a thick skinned person could handle arrows,what would insults do to them?

But silence once again descended on the arena as Percy raised his head. A shaky smile flitted across his face." You're wondering if I'm an over god huh Thalia? Don't tell me you've already forgotten pine cone face? I'm a demigod, a Son of the Sea!"

Thalia's grin returned and she extended her hand forward. The air around her shimmered,then emitted a loud crackling as a storm of blue sparks exploded to life around her, linking together to for an armor of Lightning around her.

"Then I, Thalia, daughter of Zeus , challenge you!"

Percy pulled Riptide's blade out from the ground and grasped the hilt firmly with both hands,then slammed the entirety of the blade hilt deep into the ground before him.

Silence reigned as Percy closed his eyes, feeling the power of the seas thrumming through the blade he held. Zoe nightshade,one of the five Hesperides had gifted this blade to Hercules, containing her mother's power of the sea within.

Now Percy visualized the sea,the endless surge of he reached out with his mind, grabbing it and drawing it into himself. He felt the endless power of Riptide suddenly awaken like the roar of a demon.

The ground trembled and rippled as a fine line of cracks spread from around riptide's blade into the surrounding earth. Then a geyser of sea water burst out from he earth, forcing riptide out as Percy withdrew the blade into his inner world, brandishing the heaven smiting devil slayer sword as the spray of salt water engulfed him.

Thalia reacted almost instantaneously, her spear thrusting forward, Lightning wreathing her strike. The water surrounding Percy was vaporized, turning the sphere of water that encased him into a fine mist of water droplets and steam.

The wind suddenly whipped into a frenzy and the mist and steam was turned into a hurricane, slowly clearing away from Percy. Despite herself, Thalia's eyes widened slightly at the sight of Percy's complete recovery. She sucked in a sharp breath and shook her head. "Instantaneous regeneration...? Now that is just plain unfair."

Percy shrugged and the hurricane began to centralize around him, growing faster and fiercer. "Unfair? I'm just getting started!"

He slashed and the hurricane howled with ferocity, merging with his blade. "Thousand Layered Waves! Divine Sea Tsunami!" the hurricane condensed into a single slash, bearing down tyrannically on Thalia. A strike by Percy at his strongest, even Blaze would have to treat it seriously!

Thalia was unfazed as she jabbed out with her spear. The overbearing hurricane smashed into the simple spear thrust, and even as they did, a storm of lightning burst forth, shredding the hurricane. It's power quickly dissipated, turning into a calm breeze that failed to even stir Thalia's hair.

Percy grimaced. " well... That was disappointing."

Thalia giggled. " were you expecting something a bit more flashy?"

Percy could only shrug in response. " I do recognize the Lightning armor after all. According to what Artemis had deduced back then, I need to be able to destroy it in a single strike, isn't that right?"

Thalia rolled her eyes with a mischievous wink, then wagged a finger at him. "that was back when I was an ordinary God crystal Inheritors. Now I'm the successor of Zeus, king of Olympus, वो you'd hardly expect me to showcase the same trick twice."

Her eyes glowed, the electric Blue filling them as she gave the same thrust again. Percy felt all his instincts scream with danger and he raised his weapon at the last moment.

A jagged bolt of white hot electricity erupted from the tip of the spear and slammed into the edge of the heaven smiting sword. Percy felt his arms go numb and he almost dropped his weapon as he was thrown of his feet, sent flying back wards. He skidded across the Arena, struggling to find his footing as the lightning invaded his meridians ravaging their way through his body before he managed to subdue and destroyed the remnants of the power.

The entire process took him a few seconds, enough for Thalia to kill him a dozen times... At least.

But she didn't take the opportunity to do so. She simply watched with that mocking smile.

Percy gave a low roar. "Celestial Moon God's Transformation!" His hair turned a shocking silver and the symbol of the Crescent moon on his chest blazed furiously. His aura erupted and he dashed forward. Thalia swept her spear and an architect of lighting shot out like a snake, twisting and writhing as it struck at him.

"Moonlight Flash!"

The snake tore through Percy's form and the audience gasped, but even as they watched the after image faded away. At the same time four more figures of Percy appeared behind Thalia as he slashed down at her.

Thalia's lips curled up with a contemptuous smile. "Too Slow!" she blurred and appeared behind the four Percy's and a storm of electricity struck at them. All four figures were torn apart and her eyes widened.

"Divine Sea Tsunami!" Percy's form appeared behind her and he slashed down, the wind howling and screeching as he struck at her back.

The attack just grazed her armor and suddenly exploded. The entirety of his attack warped and Percy was unable to react as it blew back right at him. His chest was torn open and a spray of blood filled the air as he collapsed on the ground.

Thalia slowly turned. " You've really learned Moonlight Flash to its limits, capable of instantaneously travel and split yourself up into after images that look just like the real body." tgen she shook her head."However such tricks and tactics are useless against overwhelming power."

She snapped her fingers and Percy's body stiffened and he screamed out loud as bursts of lightning in exploded from within his body, turning his skin into a blackened, charred mess. Percy writhed on the ground as he struggled to subdue this attack as it tore at his insides. " Awaken Blood of... Poseidon! Divine Sea Transformation!" the ground shuddered, then shattered apart from the pressure being exuded by his body as he slowly knelt, then stood. His hair had turned pure blue and his eyes were a solid sea green as he lifted the Heaven Smiting sword. The Crescent Moon on his chest continued to sparkle as he flashed, appearing before Thalia like a silent reaper. "Thalia!" he roared and struck out at her.

Thalia shifted, drawing her spear back, then struck forward, stabbing so fast that the space around her weapon rippled as she slammed her weapon against the Overbearing Heavy sword.

Space cracked at the centre of the collision and Percy was sent skidding backwards. Thalia shot forward after him, her spear jabbing out repeatedly each blow carrying tremendous power as it struck like a poisonous snake.

Percy was smashed ruthlessly into the ground and his body was riddled with wounds. If not for the protection of the Dragon gods bone marrow, his body would have been pierced through completely. As it was, he was left weak and dazed.

Thalia looked down at his battered and bloody form with a hint of pity and raised her spear to the sky. "Time to end this" The sky above grew overcast and a jagged bolt of electricity suddenly tore down, striking her spear. Her entire form was shrouded in Lightning as she glanced down and lowered her spear to his chest.

Percy's friends realized what she was up to and roared out at her. Artemis leapt off her seat, her powers unsealing in an instant as she dashed towards the stage. Before she could get any closer, the referee appeared in between, blowing her back.

Hie face was tight with embarrassment. " As long as the battle is finished, no one can enter the stage."

Artemis almost attacked him with rage, but her eyes widened as she saw Thalia's spear stab into Percy's chest and a storm of sparks burst out.

"Bloom, seed of Chaos... And wreck havoc among the mortals!" A vermillion flash burst from Percy's chest as the Heaven Smiting sword swung up by itself, slashing the spear and forcing it away and forcing Thalia to back away. The sword hovered in midair, a mini sized Hong'er standing with her hands on her hips as she glared at Thalia. " No one is allowed to Molest Hong'er's master except for Hong'er!"

Percy slowly rose up again, but this time his hair was back to normal and his aura was weak and chaotic. He raised his hand and grasped the Heaven smiting sword, lifeless eyes coldly surveying the stage.

Thalia's nerves tightened as he locked on to her." so that's the absolute burst of power... His unconscious state."

"Life Blood of Zeus! Awaken and Roar! Divine Sky Transformation!"

Thalia's hair burst with golden Blue Lightning and her armor stretched out chaotically, and a lightning domain enclosed her body. Her eyes were pure golden as she met Percy's glare.

The two suddenly exploded forward, meeting in the center of the arena, shattering the entire arena beneath them. The shield protecting the audience flickered and crackled as it activated, holding in the powerful surges of energy.

The two warriors blurred and flashed, colliding multiple times around the stage, Percy a vermillion streak and Thalia a Golden streak.

They shot apart, and to everyone's surprise, both parties were covered in wounds. The Artemis was shocked that Percy could still be injured even in his Chaos State. The rest of the Tower was shocked that Percy had any chance to injure Thalia!

Thalia glanced down at the cuts along her arms. Even though it was surprising, she still had the upper hand, and the wounds she had were insignificant. She looked up at Percy with a smile. " Carter was right. You Asura's are beyond human limitations... But unfortunately... You seem to have found your limit, huh Percy?"

She settled into a low stance, drawing the spear to her side. " To show my acknowledgement of your power, I will use my strongest attack to defeat you! "

Percy coldly watched her without any response, then lifted his own sword.

He burst forward and the already shattered ground exploded up again, turning to dust that camouflaged him as he shot forward unpredictably.

" Fusion style! Chaotic Water sword! " Percy roared as he swung down and space around him, depressed, rupturing and cracking. The entirety of his aura locked onto Thalia, and even if she wanted to dodge now, it would be exceedingly difficult with how the space around her was sealed. She didn't flinch as her aura grew steady. All of the lightning on her body concentrated on her spear and the symbol on her hand flashed as the power of the Master Bolt awoke. Her form shifted, thrusting her spear up at the sword slashing down. And in that defeaning clash, the entirety of space around them tore apart. A blue green and vermillion glow filled half the void and the Golden Blue filled in the other half of the void.

In an instant, the Golden Blue surged up, devouring the green and vermillion. Percy flew out of the void and collapsed onto the other end of the stage as silence quietly reigned. Thalia stepped out, completely unharmed as the last of the glow dissipated and the void disappeared.

Percy was completely covered with his blood and not a single part of his body was unharmed. The Heaven smiting sword was fallen beside him as is slowly steamed.

"such power was beyond even my expectations. Truly fearsome ability..." Thalia sighed. "But you still fall short Percy. You've come this far... But in the end you've failed."

Percy grit his teeth as he desperately clung to his last strand of consciousness. Once it faded he would faint and be disqualified.

His inner world was blurry and he was unable to even open his eyes. He blindly reached out and his fingers brushed his weapon and he fumbled with the hilt.

Thalia looked on with surprise. "you still have that much strength?"

Percy tried raising his head, but he simply didn't have the strength as he fell back onto the ground. His consciousness continued to fade. Then he felt a slight tug. Usually, he wouldn't even feel such a weak pull, but with his mind so weak, he was unable to resist as his consciousness was sucked into the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

Inside the sword, there was a vast ocean that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The sky was a clear blue and was only differentiated by the few white clouds that hung silently.

The only thing that broke the endless expanse of blue was a smudge of black in the far distance.

Percy frowned as he ran toward the smudge. With his speed, the distance was supposed to be short, but it seemingly grew distant the faster he ran, until he was forced to use his fastest speed to run up to it. Soon he was confronted by a gigantic heavy sword, balancing on its tip as it floated on the ocean. He slowed down and stared at it with surprise as his guess was confirmed. It was a perfect copy of the Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword. The only Difference was that the Color was a pure Black. The entire sword blade was black, etched through with silver inscriptions and designs. And seated on the top of the sword hilt was an incomparably familiar, yet unknown girl. She was looking at the horizon, her back facing Percy as she did. Her hair was long, hanging down to her legs as it stirred slowly in the breeze. The silverish hair fluttered up for a moment and she slowly turned her head, glancing at Percy.

Percy felt a jolt run through his body. "Hong'er!?"

The girl watched him silently, then shook her head. Percy saw her eyes were Multicolored. The top half of her right eye was a bright yellow, the bottom of deep green. The left left eye was Blue and Purple, the top a Dark blue that merged with the purple at the bottom of her eye.

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, and then she slowly nodded and leapt up, slowly floating down towards him. She reached out to him and he instinctively reached out to her. Their fingers slowly brushed and sue shattered into a thousand colors, a rainbow that spread over him.

-In the Arena-.

"Perseus Jackson has been down for thirty breaths! If he cannot rise in another ten seconds, he will be eliminated!" the referees stern voice echoed around the stadium as everyone watched Percy.

There was a soft murmur as his eyes slowly opened. He gripped the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword and slowly stood up. Thalia stared at him with a hint of surprise, then chuckled. "just like Carter said. An Asura can't be underestimated."

Her spear reappeared in her grasp and she took up the same stance. "Congrats Percy. You will be the second person to face Myolnir two times!" her aura burst out again and a roaring form of a Lightning beast appeared over her.

Percy raised his sword, then spoke out. In a soft voice that managed to overshadow even the crackle of the Lightning and the rumblings of Thalia's aura his words echoed across the Arena.

"A sword that can kill a God. The Heaven Smiting God Slayer Sword... Shatter the heavens in a single blow... Heavens Smite!"

Percy took a single step forward, crossing the entire arena in an instant. Thalia's eyes widened and she jabbed forward. Her spear roared and the full force of the Master Bolt smashed forward towards Percy.

" Squeezing my life into a single second! "

Both of their attacks collided, but even before anyone could react Percy had already stepped behind Thalia. Her eyes widened to the limit as her body burst open with a single slash across her chest, and even as she watched, her spear crumbled within her grip, turning to pieces as she collapsed onto the ground, forced into an unwilling defeat.

40 breaths passed by with no one speaking as Percy slowly stabbed his blade into the ground. Then the the referee finally regained his senses. " Thalia is down for forty breaths! The match has been decided in Percy's favor!"

A. N. :this took more planning than expected. As will the next few chapters.

And yes, I've finally introduced the move that I spoke about so long ago, a move that let's આ mortal slay a God and shatter the heavens, the Heavens Smite. Also Percy meets Dark Hong'er at last! Her proper introduction will happen in the next book! I have much to say, but I'm too tired so I'll leave it for later.

Please review your thoughts on the battle and character development. Ciao!


	84. Fury

**Fury**

"Sadie Kane!"

A Roar tore through the silent morning as a sudden rumble caused the entirety of the world to shake with intense fear. A loud boom shook the ground and many people stepped out to watch with a mixture of surprise and horror. A gigantic building took up most of this area, and while it's presence wasn't as majestic as the Tower, it held immense prestige in the hearts of all the people who lived in the Tower continent.

Everyone knew that this was one of the three most powerful organizations that existed in all of the Continent, and the leader was rumored to be on par with even the unfathomable Tower Master! To create a ruckus at the gates of the Sorceresses Association was nothing less than courting death itself!

Percy however, paid no heed to the looks everyone else was throwing his way. The message Hestia had sent was still resounding fresh in his mind.

"P-percy... Forgive me... P-piper... S-she... S-she... She's gone! The mistress had taken in a few students for special training... T-then some special... Special guests came over to m-meet her... And t-they... Took... Her..."

Percy's Aura roared and he raised the Heaven smiting sword over his head and slashed at the gates again. The impossibly heavy sword smashed into it and a faint barrier appeared, completely dispersing the force of the attack. Percy's eyes flashed red and he roared again. His joints emitted crackling, popping sounds as they condensed all the strength in his body into his blade. The blood of Poseidon burned as his hair turned a startling greenish blue. He struck again, and this time, the barrier was summoned with a bright flash.

Boom!

The barrier collapsed like an egg shell, crisply cracking as it emitted an outwards backlash at Percy that sent him stumbling. Without the barrier in place, the gate was simple decoration. Percy tore through it, then rushed inside, his eyes cold and Ruthless.

As soon as he stepped in, a sudden profound formation opened up before his eyes, unfurling like a bright banner. "This is the personal territory of the Sorceress. All trespassers shall be punished accordingly. No law, no organization can protect you if you are to take any further action."

Percy could immediately tell what a terrifying profound formation this was. As a profound formation of the most excellent sect in the Empire, one could imagine its tremendous might. Just by simply getting a feel of its aura, Percy was certain that even the most high leveled practitioners of the Mortal realm wouldn't be able to to barge past it. And even if it was someone in the Overgod realm, it would also be extremely difficult to breach through. While, spanning the entire of Tower city, the total number of Overgods were many, no one would be foolish enough to challenge the Sorceress.

Percy grabbed the hilt of the Heaven smiting Devil Slayer Sword and stomped forward without hesitation.

In a split second, a wave of aura that chilled both the heart and bone shrouded Percy completely. The ice-blue colored profound formation quickly began spinning, and countless specks of tiny icicles rose from below, and pierced over like a storm.

Percy leapt up, and constructed a profound energy barrier as phoenix flames instantly ignited from his entire body. He possessed Poseidon's Profound strength , and water attributed energy wouldn't be able to harm him in the first place. the energy contained within these icicles was interlinked with the energy of water, so even if these icicles were to come into direct contact with Percy's body, it would be difficult to harm him. And even more so, upon contact with the phoenix's flames, they had already melted into water droplets right away and even evaporated into vapour. Momentarily, dense "sizzling" sounds came from Percy's body, as the vapor around him tumbled. Bringing with him the water vapor around his body, he swiftly rushed forward.

Clink!

Ice cold rays of light flashed before Percy, and an ice lotus of seven metres wide bloomed on the ground, before rising steeply and rushed towards Percy head on. The frighteningly cold aura it carried even froze over all the icicles that were being shot from below. Percy's brows twitched, and the Heaven smiting sword smashed out straight onto the heart of the approaching ice lotus….

Bang!

The gigantic ice lotus exploded in an instant, and the shattered ice shards filled the sky. When these icicles fell onto Percy , they also quickly melted.

The enormous might contain by this ice lotus, was enough to make even an peerless strong expert like June to be flustered. Yet under Percy's sword, it had exploded instantly. However, how could the protective Profound troops of the Sorcesses Association be so simple? Before Percy was able to move his feet, a cold light from the surroundings reappeared. From behind, to the left, right… from a total of eight different directions, eight more ice lotuses that did not seem to pale in comparison in both power and size to that ice lotus from before blossomed simultaneously. After which, the eight then joined to form a huge ice lotus formation, attacking Percy in unison.

Percy's gaze flashed icy cold, his Profound energy surging up violently and explosively: "Haaaaaahhh!"

BANG!

Eight ice lotuses all smashed into Percy , layer by layer. That wave of enormous power could almost be comparable to eight thousand-metre tall ice mountains. And the cold aura they concentrated within, was more so enough to freeze an entire volcano over. The only thing that stood between them and Percy was a powerful hurricane, formed from the water vapor of the ice shards he had previously evaporated! This protective screen had been impacted to the point of distorting, yet it still did not break, and forcefully withstood the frightening power of eight ice lotuses. At this very moment, the Phoenix blood within Percy also burst into life with a manic frenzy…

"Star Scorching Demon Lotus!"

Whoosh!

A fire lotus that was a few dozen times bigger than the ice lotus blossomed from Percy's body, swallowing all eight of the ice lotuses. Following Percy's continuous and explosive increase strength, the might of the Star Scorching Demon Lotus could not be compared to what it had been in the past. Even the ice lotuses that contained enormous amounts of cold energy and icy might could only last for less than five breaths of time in the phoenix flames, before quickly melting and turning into wisps of rising vapor.

Fire and water counters each other. What the phoenix flame burned wasn't merely the eight ice lotuses, but also the entire Profound Formation. The light from the entire Great Frozen Defense Formation began growing chaotic, and the speed of its rotation also fell by a large extent. Percy raised his sword with both hands, and the shadow of a Dragon appeared behind him. With a great roar, a it blasted forward…..

"Sea Dragon's Slash!"

Boom boom boom boom!

Under the long Roar of the Sea Dragon, a deep ditch of seven metres wide and a hundred metres long opened up in the ground that held the profound formation. The entire Frozen Great Formation was directly split into two halves straight from the centre. All the fire on Percy extinguished, and his figure transformed into a swift shadow. With just a few leaps, he had already rushed past the Frozen Great Formation's area, and stood before the main entrance to the Sorcesses Association.

And at this time, the crystal gate that had been shut tightly suddenly opened. Together with a woman's cold and angry voice, a ray of cold sword light pierced straight at Percy's chest, "Who goes there, to actually dare to barge into my mistresses home! "

The sword light that came toward him was incomparably chilling, but it was of no threat to Percy at all. With a casual swing of his arms, his weapon racked up an enormous gust of heavy sword wind storm. Before the tip of the woman's sword could even come within seven metres of Percy, she was already thrown back by the violent heavy sword storm, landing back at the main entrance with a flip. On her beautiful jade-like face which was as cold as snow, the expression of utter shock was apparent.

To be able to get through the Frozen Profound protective spell, the trespasser must have extremely great might. Therefore, she had undertaken this task and struck out personally; However, she had not expected that the opponent's power would actually be at such a frightening level, to actually be able to knock her away with just the sword's wind…. The very moment the sword wind touched her, she felt as if a tremendous hammer had crashed onto her chest.

Upon clearly seeing the face of the intruder, the look of shock on her face instantly magnified: "You... You're a mortal!?"

The gate was right in front of his eyes, and he only needed a few steps to enter. Percy suppressed down the turmoil in his heart, and spoke as he looked at the young woman standing before him: "That's right, I am a student of the Tower, the Tenth Floor master ! Let me in, I want to see Piper! "

The girl's face twitched. "S-senior sister Piper? What business do you have with her!?"

Percy snarled and took a step forward. His aura was so overbearing that she turned pale, her eyes widening with extreme fear." She is my fiancee! Now get the hell out of my way!"

She was after all only a Level forty-five Overgod, which was already quite an impressive cultivation for her age. But faced with Percy's killing intent, it took all her willpower to stand in place. "Y-you... How dare you slander our senior sister! She is a pure ice lotus, favored by mistress kane and the elders of the guild. Why would she have any association to a mortal man like you!" as she spoke, her voice grew heated as she slowly built up her momentum and confidence." And even if you had any relationship with her before, I suggest you rid yourself of any foolish notions! Piper is one of the most powerful students, taken in by someone even my mistress is in awe and respect Of! She has already left the Tower Continent! "

Her words was as if a thunder had sounded beside Percy's ears. On the way here, he had been accompanied by fear at every single moment, afraid of hearing the news that he was most unwilling to hear. But after coming to the Sorceresses Association , the first sentence he heard about Piper, was already a thunderbolt out of the blue.

Percy's rage, as if gasoline that has touched a spark, instantly started to crazily and uncontrollably burn. He rushed up with a "whoosh", grabbed up the girl's collar at once, and roared with a distorted ferocious face: "What did you say? What did you say just now? Say it again… SAY IT AGAIN!"

The moment that Percy's fury exploded, the young woman felt a sense of suffocation in her chest, and her entire body was tightly suppressed by a heavy imposing aura. The speed that Percy rushed toward her was not too fast, but she didn't even have the time to move at all before her collar was already caught by him. That face which distorted under extreme fury was also extremely close to her charming face. Under shock and anger, she subconsciously threw out a palm strike, and heavily smashed onto Percy's chest.

Percy's body was instantly blasted away, and consecutively retreated five or six steps… While the entirety of the girl's being fell into a dumbfounded state. That strike she sent out earlier was almost subconsciously done under anger, and at least used seventy percent of her force. It was enough to crack open a short mountain from within, yet when it hit Percy, it actually only blasted him back a few steps… Looking at his complexion, there was basically not even a hint of being injured!

A mortals body was their biggest weakness! In terms of defense, regeneration and sturdiness, Over God's far outclassed every single one of them!

"You said that Piper has been taken away from the Tower continent … Is that true!" Percy's gaze ruthlessly locked onto her, as he roared with his voice cracking. Right after, he suddenly muttered to himself: "She's been given to someone even the Sorceress holds in awe... The only one who could make such a decision is Sadie herself ! She's the only one who could have forced Piper to leave with whoever took her! "

Before the Ranking Tournament, on the way to the Tower, Clymenious had told him that the current mistress of the Sorceresses Association was Sadie Kane who had already stepped into the Overgod Realm many years ago, and is currently reigning at the ultimate pinnacle level of the strongest practitioners!

Percy raised his head suddenly, within his eyes, there was as if two blood red balls of fire burning within his eyes. Rushing towards the Largest palace , he roared loudly like a ferocious wolf: "Sadie Kane ! Get out right this moment!"

"Sadie Kane , get out here right now… Right now! Or else, I will throw your Association upside down, and even fowls and dogs wouldn't rest in peace! Get out here right now!"

Percy's enraged roar was carried by Profound strength, and spread very far, reaching into every corner of the Association.

Standing before the main entrance of the Association and roaring for the Mistress to "Get out here right now", Percy was absolutely the first in all history!

Even if it were beings of the pinnacle level like Clymenious and other Floor masters , they would still definitely retract all of their arrogant air when they arrive at the Sorceress's territory, and keep from causing any offense as much as possible.

Percy was not someone who could become easily enraged. Oftentimes, he would appear angry on the surface, yet his mind would be incomparably calm. But this time, his anger crazily burned, and it could not be controlled no matter what; because this matter was related to Piper! Unless he had severed all of his emotions, and extinguished his soul, there was no way he could become calm!

Percy's snarl had undoubtedly ignited the ire of all who were in the Association . The Sorceresses Association was a sacred land that had stood for many years, and was a place no one dared to provoke. Today, their mistress was actually being taunted right in their own territory. Momentarily, the originally calm and empty Association shone flashed with icy glow from all directions, and all of the disciples appeared in the courtyards, gathering towards the palace gate.

From above the palace gate, five silhouettes clothed in robes descended simultaneously. Each of them brought a wave of might that was enough to freeze the land. When they landed, different elemental spirits floated in the surroundings, and magic fluttered in the wind. Their appearances were peerlessly beautiful as if they were goddesses that descended to the mortal world, as their ethereal beauty made the entire world to lose its colors.

The Five strongest students of the Association, All of them warriors over level three hundred! Even in the Tower, they would be fearfully strong and talented, and here their powers were unsealed, so they were far more powerful than they would have been inside the Tower!

The strongest student, a icy faced girl named Galand, slowly raised her arm." a pesky mortal..." her eyes were cold as she regarded Percy. "I had heard that Thalia had lost to a mortal man in the Tower and he had taken the place of the Floor master... So that's you..."

Her words were not a question, rather a statement. "But did you really think that defeating a sealed Thalia in the Tower means you can show off anywhere? Once you leave the Tower, Overgods like us are no longer sealed. We are infinitely more powerful. But mere mortals like you only have that bit of strength! I alone am far stronger than the sealed Thalia! You think that you can do as you please anymore?! "

Percy quietly listened to her lecture, then cocked his head as he raised the Heaven smiting sword." is that so? You think I don't already know that? "

Galand's eyebrows tightened." You know, and yet you are so arrogant? "

Percy laughed lightly." Who... The fuck ever said I was a 'mere mortal'?"

A sense of death and desolation covered every one of them and all of them felt a stifling aura cover their chests. A slow phantom flickered to life behind Percy. Grotesque and misshapen, it was a humanoid figure covered by blood, dragging itself out of the pits of hell as the shrieks of the damned echoed after it.

"Inner World Manifestation! Asura Intent!"

The pressure created by the phantom was unimaginably dense and even with divine souls, the girls under its influence fell into a stupor as their worst nightmares overtook them. Even Galand was no exception. While the Asura intent was quite weak compared to the Savage and overbearing Dragon Soul Domain, it was much less taxing and easier to use.

Percy heard a light chuckle fill the air and immediately grew tense. In a situation where even the most powerful student was under a stupor... The only person left capable of resistance was the Mistress... Sadie Kane herself!

Percy turned towards the spot where the chuckle had come from.

Standing a mere two feet behind him, a mischievous smile dancing on her lips as she played with dyed strands of her blonde hair, there stood Sadie Kane!

Percy felt a chill run down his spine. Even though she stood within arms reach, he was unable to even sense her presence in front of him! If he were to close his eyes, he would have been completely certain that nothing stood before him!

Sadie Kane smiled lightly, then examined her fingernails as she regarded him. "So you're Percy Jackson? My brother did mention you, but I never expected you to actually be even more terrifying than the rumors... You're strength should be comparable to a... Level 400 atleast..."

A sudden pressure descended on Percy and he had to struggle to hold himself up. Sadie smiled at him and started leaning towards him. With each instant that passed, the pressure on Percy increased exponentially." 400...401...402...403...405...407...409..

" she calmly spoke as she watched him as if he were a particularly interesting insect that had piqued her curiosity.

Percy gave a gasp and fell to his knees, unwillingly glaring up at her as the pressure chained him down.

" Impressive indeed... You're power is actually comparable to a Level 410 Overgod?! For a mortal, that should be absolutely impossible... Your body itself should be unable to bear that much power... And your soul should also have weakened considerably if it used so much energy. "

She drew back, and the pressure dissipated immediately. Percy almost collapsed with relief as he was freed from the pressure. Sadie stepped back, crossing her arms." Hopefully that would have cooled your head down a bit. "

Percy grit his teeth and stood up again. Sadie sighed and pushed her palm and he was almost flattened against the ground with the sudden burst of pressure on him. " Full marks for stubbornness and persistence."

" F-fuck you... W-what did you... Do to Piper!" Percy wheezed, scrabbling against the ground as he tried to raise himself.

Sadie laughed. "Relax will you. I haven't done anything to her. She was my favorite student, so I could hardly bear to do anything to her against her will. No, I'm afraid you're mistaken Perseus Jackson."

"Mistaken?" Percy growled, his aura leaking blood lust. "Enlighten me then!"

"Gladly" Sadie crouched down in front of him with a smirk. "Piper has taken a new master. A master even more powerful than the entirety of the Tower continent combined! You should be happy for her. After all she is now a direct disciple of one of the Elemental Kings."

Percy's eyes widened slightly and he stopped his struggle. Sadie giggled." surprised? Truthfully, I myself was quite shocked. Her talent was good, but nothing great enough to stir an Elemental King. Her physique however... A human with a Nine Profound Exquisite Physique! Containing a harmonious balance of both Flame and Ice, both coexisting in the same body, and that too in a human! Even I couldn't Believe it when I was told. "

Percy was stunned quiet for sometime. After his arrival on Earth, most of his time had been spent learning, both honing his combat skills and his grasp of the knowledge present in the Tower. He had learned about the long history of the different Empires, the different Species that ruled over the earth and the extreme powerhouses of each Empire and Race.

Among all these warriors, the four renowned warriors who were human, and cultivated the laws of the Elements to the extreme were known as the Four Elemental Kings!

The Extreme Yang Lord! Practicing the Laws of the Pure Yang to the Extreme, he had surpassed the Limits of Fire, and his fire was said to be on par with the Elemental Flames of Salamander, the Spirit of Fire!

Nether Yin Queen! Perfection in the Laws of Yin, able to create an ice said to freeze even space and time! Her power was on par with the Extreme Yang Lord, and rivaled Undine, the spirit of water herself!

Ether Sword Monarch! Elemental king, and sword Saint , his speed and swordsmanship were without parallel. He held the title of the strongest Elemental king, he was almost without rivals.

Earth Essence Emperor! The only Elemental king who simply practiced his single element, but at birth, he was blessed by the spirit of Gnome, imparted the knowledge and the wisdom of the Earth. He meditated upon it for years, and was rewarded for his efforts by Gnome. The youngest Elemental king, he once battled the Ether Sword Monarch, and managed to force the battle to a draw. Ever since, he has quietly been rumored to be the most Powerful Elemental king. However he leads a secluded life and hence, no one knows how strong he is now.

Any of these characters were beings beyond the current Percy's comprehension. Sadie was not exaggerating when she said that an Elemental king was stronger than the entire Tower continent. Forget the Tower continent, there was almost no Empire that was equal to the power they wielded. The battle between the two Elemental kings of Earth and Ether had flattened an entire Island, almost sinking the entire landmass into the sea that surrounded it! From Percy's estimates, the Elemental kings would be atleast as powerful as the Olympians, or perhaps even stronger!

Seeing Percy's stunned look, Sadie sighed and removed her pressure. The other students had already recovered, but they were all kneeling after noticing their mistress. In their hearts, they had already expected Percy to be badly beaten in his clash with Sadie. After all, how could a mere mortal match their teacher?

However they were dumbfounded when they saw Sadie give Percy a hand and pull him back up to his feet. "Now that we've cleared up your misunderstanding, you should probably go ahead and meet your friends. Your questions can wait for later when my brother gets here."

Percy nodded, but hesitated as he looked at her. "Which Elemental King took Piper as their disciple?"

Sadie gave a lopsided grin. "Oh didn't I mention? It's the Nether Yin Queen."

-a while later, Inside the Sorceress Heavenly Palace-

Percy didn't know what to think of Piper's decisions. But clearly, she hadn't bothered to inform Hestia, Calypso or any of the others before she left, which was why Hestia had been so distraught when she contacted him. And as he told Artemis what had happened through their soul link, she snorted softly.

"Hmph. I'd expected as much."

Percy stiffened with surprise. "W-what do you mean?" He himself couldn't fathom Piper's decision, so how could he have expected that Artemis had already been guessing everything correctly.

Artemis raised an eyebrow as she spoke in a simple clinical tone. " Percy, just think back to everything you know about Piper. You were first classmates, then lovers. But what do you know about her that would drive her to make this decision?"

Percy closed his eyes, thinking back to his childhood in the Gaia continent. He'd first met Piper in the Genius class of Hope city's training academy, where she held the position of the second ranked student. He had first developed a crush on her, and they had become friends and rivals as he competed to overtake Hercules, the then number one student of the class. Later, during the expedition to the snow song city, they had been ambushed by the Shadow Association, attacked by a Level Nine Dragon. Piper had sacrificed herself to save his life, and ended up paralyzed as well as crippled. In order to hide from further attacks on them they had entered a dysfunctional portal in the center of the city, and ended up in the Azure dragon Trial ground. There he had taken the Trials with her, protecting her with all his might in order to pass and gain a method to save her. They were locked together for months, spending all their time together in a hell hole where even a moment of inattentiveness could cost them their lives.

After passing through the Trials, Percy was told the only way to heal her would be their coupling, and despite her unwillingness, she gradually accepted him. After their return to hope city, she suddenly proposed to him, so he supposed that they were fiancees in a way. After that, he ended up spending a great deal of time with her after Artemis had left, further strengthening their relationship, though he was unable to take her with him to the realm of God's, because she was too weak to accompany them. Upon his return, she was already a legend and was the defacto protector of Hope city. She was finally able to accompany him to earth, due to the restrictions that existed here, but she chose to enter the Sorceresses Association in order to develop her own unique strengths.

Percy shrugged. " I really can't figure out what you want me to. Nothing from what I know of Piper tells me why she left without informing any of us."

Artemis sighed. "Idiot disciple. Don't you see? Piper has always craved power. To be stronger. And not just because she wants to rule or oppress. She wants power so she can get attention and approval from those people who she admires! Back in her childhood, she trained so hard, but her own father, busy with being the city lord never took notice of her. Only her grandfather doted upon her in his free time. Then you suddenly appeared and stole the limelight. But you also became someone who she could never hate, giving your all to her. Another person that she looked up to and admired... But also another person who left her behind because she was simply too weak."

Percy felt stunned. Every word Artemis spoke was like a bell ringing in his ears. He couldn't believe he himself hadn't realized all this so long back. Piper had always been left behind. Though they had started off together, both Percy and Calypso had far exceeded her in all aspects. In such a situation, how could she not crave for power? She was desperate for it!

And he was a fool and blind not to have realized all the bitterness building up inside her heart all these years.

Percy's eyes turned gloomy and overcast. He was broken out of his reverie by a sharp squeal and he looked up to see Calypso rushing towards him, bowling into his arms at once. "Percy!"

-Inner room of the Sorceress Heavenly Palace-

-Time skip-

Carter slowly sat down, tapping his chin as he heard Sadie's assessment. "Strength of a Level 410 Overgod? That's not possible! In the battle with Thalia, the power he used was only on the level of a Level 300 Overgod at most. And since he is a mortal, his powers weren't sealed either. So I can't fathom how his strength increased yet again by almost a hundred levels! "

Carter didn't know that while Percy's soul was still classified as a Mortal soul, his body and bloodlines were now perfectly fused, making his physique a divine physique. Hence, his Lifeblood's strength was sealed by the Tower, and it was unsealed upon leaving the Tower. That was how his battle strength increased upon leaving the Tower.

"Being able to exhibit the power of an unsealed Level 300 warrior is already quite astounding don't you think?" Sadie asked, frowning as she rubbed her chin. " He's just like Magnus of the old days."

Carter snorted. " Yeah, a freak."

Sadie shook her head. "Not a freak. The technical term for them would be... Asura."

Carter's eye twitched. " so it's confirmed then? He's an Asura as well?"

Sadie didn't reply to Carter's question as she leaned back into her chair, looking up at the ceiling for a length of time. Finally, she sighed and looked away." Nothing is certain. But I can't understand how any mortal could possibly be so... Impossible... So unreal... unless they were an Asura."

Carter chuckled. " Unreal, like the time when Magnus killed a Level 700 Demon with a single slash?"

Sadie gave an absent minded nod, then slammed her hands down on the armrest as she propelled herself to her feet." Well, enough discussions about him right? Might as well tell him about the power of an Asura, and how to use them. "

Carter stood up, quizzically watching her. "Are you sure that you can awaken the Asura from inside him?"

It was Sadie's turn to laugh, a wicked grin crossing her face as she stretched out her hand, summoning her wand to her hand. "Oh brother dear. You appear to be mistaken about something here. I don't need to awaken the Asura that's dormant within his soul."

Carter felt a jolt of shock and horror as he instinctively reached for his own wand before stopping himself. "what do you mean by that Sadie?"

The blonde girl chuckled, then crouched to begin tapping her wand at the corner of the room, a string of Hieroglyphic enchantments suddenly spreading out and forming a powerful barrier that reinforced the entirety of the room, turning it into an excluded Soul Domain. Within this Area, Sadie wielded the greatest power, able to command life and death of all those within, and once she summoned her Inner World Manifestation it would perfectly fuse with the Domain and spells already prepared and inlaid within these walls and further amplify her power, increasing it almost exponentially until she would reach her absolute peak state. Within such a domain, even an enemy who completely outclassed her in normal circumstances might be suppressed by her!

Once she had finished activating the Arrays and Enchantments, she grinned at Carter. "What do I mean? What do you think I could possibly mean? It means that the Asura sealed within Percy's soul is already awake. Naturally, it had to be awake." Sadie shot Carter a look reserved for clueless idiots. "You can sense the berserk aura that spills out every time he loses control of his emotions. And not just that, if his Asura wasn't already awake, just how do you think Percy is able to jump so many levels in combat? The berserk Amplification of Strength, Energy and Soul Power is the trademark of an Asura. The stronger the Asura, the stronger the Amplification. And only an awake Asura can cause the highest degree of Amplification. If Percy's Asura was asleep, then being able to cause such a high level Amplification would probably make him an Elite Asura, possibly even a Elite Empyrean Asura! And if he really was such an Asura, I would probably be doing a crime if I tried waking it up, a crime I would pay for with my death. And killing him right now would probably be a great favor for both him and his friends as well as the rest of the world."

Carter laughed out loud." Don't get so agitated! And don't exaggerate things so much. It's not so bad, we both know that. "

Sadie gave an impeccable stare." Is that so brother dear? Is it really such an exaggeration? Don't tell me you've already forgotten about your battle with Magnus? A battle that took three days and three nights, cost millions of lives, and created the desolate westlands where no living creatures exist any more? And most importantly, happened with you, a Mighty Level 1109 Overgod, almost reaching the peak of all Overgods, versus Magnus, someone who was simply at the Level 970 Overgod realm! He was a Minor Overgod, able to cross the divide of Major Overgod and battle you, a True Overgod! And who knows... If I hadn't arrived when I did... Perhaps you would have lost! It took our combined might to seal him within the Tower, and if he were to ever get free, he could destroy Humanity singlehandedly! Do you still feel that the dangers of an Asura are exaggerated? Just like how Magnus was willing to destroy all of Humanity in revenge, that boy, Percy was brave enough to charge into my territory for the sake of his lover! "

Carter had no response to that and fell silent. Then he sighed." But even so, we sealed Magnus away, made him the Tower Master rather than killing him which would be much easier to do and would even be a permanent solution. Yet we both unanimously agreed to seal him didn't we?"

Sadie sighed as well. "Indeed we did... And he does his job, protecting Humanity from invasion, despite his hatred of them..."

Carter nodded. "All we can do is hope that Percy uses his strength for good, and doesn't let the emotions of the Asura consume him. We are the last hope of Humanity after all... The bearers of the Prophecies, and the Final Legacy of the Gods. "

A.N. :Some of you might be confused by the conversation between Sadie and Carter so I'm going to clear up a few things. The full explanation of an Asura will come in the next chapter, so just keep all those doubts in mind when you read the explanation they give Percy.

Some of you might be thinking, so what if Magnus as a Level 970 fought Carter at Level 1109? Percy is a mortal and he can fight Level 400 warriors.

But the reality is that Level 1-1000 is minor overgod realm, Level 1001-1100 is Major overgod realm and Level 1101-1110 is True over god realm. Jumping levels between your realm is easy. But jumping between realms is extremely difficult. A level 900 defeating a level 999 is easier than a level 999 defeating a level 1001. And the higher the level, the more difficult it is to jump ranks in battle. So for Magnus as a level 970, he had to jump over Major overgod realm and almost the entire True overgod realm to fight Carter. That's like Percy fighting a Level 1090 warrior, outside the Tower. So you should be able to understand the difficulty.

Ciao!

P.s.:Also, please guys, review what you think about the story and it's development! It's the first story that I'm personally writing and I will admit that it's going out of my control! I originally planned a really short story that would have ended a while after he saved Artemis, after he fought Kronos. But now it keeps growing as I deepen the plot line and do further world building. I've been spending most of my time either studying, or trying to get my next few arcs in order. I have ideas, but they need to be developed and set straight. That is why updating is getting harder, because I'm trying to plan my story out to the end in order to avoid longer delays in the future as well as avoid writers blocks.


	85. The Asura Swordmaster

**The Asura Swordmaster**

"Let me tell you a story... About someone who exists beyond the comprehension of the Laws of the world, a being who's very existence defy's the laws that govern the Dimensions. His name... Is Asura."

Sadie crossed her feet and smiled at Percy. Percy regarded her suspiciously." what does any of this have to do with me? "

Sadie chuckled dryly, regarding him like a small kid faced with a teacher with great knowledge." It has everything to do with you... It is what defines you."

Percy raised an eyebrow with suspicion. "Defines me?"

Sadie waved an arm as she shushed him, then reclined into her chair eyes gazing off into the distance. Carter shot Percy an understanding grin. "Bear with her dramatics, she's the best person to explain this."

Sadie turned her gaze towards Carter." Actually, he deserves to hear about Magnus from you."

Percy felt awkwardly out of place in the room. Having completed his reunion with his companions, Sadie had suddenly called him over after Carter had turned up. The three of them were alone in the room, since they had insisted that the fewer people that knew of this, the better it would be. Of course, Artemis was also listening in, but Percy wasn't going to mention that to them.

Carter hesitated for a few moments, then nodded. "You're right." he looked at Percy with a grim smile. "You already know the basics, from the last time we spoke... Magnus was a Halfling, Born of Human and Elf. While this was supposed to mean immense talent, Magnus was a cripple who was seemingly talentless. However, all that changed the day he found his inheritance... Finding the Cursed Devil God Sword that the Elven Village had sealed away for millennia, a deadly relic they were sworn to keep hidden away for all eternity. Magnus, having been tortured all his life, claimed the Devil God Sword, and his Talent was so great that he managed to gain complete mastery of a sword that no other master had ever been able to. The Devil God Swords grant power to their wielders, but in exchange for their soul and body. The more you use a Devil God Sword, the more it will swallow you, until you are naught but an empty husk of a man, controlled by the Devil soul sealed within the sword. Thus, while they are extremely powerful, almost no one will dare to use one. You must already have first hand knowledge in that field." Carter gave Percy a meaningful look.

Percy shuddered as he recalled the time he had used Riptide's Devil Powers in order to overcome the absolute gap between him and Luke. He had managed to defeat the previously invincible Luke, using the Forbidden Devil Arts. But Riptide took control of his body and nearly massacred all his friends. The power he used was even stronger than the Recovering Artemis! That meant a level jump from initial Legend realm to the Full God Realm! And that wasn't even the limit of Riptide's true strength. It was simply the limit he could handle. Later when he had briefly achieved a moment of equilibrium with Riptide while fighting Artemis, he had completely overwhelmed and defeated her, despite the fact that she was almost invincible. He hadn't dared to try unleashing Riptide's power again ever since then, and since the sword had fallen into a slumber for a long time, he hadn't even gotten a chance to try.

"Magnus gained absolute Control over the Devil God Sword, Sword of Absolute Balance Sumerbrandr, and it trained him in the way of the sword. He trained his hardest whilst in secret, but one day he was discovered by the village. They believed him to be a traitor and ordered him put to death. At the time, he was simply a Level 17 Overgod. But he singlehandedly defeated all the village protectors at almost the level 500 Overgod realm. He escaped with his mother, back to a human city under our Kane family. We granted them asylum and took him under our wing. His extraordinary talent astounded all, and we became friends. We trained together for a long time, braving the wilderness of the Tower continent alone. The three of us were extreme talents that even the kane family greatly treasured. Soon he became a Floormaster in the Tower and I became the head of the Kane family. That was when the news came..." Carter's eyes darkened and he slowly clenched his fists." Humans had started a war amongst each other... "

Carter remained silent for a moment and his aura bristled almost violently." Two small states in the Tower continent were provoked into war over a meaningless stretch of forest land. The two sides fought, a small skirmish between two mortal armies. But what we did not anticipate was that the attack had destroyed a small farm along the way. Countless people lost their home, many their lives. But this farm was completely destroyed, burned to the ground. Inside was the charred corpse of an old man... Magnus's maternal grandfather. And worse... A distance away, lay the corpse of two women, pierced in the back with arrows. One was Magnus's mother... The other one was his daughter, Yvonne."

Percy inhaled sharply, and his eyes widened. Carter's grip on the armrest grew tighter till the arm shattered to dust." Yvonne's mother was a simple mortal. She had met Magnus in the village of Kane, but she had always had a weak constitution. She died giving birth to Yvonne, and so she became Magnus's most prized possession. And he lost both her and his mother at the same time and both at the hands of humans. He had soul crystals imprinted with their soul links, so he was the first to find out that they had been killed. He immediately rushed over to the spot where they were, reaching only to find the corpse of his mother and his daughter gasping for her last breath. The Tower Master of that time arrived there some time later, finding Magnus kneeling in the blood of the two closest relatives he had ever had. His daughter died in his arms. That was when Magnus's power truly awakened. When his Asura finally manifested. And he decided that for the death of his mother and Daughter, all of Humanity would pay the price. He decided to destroy all of Humanity! The Tower Master was horrified by his decision and moved to stop him. He was a Level 1100 warrior back then. When he and Magnus had previously dueled , he had always had the upper hand. But in this fight, it simply took Magnus 100 breaths to kill him. I arrived too late, having been notified by the Tower Master as he was following Magnus." Carter's expression was grief-stricken as he clasped his head with both hands and rocked back and forth." I had no choice but to stop him. I tried to persuade him, try to make him see reason, but he was blinded by rage to the extreme, he was ready to destroy anything that stood in his path. But still... He was my best friend... Like a Brother to me... And at the moment when he had lost the things most dear to him, worth more to him than even his own life and self, when he was filled with boundless Sorrow and rage, not only was I unable to comfort him, but I even stood forward to protect those whom he seeked revenge against. I was a failure of a friend..."

Carter's aura grew increasingly chaotic till Sadie reached a hand out and clasped his shoulder. Her own eyes reflected the grief in her brothers eyes and under her hand, his aura slowly calmed down. Taking a deep breath, Carter composed himself and continued with his story. "While I myself was only a Level 1109 warrior back then my combat power was far higher than the Previous Tower Master. We had even dueled countless times and were incomparably familiar with each other's techniques and abilities and how to counter against them. But despite all that, I simply couldn't bring myself to kill him. I originally planned to use my superior level of energy and regeneration to outlast him in the battle and force him to wear himself out so I could capture him and force him to listen to me. I used a teleportation array specifically designed to take powerful enemies out of the Tower continent and to a far off island where we could battle without causing harm to any surrounding people. But even as I did, he lashed out with his sword, tearing through space and managing to land an attack on the mortal army. Naturally, not a single one of them stood a chance, and they were almost exterminated in a single blow! Then before he could wreak any more havoc, I managed to teleport us to the uninhabited island, where we fought without restraint. If I had wanted I might have been able to deal a fatal blow upon him, but I forced myself to hold back, waiting for him to tire out. That was when I found out the true fearfulness of an Asura. Because, his Asura power had made Magnus "Immortal"! "

Percy sat up, his mind whirling with all that he'd just heard. Even Artemis was unable to keep quiet as she spoke out into his mind. "I-Immortal? That's impossible!"

Carter had clearly anticipated Percy's reaction from the start and he shook his head slightly. "No, I'm not exaggerating. Magnus had truly become an immortal, able to recover from any and all wounds... And as I later found out, absolutely unkillable. While we fought, I steadily grew weaker as my injuries grew, and my energy was drained. Meanwhile Magnus grew more berserk the longer we fought, and any injury I managed to inflict healed far faster than mine. It didn't even require any energy for him to recover. Before long, I had completely lost my advantage and I was forced to use all my strength, just to hold my own against him. In fact, if not for Magnus's hesitancy to actually deal the finishing blow, I might have even died a few times. And so the two of us remained locked in that desperate struggle, Lasting for three days and three nights. At that point, I was almost on my last legs, and Magnus himself had expended quite a lot of energy in the battle, though he remained uninjured. Sadie managed to track us down during this period of time, and joined into the battle. In the end, we both combined our powers and we were forced to seal magnus into the Tower, where he was forced to serve as the Tower Master, and protector of the race he now hated... And that is where he has remained ever since... "

Silence reigned as Carter finished his story and quietly sat back. Neither Sadie nor Percy could bring themselves to break the silence as they sat in quiet contemplation. Finally Percy sighed, and looked at the two of them." So the crux of this matter is the Power of the Asura? A power you think even I have, since I exhibit similarity to Magnus. And that makes me a threat to the peace of the Tower Continent."

Sadie chuckled dryly as she interlaced her fingers together."Bingo! But don't misunderstand us, we aren't going to harm you. Because, we can't afford to do anything that jeopardizes the Prophecies set upon us."

Percy frowned. "Prophecies set upon us?"

Sadie nonchalantly waved her hand as she dismissed his question. "That's a discussion for a later date. But what you need to understand now is that the only way to stay in control of yourself, is to master the Asura within your soul." she stood and gestured for him to follow her as she headed towards the door. "And that is why we have come to help you."

-Time skip: Percy's POV-

The three of us stood in what Sadie said to be the most centrally located room inside the Palace. I sensed Massive fluctuations in power and energy as soon as I stepped through the door and into the room. Sealing Enchantments, Binding Enchantments, Defensive Enchantments, the room had been layered and packed with so many of them that it felt as though I was being crushed in from all sides. The level of sealing power that was contained within the room was almost a million times stronger than the sealing ability within the Tower, and it made me as weak as an ordinary mortal.

However, when I glanced around, I could see that even Sadie and Carter didn't have good complexions. "W-what is this room?!"

Sadie noticed my pale face and shrugged."It's a necessity. This takes me nearly a year to set up, and it consumes a great deal of energy from me whenever I activate it, and it is also only a single use Formation, and it's range is simply limited to this room! So in terms of efficiency, it is far inferior to the Tower's God sealing Array. But in terms of Power it far exceeds the Tower! Even Carter is sealed to almost the level of a mortal in the presence of this Array. This is my own personal creation, Asura Sealing Coffin! "

I felt a sudden killing Intent explode forth and I staggered back under its force." T-this pressure? "

Sadie narrowed her eyes." This is to stimulate the Asura within you. To draw it out from its silence. "

I glared at her." You still have yet to even tell me what this Asura even is!"

The two of them exchanged looks. "The story of the Asura... It took us a long time to find out what it was. It is erased from all ancient records, almost as though someone wanted to hide the truth from the future generations. In the end, we managed to find the answers to our questions in the Primordial Island of Elements. That was where I first met The Nether Void Queen. You're lucky to get this story without the difficulty we had to undergo in order to find it... "

" The story of Asura starts in another Dimension, a separate existence that exists far away from the Chaos Heavens we live in. The Dimension there was under the rule of two powerful species. To keep it simple, I'll just refer to them as the Saint Race and the Demon Race. The Saint Race was ruled by their Queen of the Heavens, and the Demon Race was controlled by the King of the Nether. The Saints controlled the Southern lands, while the Demons ruled over the Northern lands. Both species were equally balanced in power, and despite dislike of each other, they never initiated war. However, unbeknownst to the rest of their subordinates, the Queen of the Heavens and the King of the Nether shared a bittersweet relationship with each other, and it resulted in the birth of Nine children. Three of the children contained the power of their father, becoming Demons. Three of the children contained the power of their mother, Becoming Saints. The last three children became a fusion of their parents, and became the first three Asura's! They were outcasts, shunned by both the Saints and the Demons, and forced to live in the small stretch of land that neither side controlled. The Asura's bore Offspring with other mortal creatures that lived under the rule of their parents, and the children they bore had the same powers of the Asura's. And it soon became clear that the Asura were very powerful, able to combine the Darkness of their father and the Light of their Mother. The two ruling races wished to exterminate them, but both the Queen of the Heavens and the King of the Nether were firmly opposed to the idea. Hence the new species thrived, ruled over by the three original Asura. And so the Asura grew proud and Arrogant, and soon their power was almost comparable to the Saints and the Demons. Then the Massacre began. A young Asura challenged his peers to a battle to the death, and put all of them, one by one... To death. The older generation was horrified, and soon they found out that the boy who had committed the crime was in fact the weakest of the children! He had grown tired of the Bullying and Slander he had faced, and had killed all those who had looked down upon him. To find out that a cripple had killed off the entire younger generation, the entire Asura race went into an uproar, and they branded him a traitor, and sentenced him to death. He responded by Massacring the entire city alone. Not a single one was left alive. The entirety of the Asura race attacked him at full force, but it was hopeless, and he killed his way across their territory, making his way to the Capital, the stronghold of the Asura, where his Forefathers still ruled. He slaughtered his way into the city, into the Palace of the Asura. And then he challenged the three Asura to battle. He killed all three of them and it was then that they realized how he was growing so strong. He refined and consumed the body and strength of those he had killed, and every single kill made him stronger. The death of the three original Asura alarmed their parents and they rushed over to protect them. However, all died at his hands and He named himself Asura. At this point of time, his power had caught the attention of the Primordials and the Singularity that ruled the Dimension. The Saints and Demons appealed for help from the Primordials who they followed and the two Primordials appeared to negotiate with him. However, Asura didn't hesitate as he attacked the two of them. The Primordials were astonished, but they were also two Primordials, with power that controlled an entire Universe. How could they possibly fear a mortal that wasn't even a century in age? And indeed they defeated him as they had expected to. Asura was forced to retreat under their combined might, barely escaping with his life. However, he returned after two days, and this time he was even stronger than he had previously been. He consumed the two Primordials, something that was supposed to be quite impossible. The death of two Primordials was something that shook the entirety of their dimension, and at this point, he had grown so powerful that even the Singularity that controlled the Dimension, a being that was of the Highest level of existence, began fearing him. Asura was a being who crossed even the limit of Singularity, growing so powerful, he can shatter universe's with a single blow. And after having transcended the Limit of Singularity, he divided his soul into a billion shards and randomly scattered them among the Dimensions."Sadie narrated in a soft, wistful manner. This story was like the goal of almost all who cultivated their strength. To grow so strong that you can stand unopposed in the entirety of the Heavens, able to look down on all of creation with disdain. This was the power exclusively wielded by Chaos, And under her were the Primordials.

I could feel my fighting spirit kindling as I heard of the Asura. "He divided his own soul?"

Sadie nodded. "And each soul carries power equal to a Singularity."

I felt dumbfounded at her words."A billion souls, all with the strength of a Singularity? Doesn't that mean that he is a billion times stronger than a Singularity!?"

Sadie laughed.! "actually it's not as simple as adding the power of all the souls together. When you fuse them together, the power is way more than simply adding them together. So I suspect that you can say that he is more than a billion times stronger than a Singularity. "

I tried my best to wrap my head around the story I had just heard. A Singularity was already the limit of my understanding of the way of the world. But to be an existence a billion times stronger... Just what sort of a concept was that?! A Singularity consisted of all the power within existence of the Dimension. How could anything possibly be even stronger than that?

It felt as if I were simply a frog at the bottom of the well, trying to view the sky. Sadie seemed amused at my confusion as she Slightly shook her head. "Don't think too hard about it, it's beyond even the current me. I just needed you to understand what sort of an existence Asura is. And after he scattered his soul across the Dimensions, they searched out people who were suitable candidates to inherit his powers. They were the ones who suffered to the point insanity, driven by something that ordinary people would fail to understand or comprehend. His successors were granted the Power of the Asura, a heaven Defying power that makes the wielder an existence capable of transcending the rules of existence and logic. That is the true source of your power, Perseus Jackson! " Sadie declared dramatically as she pointed at me.

" Asura? "I looked down at my hands." I always thought that was because of Riptide... " And the Devil Orb, I added silently in my mind.

Sadie chuckled and looked at me with amusement." That Asura phantom? That's just some ordinary demon manifested by your Devil God Sword, and your killing intent. It's nothing even close to the real Asura..."

I shivered at her words. " Anyways..."

"yes, anyways, I suppose we've spent enough time waiting. The pressure being applied on your soul must have woken up your Asura... So I suppose it's about time you meet him." Sadie's smile turned wicked.

"w-wait, inside my soul?" I immediately thought of the time when I had undergone Pontus's trial. He had battered my soul with extreme pressure. Undergoing the pressure had led me to discover something like an orb buried within the core of my soul. The outer cover of the orb had cracked under the pressure for an instant and a flood of mysterious energy had escaped in that moment, before I blacked out. But in that instant, I had heard a bored, yet haughty voice whispering from within.

"You are still too weak to wield my powers!"

That must have been the Asura! I looked up at Sadie. "I'm ready"

A. N. :Quick update! Getting this long explanation out of the way. It was quite interesting to finally explain the backgrounds of two characters who I ha e been planning on for so long. Especially Magnus. I originally planned a girlfriend dying scenario, but those are overused in my story, with Percy having to save his harem all the time. Also, I planned to make the characters relatable to Canon. Magnus's mother's death was a defining point in his character, so it worked out well. Also, some of you might guess that the whole immortality thing came out from Magnus being immortal within Hotel Valhalla and you'd be right. As for Carter and Sadie, I'll be having them have their own adventures separately, though the main battles will be fought together.

Last point, the reason I mention songs in my story is because that song would be the one I was listening to while planning and writing that chapter, so it really influences the story there. The song for Thalia vs Percy would be In the End by Linkin Park


	86. Asura Training

Absolute Darkness. No light existed down here. It felt suffocatingly stifling as I gazed around with wide eyes, searching for a shred of illumination. It felt as if my eyes were about to burst as they widened to the limit. Still nothing. Absolutely nothing. No light, No sound, No sensation either. It was as if everything besides me had ceased to exist.

-The real world, within the Asura Sealing Coffin-

Sadie was seated primly upon a chair, quietly sipping on fragrant tea as if she hadn't a care in the world. Carter sat beside her, but he was visibly tense, his grip on the hilt of his sword unceasingly tight. His knuckles had already turned white from the exertion of force. His gaze was locked onto Percy's unmoving form as he lay in the middle of the room, stretched out over a luxurious bed. "So has he started?" he asked Sadie.

Sadie gave a curt nod. "Yes. He's reached the Core of the Asura Domain... The Mindscape."

Carter's lips were set in a grim line as he watched Percy. "Let's hope... He succeeds."

-The Mindscape- Percy POV

I closed my eyes and slowly breathed out. Open or closed, it mattered little, but the action helped me focus my mind and calm myself down in this unpredictable situation that I was trapped in. I tried to sense what was around me with the utmost concentration.

Slowly, the sounds of Lapping water broke through, gentle swishing and dripping sounds accompanying them. A soft breeze stirred in my face and it felt as if I could almost taste the salt in it.

"This sensation..." it was unmistakable! My eyes snapped open and slowly, the darkness around me was resolved into creation. The colors barely changed, but I was able to make out the form of dark water slowly swirling under my feet in the eternal threnody of the Ocean. The sky slowly lightened as the moon and stars slowly appeared overhead. A subtle beauty who's profoundness was enough to stun me, suddenly filled me and I was compelled to study this beautiful landscape for eternity. It felt as if the secrets of the entire Universe were hidden in the simple splendor it displayed.

It took me a few moments to break free and I shook my head to clear it as soon as I did. Then the voice rang out from my side. "You aren't wrong. Your answers to the Universe are all hidden here."

I jerked with shock and surprise as I looked to the right, catching sight of the dark silhouette who stood at a distance, looking up at the sky as well. His face slowly turned towards me, and at the same moment, the moon broke through the clouds and a silver shaft of moonlight fell across his face, illuminating... Me?

I stared at him with increasing shock as my own face smiled back at me. His blue green eyes, black messy hair, even the scars on his body and the clothes he wore... They were all identical to me.

He smiled again, a faint, sad smile that almost broke my heart. "I don't look like you... I am you. The you who is always hidden away from the world, the one who holds all of your burden and hopes and dreams and desires... The one who has no secrets to keep, the one who hides behind no facade. I am the real you... Perseus Jackson. "

" Percy. " I immediately corrected." Percy Jackson "

His lips flickered with that faint smile again as he gave a nod." I suppose, that means that... I am Perseus Jackson, while you are Percy Jackson. "

I shrugged." if you say so. But that isn't the reason why I'm here."

He smoothed his hair back and slowly started walking towards me. "You want to know if I'm your Asura." he said simply. Not a question. A statement.

I started backing up at the same speed, all my nerves taut with tension. "Uhhhh can you, like read my mind or something?"

He chuckled and slowly shook his head. "I simply guessed from the expression on your face."

I sighed. Great, he was certainly a piece of work. "And? Are you my Asura?"

He stopped, a contemplating look crossing his face as he actually seemed to be thinking through the question. "I thought I had already said... I am you. But yes... I am your Asura. Or it would be more accurate to say that I am the Manifestation of your Asura."

"Manifestation? What do you mean by that?" I asked, confused.

"Manifestation... As in a projection of your powers. You seem to be mistaken about what an Asura really means. We are not a separate existence within you. We are a part of you. You are the Asura. I am merely the face of the power, and it's will. I'm not something from outside you that knows nothing about you. I am an intrinsic part of you. It is not you and I. It is we. We are one person, just different faces of the same personality. "

I raised both my hands." ok, I didn't come here to have an argument in philosophy. "

Perseus lightly stroked his chin as he regarded me." Indeed... You came here to conquer your Asura. And how exactly did you plan on doing it? By beating me up perhaps? Or maybe even killing me? Since you appear to be Averse to having a reasonable discussion or any form of Argument."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dang. That's a pretty nice way of stating things and making me look and feel like a bully"

Perseus gave me a confused look. "You appear to be mistaken. All I did was state the plain truth. No more, no less."

I stretched my arm out and the Heaven smiting Devil slayer sword appeared in my grasp. "I know myself well enough. If you really are me, I would never speak like that."

Perseus sighed dramatically. "The reason why I avoid battles isn't because I'm scared. It's because you should be." He smiled, then suddenly his form blurred as he charged forward.

"Trying to go bare handed against me?" I roared and swung down the Heaven smiting sword, and the wind howled terrifyingly as the Heavy sword cut down on him. Perseus didn't even flinch as he twisted his body, lithely dodging my slash before darting forward. My eyes widened and I immediately activated Moonlight flash, streaking away almost instantly as I dodged his strike.

"You're too slow!" he roared and suddenly his form glowed silver as he charged forward as well. His fist slammed into my chest and I was sent flipping into midair as blood sprayed out of my mouth. I landed in a crouch and swung the Heaven smiting sword in multiple succession, and Phoenix screeching filled the air as as Phoenix flame Infused my attacks and flew out towards Perseus.

He sneered and his form glowed silver again and multiple after images appeared all around him at once. My eyes widened involuntarily and I hissed with surprise. "T-thats Moonlight Flash! He can use it?"

Perseus burst into laughter as he rushed at me again. "what do you mean?! I am you! I can use any and every ability you can use!"

"If that's how it's going to be..." My aura surged upwards and my hair slowly turned silver and the symbol of the Crescent Moon over my chest glowed as I darted forward with my maximum speed. "Celestial Moon God's Transformation!"

Perseus's expression grew increasingly wild as he rushed at me as well. "Bring it on!" His aura exploded with even greater force than mine and I felt a sudden sense of oppression from him.

"Sea Dragon's Slash!" I swung my weapon and the Sea Dragon's phantom image howled as it charged at him.

His hand curled into a claw as he leapt forward, taking on my attack with his bare hands. Before I could even relax, his hands tore through the Dragon Phantom image as if it was paper as he suddenly bore down on me. I barely managed to raise my sword up to protect myself at the last moment as his knees smashed into the flat side of the heavy sword.

The force was as if a mountain had smashed into my sword. My arms shuddered, struggling to hold firm under the immense force and even the ground under my feet cratered, shattering to pieces as I gave a loud Roar. The overbearing Aura he was emitting seemed to be soaking into me, drawing out something I couldn't sense.

My bones emitted a crackling Roar as my Azure Dragon Bloodline awoke. Shimmering Azure scales covered my arms as I thrust upwards with all my force sending Perseus flying. The Vermillion Bird screeched as I leapt into the Air, Flames covering my body as I closed in on the unbalanced Perseus.

He gave a bark of laughter and suddenly his Aura exploded again. The pressure slammed into me and my body felt as though I was being paralyzed by the sheer force. I grit my teeth, and the blood of Poseidon burned as my hair turned Greenish Blue and my aura turned a visible Blue Green. "Divine Sea Transformation!" I broke through the pressure and slammed the tip of the Heaven smiting sword into his chest.

Blood spurted from his chest as I slammed him down into the ground, taking full advantage of the Heavy sword's overbearing weight to slam down on him.

Perseus coughed up a mouthful of blood. In most cases, such a blow would probably be enough to cave in my opponents chest and leave him half dead, but my sword had been firmly blocked by his ribs, which were possibly as firm as mine were.

I sneered down at him. "ready to yield yet?"

He chuckled lightly. "Are you getting cocky when I'm not even serious yet?"

a sudden sense of danger swept over me as I leapt backwards.

-Real World: A few minutes back-

Percy's fingers twitched and his expression twisted. Then he slowly stood up, pulling himself to his feet. Carter sighed and stood up, drawing his own sword without hesitation. "Looks like it has begun."

Percy suddenly screeched unearthly as the heaven smiting devil slayer sword appeared in his grasp. He swung the sword and Carter rushed forward, lifting his own Khopesh and receiving the Slash.

Both the warriors were sealed, but the blow still caused space around their weapons to ripple. Carter grunted lightly and disengaged, choosing to retreat, rather than to continue the head on battle. Percy roared again, pressing his attack. Sadie was smiling as she watched them, but her eyes were terse as she held her wand, ready to intervene at a moments notice.

"His heavy sword makes head on confrontation rather tricky." Carter murmured, then smiled as he slashed at Percy. Space split and his attack slashed down from behind him. Percy's Aura surged and the attack dissipated under the pressure surrounding him.

"this might not be as easy as I thought it would be..." Carter said as he raised his sword.

-Mindscape- Percy POV

Perseus staggered to his feet, a feral grin on his face. "Getting quite cocky I see. Then let's see how much longer you can be so arrogant!"

His eyes flashed and the symbol of a Crescent Moon appeared over his bloodied chest. His Hair turned pure silver as he gave me a wicked grin. "Celestial Moon God's Transformation!"

"Oh shit."

A silver streak filled my sight as he suddenly appeared before me, grabbing my face and flinging me away. I had no time to react before he disappeared from my view again and a powerful force slammed into my back. I shuddered, and my mind went blank with shock. His fist smashed me into the ground and my flesh ruptured as his fist tore down to my spine In a single strike.

"Hmph. Pathetic." He sneered as he kicked me, his foot slamming into my stomach and sending me sliding across the ground till I finally came to a stop beside the edge of the ocean.

I could hardly believe the absolute disparity between the two of us. We used the same abilities, same techniques. But it took all my strength to simply injure him when he hadn't even been fighting seriously. This disparity... Was the power of the Asura. I slowly struggled to my feet, staggering till I finally stood up straight, leaning on the Heaven Smiting sword that I was using." Both one and the same..." I said softly.

Perseus smirked. "ready for round two?"

I watched him, then slowly let go of the Heaven smiting sword as I stepped forward. "Both of us are the same... Aren't we?" I returned the smirk as I raised my fists, and both my transformations dissipated, as I was left in my normal state.

Perseus blurred again and this time his fist slammed int my face before I even saw him move. His fist swung around again, aimed at my back.

My vision turned red as I twisted, moving faster than I ever had moved in my life, spinning in midair. My own fist shot out and we clashed in midair, both of us flying backwards under the backlash. The second my feet touched the ground, I was darting forward again. My vision was entirely red and all I sensed was his Aura, the only thing that mattered to me now!

I could feel him moving and my movements mirrored his as our fists slammed into each other, stopping in a deadlock. His face leaned closer to mine and it was all I could see, my own face, twisted into a mask of hatred.

He gave a sudden Roar and his Hair turned Blue Green as his Aura increased even further, suddenly breaking through the stalemate and crunching into my chest.

I swallowed back the blood that rose up my throat as I smiled lightly. "Berserk!"

I charged forward again and I could feel my Aura surging and swelling as I smashed my fist into his face, He growled and stumbled back, then attacked me. We met in a shower of attacks, exchanging blows, equally matched as we pushed ourselves to the absolute limit.

"The ability of the Asura! Berserk strength!"

I felt a grin spread over my face as the exhilarating feeling of sheer strength filled my body. I gave a loud Roar and Perseus was forced to retreat as my attacks grew increasingly aggressive. I rushed back to the Heaven Smiting sword.

His arm stretched out and a Heaven smiting sword appeared in his grasp as well.

"Thousand Layered Waves: Divine Sea-"

"Thousand Layered Waves: Divine Sea-

" - Tsunami!" we both roared at the same time, striking out together as the Winds howled and our attacks collided. A loud boom shook the ground and we both went skidding backwards, then charged at each other once again.

-Real World : A few minutes back-

Carter gave a curse as he leapt backwards. The ground where he had been previously been standing was shredded as a powerful wave of energy struck along. Percy's face was covered with blood and he snarled as he attacked again.

"Sadie, his strength is increasing rapidly! I don't know for how much longer I can keep this berserk Asura within control! If this keeps up, he'll break out of the seal!"

Sadie's face was flushed as she struggled to maintain the seal over Percy. "We have to! Go all out if you must, but keep him in control!"

Carter roared and his Aura materialized around him. "Royal Transformation! King of War!"

His Aura immediately enveloped his body and solidified as it expanded around him, taking the format of a gigantic 20 feet tall Falcon headed warrior. Carter was suspended in the middle of the hologram and he had a confident smirk on his face." Sorry Percy! This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you!" He roared and slashed down and the hologram mimicked his movements, the giant sword it wielded smashing down at Percy.

The force of the blow was like a meteorite descending upon the earth. Space constricted and tightened around and it was as if time was slowing down as his sword smashed down like the scytge of a death God.

Percy suddenly turned into a blue Green streak, weaving around his attack and smashing his fist onto the holograms chest, sending it flipping into the air before it crashed into the 50 foot high ceiling.

"Oh... Fuck... I didn't actually expect that to hurt me..." Carter mumbled as he crashed down onto the floor with a loud crash.

Sadie sighed and stretched out her wand as Multicolored wings burst out with a splendor of the rainbow behind her. An ethereal, ancient Aura filled the room as she flung her wand at Percy."Freeze!"

A crackle ran through the room and suddenly Percy was enveloped by ice as he was frozen solid. She barely had time to heave a sigh, before the Ice suddenly exploded, turning into water vapor almost as soon as it did. Percy was surrounded by a visible blood red Aura and it was seething as he slowly raised his weapon.

He roared as all his energy accumulated into the blade, then suddenly his Aura was expelled from him almost violently. Sadie shuddered as the seal around the room was entirely torn apart to shreds in an instant.

Carter struggled to raise himself from the floor as his power slowly returned and his injuries started to recover. Sadie heaved as she struggled to regain control of her body, then gave a wary look in Percy's direction.

Even as the two of them watched quietly, the water vapor and drifting Aura slowly scattered, revealing Percy standing on his two feet, a skeletal armor shimmering slightly over his entire body. Then the armor cracked apart and dissipated and he slowly fell to his knees as his eyes rolled up. "I... Think that's enough for today."

A.N. :And we have finally introduced Percy's latest ability! Some of you might be wondering why it's taking Percy so long to break through to the Overgod realm, so I suppose I should give you an explanation. Percy originally was a very powerful warrior, able to jump ranks and fight against Overgods. After he broke through the demigod realm, his body was increased in strength and durability as well as control over his Divine power. Hence, even though his realm didn't increase, he became incredibly powerful, and in a way, he also achieved a type of Overgod realm, A divine Physique. While he still can't use the Abilities of an Overgod, he can use simply his physical strength to defeat them. Now with his breakthrough with his Asura powers, he still hasn't crossed to the Overgod realm. However, now his soul is also incredibly powerful, since he can use his Asura powers to defend it, as well as launch attacks directly against people's souls. So while he can't use Overgod level energy and magic, his soul is also as powerful as an ordinary Overgod. Basically, he doesn't have Overgod level energy, but he has a Divine Physique and a Divine Soul. Further explanations will be given as the story progresses, but all you need to know is that Percy is really overpowered right now.

I also noticed that when I update quickly I get fewer reviews, so maybe I should just update once every two weeks?


	87. Percy Jackson So far

A. N. :You guys should really check out the Profile I've made for Percy at the end of the Author Note. It contains hints about Percy's new abilities and what you can expect to see in the final showdown.

it's awkward to say this but I seem to have run out of ideas for the next chapter. Probably because I was updating so fast I ran through everything I had planned. There might not be an update this week. However, it would be fair to say that the story is drawing quite close to the finishing point. Except for the Battle against Magnus, there might only be a couple of chapters remaining. I was originally planning on going up to a hundred chapters, but since I'm almost done with my ideas for book one, I will probably be unable to make it to the benchmark. Also, I know that this story is solely based off Pertemis, since I planned the story off Ichiruki from Bleach and JasChe from Against the Gods, but I am, in essence, a huge Percabeth fan. So you can all expect to see her again, even though she's technically dead.

Also I'm conflicted about writing the next book as soon as DGA is finished, since I've also been wanting to try writing a Romantic Percabeth fanfic. Anyways, do tell me what you guys think about it. Reviews on any ideas you might have or any characters that you can suggest. Also, I have problems thinking up names. Just review a bunch to help me out.

Character Profile:

Name: Percy Jackson

TITLES: Young Master of the Jackson Family Clan

Rank One of the Genius class

Prince Consort of the Flame Seed Sect

Tenth Floormaster, Sea Devil

ALSO KNOWN AS: Brother in law(Nico)

Sex Fiend(Artemis)

Devilspawn(Artemis)

Senior Brother Percy(Calypso)

Junior Brother Percy (Aphrodite)

Master(Hong'er)

STATUS

Deceased (First Life)

Alive (Second Life)

CAUSE OF DEATH

Killed by Kronos (First Life)

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

SPECIES: Human

GENDER: Male

AGE:21(Appearance :16)

EYE COLOR:sea green (First/Second Life)

Red (Devil God Arts)

HAIR COLOR: Black (All lives)

BODY: Dragon God Body

Sea God's Body(High Resistance to Flame and Frost)

Extreme Dark Devil Body (Transformed state)

BLOODLINE: Poseidon

Primordial Azure Dragon

Phoenix

Golden Crow

Primordial Vermillion Bird

Celestial Moon God

Ice Priestess

Relationship :

Spouses: Piper DeGrest (Fiance)

Calypso Thundre(Fiance)

Aphrodite Alhart(Lover)

Hestia(Fiance)

Hong'er(Contract of Soul and Body)

Artemis Sollunas(Lover/Master)

RELATIVES

Parents:James Jackson (Father)

Trisha Jackson (Mother)

In-Laws:

Nico Di Angelo (Brother In Law)

Apollo Sollunas(Brother In Law)

Alex Thundre (Father In Law)

Tristan DeGrest (Father In Law)

MASTER(S)

Chiron(First: Warrior/Second: Warrior)

Artemis Sollunas (Second :Warrior)

Hestia(Second: Array Arts, Alchemy, Warrior)

ALLIES

Carter Kane

Clymenious

The Fates

Nyx

Gaia

ENEMIES

Kronos

Tartarus

CULTIVATION

PROFOUND STRENGTH

Essence/Energy: Peak Olympian Realm/Peak Mortal Realm

Body: Demigod Realm

Soul: Awakened Asura State(Unmastered)

COMBAT PROWESS

Unsealed Level 500 Overgod( Estimate)

Sealed Level 1100 Overgod(Estimate)

Divine Transformation:

Celestial Moon God's Transformation

Divine Sea Transformation

Asura Intent(Unstable and Incomplete)

Devil God Form(Berserk Self Destructive Form)

Chaos State(Unconscious)

Awakened Devil(Sealed)

LEGACY

Poseidon's Legacy

Primordial Azure Dragon Legacy

Phoenix Legacy

Golden Crow Legacy

Primordial Vermillion Bird Legacy

Rage God's Legacy(Great Way of the Buddha)

Chaos Legacy(Chaos Seed)

Yggdrasil's Legacy(Divine Tree of Enlightenment)

Ice Priestess's Legacy(Frozen End Arts)

Tartarus Legacy(Devil Orb)

Gaia's Elements(Gnome)

Pontus Arts(Undine)

Asura Legacy(Incomplete)

Sealed Devil Legacy(Sealed Riptide)

STATUSES

Occupation :

Array Master(GrandMaster)

Alchemy(Junior Grandmaster)

Sect Master of the Flame Seed Sect

Student /Floormaster of the Tower

PREVIOUS OCCUPATION(S)

Disciple of Hope Academy

Disciple of the Flame seed sect

AFFILIATION(S)

Jackson Family

Flame Seed Family

Pontus Supreme Society

DeGrest Society

Alchemist Society

ORIGIN

Realm

Earth /Ruined Realm(First Life)

Lower Realm 5/Gaia Continent (Second Life)

EMPIRE

Pontus Empire

CITY

City of Hope


	88. Tower Master!

**Tower Master!**

Percy was surrounded on all eight sides by eight oppressive Auras, each one atleast on the level of Thalia. The sheer number of these Auras astounded Percy, though he had already expected them.

Then the leader of the Auras appeared, shimmering into existence behind the eight hooded people who surrounded him. A slim, tanned hand reached up to toss back the hood, revealing a thin and elegant face, as a girl with green hair appeared in Percy's sights. "Tenth floor master… You are only the second person to ever make it this far. For this I congratulate you, commending you on your skills and power. However, we have already seen all that you are capable of. You are barely more powerful than Thalia, and she also accepted her loss at this stage of the trials. We are the Nine Floor masters who Guard the Tower, second only to the Tower master himself. I, as the First Floor master, Alex Fierro, offer you a chance to withdraw with your honor intact and unharmed. If you persist in your foolishness, the trial may prove fatal. "

Silence reigned as Percy stood, listening to her words. Then he lowered the heaven smiting sword, and withdrew it into his inner world. Alex sighed." Wise decision. It is better to accept defeat when-"

" accept defeat? " Percy's voice rang out, cutting her off as he smirked arrogantly. "I was just giving you a chance. If you are worthy to make me draw my weapon, that's fine. If not, why bother?"

Alex's eyes widened as the figures around Percy grumbled with dissatisfaction. A figure stepped forward, voice rumbling. "Kid! Even a genius must learn to respect his superiors!

He stood there in a crooked posture, signaled Percy with his finger, and said in a lazy tone, "Then let's fight. Come. Grab your weapon and attack me all you want. I will stand right here and let you slash me thirty times. If I flinch at all, then consider it my loss, how about that?"

"Heh!" Percy laughed slightly, "That's okay, I don't think I'll need a weapon to deal with you."

"…" the figure got so angry he burst into laughter. He now believed that what he encountered wasn't a weak chicken, but a complete idiot. He felt like his class, level, and even his IQ had all been smacked down just from standing face to face with him.

"Indeed, you don't have to use your weapon because the result would be the same whether you use it or not!" the figure said as the corners of his lips twitched.

"Are you sure you want to stand there without moving and let me attack you thirty times?" Percy rolled his wrist for a moment and revealed a provocative gaze.

"Enough of your rubbish!" the Ninth Floormaster started to become impatient, "For trash like you, not only thirty moves, even if I stood here and let you attack me three hundred times, you wouldn't even damage a single hair!"

"Really?" Percy's face looked completely amazed, and rolled his wrist even more fiercely, "Then, I'm going to try."

The Ninth Floor master's words were not carelessness due to ignorance. There was, after all, a huge gap between the Mortal Realm and the Overgod Realm, and the difference between Major Overgod Realm and Mortal Realm could be thought of as a natural chasm. Hence, the comparison between the Mortal Realm with the Major Overgod Realm would be like the difference between earth and heaven. If a Major Overgod were to casually release a little profound energy for defense, even if a profound practitioner in the Mortal Realm attacked with all his might, he would not be able to injure the Overlord even one bit.

Mortal Realm and Major Overgod Realm, could no longer be likened to a difference in levels… It was simply two different worlds!

Therefore, even though everyone thought that The Ninth Floor master was reckless and haughty, other than those who knew of Percy's actual battle prowess, no one thought that The Ninth Floor master was acting carelessly.

Percy walked forward leisurely to the front of The Ninth Floor master, and when he was three steps in front of The Ninth Floor master, he slowly raised up his right arm. As he swung his fist threateningly at The Ninth Floor master, he confirmed once again, "When I hit you, are you sure you're not going to block?"

"Hmph!" The Ninth Floor master laughed coldly, "Are you deaf? I've already said that I'm not going to block. If I even move one bit, consider it your victory! This is my magnanimity towards you, bestowing rubbish like you such a chance. If you waste my time any longer, I'm going to knock you down!"

"Alright!" Percy nodded, raising his fist, "Since that's the case, I'm going to attack. You must receive it pro~per~ly!"

When he said his last word, Percy stepped forward quickly and swung a punch, which landed straight on The Ninth Floor master's chest.

Percy's punch was not quick and the profound strength released by it was indeed only at the peak of the Mortal Realm. However, the fluctuation of profound energy was not strong and anyone could tell that Percy did not use his full strength when he threw the punch.

In the hall, many looked on with contempt… They thought, not using weapons, nor using his full strength, this soft looking punch was something even I could receive, let alone The Ninth Floor master.

Truly a fool who was unaware of consequences… The Ninth Floor master laughed coldly as he saw Percy's fist approach. Even though he did indeed not move, it didn't mean that he was not going to retaliate. From how he saw it, facing someone as low level as Percy, he just needed to use profound energy to cause a backlash that would be enough to cripple Percy's arm.

From The Ninth Floor master's gaze, Percy could guess what he was thinking and laughed coldly in his heart. Suddenly, the right fist that he swung started to accelerate and landed onto The Ninth Floor master's chest. The punch looked neither hard nor gentle and the "bang" sound it produced was neither soft nor loud, only a little abnormally dull.

As everyone had expected, after being punched by Percy, The Ninth Floor master did not retreat one bit, nor did his body sway even a little.

Within the hall, roars of laughter immediately erupted but the laughter did not last very long; it subsided as everyone suddenly felt that something was a little… amiss.

After being punched by Percy, The Ninth Floor master indeed did not retreat one bit, nor did his body sway… even his expression remained the same. As Percy leisurely pulled back his fist, The Ninth Floor master's expression still had not changed. He didn't utter any insults and mocking words that he should had.

Percy stepped back and looked at The Ninth Floor master with a smile.

"What… What happened?"

"Ugh… ugh…" Finally, The Ninth Floor master groaned with a hoarse voice. His eyes opened wide, and his eyeballs bulged exaggeratingly, nearly coming out of his eyes. Following that, his body slowly collapsed like a pile of clay and in an instant, he laid on the floor with his hands clutching his chest in misery, curled up just like a cooked prawn. His entire body trembled, and cold sweat poured down his forehead like rain… After which, he vomited a huge mouthful of blood mixed with white foam. Following that, his nose, eyes and ears all started to bleed.

"Wha… What?" Everyone in the hall had their mouth agape in shock. Nearly everyone was stunned and suddenly stood up with a face of complete shock.

After being stunned for a while, Alex was instantly horrified and flew forward , landing beside The Ninth Floor master. She immediately picked him up and scanned his body with her profound energy. Instantly, her face darkened as she stared viciously at Percy, "You…"

Upon her inspection… all of The Ninth Floor master's internal organs had been displaced, and more than ten of his ribs were deformed. Even though they did not break, it was much scarier than breaking… it was as though they had been forcefully reshaped! Other than his vitals, his chest had nearly turned into a blob of goo and countless meridians were destroyed.

His injuries could only be described as "extremely serious", much worse than what Alex had expected.

"He has already fallen , you… have lost!" Facing Alex's murderous look, Percy was not one bit afraid as he calmly stated.

Percy did indeed not use his full strength in his previous punch; however, it still packed the strength of at least several thousand kilograms. If The Ninth Floor master had blocked with all his strength, he might have been able to resist it. However, facing Percy who was only in the Mortal Realm, he didn't bother to even use one percent of his strength. Although Percy's punch did not cause him to retreat, when the extremely frightening destructive power came in contact with his body, it converted into countless streaks of energies, easily shattered his protective profound energy and spread all over his body, severely injuring him.

The most simple trick in Percy's arsenal! Law of vibrations! Ignore all defense!

Percy smirked and a silver flash filled the air as his form dashed forward, and he appeared before another figure.

The Sixth floormaster twisted and snakes erupted out of her cloak, striking at Percy at the same time. A poisonous smog erupted around her and Percy's form flickered again as he retreated, barely dodging. The smog spread out, completely covering her body. "Don't underestimate the Floor master's! I'm the sixth floor master, Poison Serpent!"

The ground at her feet hissed and bubbled under the effect of the poison as it melted into a poisonous puddle. Her hood slipped off, revealing a scarred and pockmarked face, streaked with purplish and green wounds. "My poison can kill Major Overgods in mere seconds! Even a true Overgod would try their best to avoid it! This is the absolute defense against close range warriors like you! "

Percy glanced at the terrifying black cloud that surrounded her, and a thin smile of mockery lifted his lips. He stepped closer till he was at the edge of the poison cloud. "Absolute defense eh? " His form blurred again, appearing inside the poison cloud, right in front of her as his fist smashed into her face, smacking her into the ground, a crater bursting open on the ground under her head,as she was knocked out instantly. "But what if your opponent was suicidal? "

Percy's body stiffened and he collapsed beside her.

Alex sighed. "What a foolish kid. Just to prove himself, he rushed into the poison cloud. Indeed, a suicidal-"

Her words sputtered to a stop as Percy suddenly appeared in front of her, Fist smashing at her. She raised her arm, managing to block his punch as she was lifted off her feet and sent flying backwards, blood spraying from her left arm as it dropped uselessly to her side. "T-that's… Impossible! "

Percy smirked and rotated his arm. He was secretly surprised at the resilience of her body. He had launched a surprise attack to catch her off guard, as well as used almost all his strength in the punch while using the Law of Vibrations! Yet she had simply blocked it with her arm! She was truly a terrifying opponent.

As for using poison to kill him, that was simply a joke! Under the heavens, there did not exist any poison that was unable to be suppressed by his All powerful Styx Soul! Merely a poison capable of killing an Overgod was too weak!

Alex looked down at her arm. "You are far stronger than what we had expected… even if you were holding back in your battle with Thalia, you couldn't possibly be so powerful! Just what have you done during the two months after you won the Tournament? "

Percy cocked his head." Just a bit of training with myself. " he smiled as he recalled the weeks he had spent challenging the Asura within himself time and time again. It was by far the most grueling training he had been forced into. With equally matched power, each match was a close battle, with both parties exhausted by the end. His Asura was perfect, never making even a single mistake during the fight. The only way Percy could even hope to match him was by perfecting his own abilities, honing himself till his control over his power, his movements, his thoughts and strategies, all reached the peak of perfection!

At the same time he had also had all the resources of the Tower available to him, the training grounds and the Libraries exclusively created for the Floor master's were all open for his use. Right now, Percy was the absolute strongest any mortal human could hope to be. He had the strongest soul, the strongest body, and the most high level Essence a mortal could wield. Just on the Basis of his bodily strength, he was already a powerful warrior, without including his other strengths!

Four of the Floor master's stepped forward, their Auras surging. "This brat is stronger than we expected… he has been hiding his true strength! "

"Second Floormaster! God of Fire! "

"Third Floormaster! Goddess of Ice! "

"Fourth Floormaster! Goddess of Wind! "

"Fifth Floormaster! God of Earth! "

Their Auras impacted Percy from four directions and his widened. This Aura…. Was a True Overgod!

Level 1101 Warriors! Their power was in a completely different world from the other floormasters! Even Thalia would perhaps be suppressed by any one of them!

Percy's expression grew serious, but he still didn't draw his weapon as he watched them.

"Impudent Child! Face the wrathful purification! Blazing Storm! " from the front a wave of fire blanketed forward as from behind a storm of wind blocked his retreat. When the two collided, their power would multiply and directly shred him to ashes!

"Purification in a storm of fire huh? Let me see! "Percy didn't dodge, nor did he try to reduce the impact. Using his bare body as a shield he took on the blast, immediately getting devoured by the explosion of Flame and Wind. The very ground trembled as a hurricane of fire engulfed him, the destructive power all concentrated on him.

"Arrogance should be limited. " the second Floormaster sneered as he watched the attack tearing the skies and the earth.

"If you speak too many boastful words… they will return to slap you in the face! "Percy's voice rang out as the hurricane burst apart and he appeared before the second floormaster.

His eyes widened with horror as the burning figure that was Percy filled his vision. His skin was gleaming and perfectly unscathed by the terrifying flames! He was unable to react as Percy turned into a blazing Phoenix, striking into his chest. Blood violently sprayed from his mouth as his chest was crushed by the blow and he was sent flying like a broken ragdoll.

The Phoenix made of fire swerved, flying straight at the third Floor master! "Don't look down on me! " the third floormaster screeched as she struck out with all her strength. The other floor master's had been defeated by surprise attacks, so she was already on her guard. A sword of pure ice materialized over her head, slashing down at the Phoenix.

The figure made of fire was torn apart, and Percy burst out from within, still unarmed as he leapt towards the floormaster.

"Inner World Manifestation! Ice Prison! "

A world of ice suddenly surrounded her and a myriad of icicles shot at Percy. At the same moment, a Golden flame blazed all over his body as the Golden Crow within his Inner World Awoke.

"Inner World Manifestation! Golden Crow Burns the World! "

An apocalyptic screech tore through the void as a golden brilliance erupted from around Percy, melting away all the ice that surrounded him. The figure of the Golden Crow screeched as it swept out, burning through the Inner World Manifestation of the Floormaster as it smashed into her. It barely lost any momentum as it smashed into the next two floor masters, engulfing them all in flames.

The remaining floor masters were all stunned into silence. Four True Overgods… had been defeated in seconds! Percy landed in front of the seventh and eight Floor master's, still looking as casual and arrogant as before. But now, to them he represented a devil! A monstrous beast beyond their comprehensive abilities! The two of them trembled as Percy looked at them, then suddenly their souls quakes as their minds turned blank. Their faces paled and they collapsed. Alex watched them impassively, then shook her head as she drew her own weapon. "A soul attack? Quite impressive, defeating two of them with a single strike. "

Percy grinned and turned to face her. "you sure you don't want to give up? "

She glanced down at her useless left arm, then back at him. " your surprise attack has already decided that I'm going to lose this match… Is that what you think? "

She swung her arm and the sword flew at him. Percy easily sidestepped her attack, dodging and looking at her. Sadie and Carter had both warned him not to underestimate the First Floormaster. Because… she was Level 1103 warrior! And all the previous Tower master's had been Level 1103 warriors! If not for Magnus, right now she would be the Most powerful warrior of the Tower, the Tower Master!

Percy felt a prickling sensation touch his back and he immediately jumped up. There was a light swish and the sword she had thrown at him suddenly sliced past where he had been standing. Percy landed, eyes watching her every move. "So that's what you did… A wire? "

Alex grinned as she flung her arm out and dozens of knives flew out at Percy. Each was connected to her hand with razor thin wires as she manipulated each one to strike at him!

Percy smirked and inhaled. The phantom of the Azure Dragon God appeared behind him and Alex's eyes widened with fear. "Dragon Soul Roar! " Percy roared and the phantom behind him struck out at the approaching knives. A soul attack using the Dragon God's soul was already powerful. With the power of his Asura Soul combined, even someone at the level of Alex was paralyzed with fear as all her strength dissipated instantly!

Percy wasted no time as he struck, using a single punch to smash her down.

In her dazed state, her protective energy was as thin as paper and she was unable to even block as he directly knocked her unconscious. In all, the entire process of defeating the Floor master's hadn't even taken him fifteen minutes!

Percy glanced around at a spot of scorched earth where his Golden Crow Manifestation had burnt out the three elemental floor masters of Ice, Wind and Earth. Three badly burnt figures lay there as expected. Of course such wounds were nothing to Overgods of their level. It wouldn't even take a day to make a full recovery.

Percy fixed his eyes on the figure of the Earthen element Floormaster. Then he chuckled softly. "How long are you planning on hiding there? "

There was a light rumbling and the earth split apart, and a human figure arose from within. "so you sensed me eh? Quite surprising I'll admit~ I thought I had blocked out my Aura completely. "

Percy smirked. His Asura soul could even sense the killing intent his enemies held for him,so naturally he knew that he was still conscious all along.

The Earth Floormaster watched Percy with cold eyes. "Among all, my defense is the greatest! As long as I decide to only defend myself, nothing can harm me! Even your soul attacks will be rendered ineffective! "

Percy smirked arrogantly as he stepped closer."Then, let me test this defense of yours with my strongest move!"

The Fifth Floormaster stepped back as he recalled that powerful attack Percy had used to defeat Thalia. An attack of that level was dangerous even to him!

The Heaven Smiting Sword appeared in Percy's grasp and his eyes turned ferocious. His Aura burst upwards and his bones shuddered and creaked with the force as his Dragon Soul awoke. "Dragon Soul Domain!"

The Soul Domain immediately engulfed the Floormaster and he shuddered with fright. The Phantom of a Primordial Dragon appeared in his eyes, roaring mercilessly as it towered over the skies. It's claws were enough to rend the oceans and tear the skies! His eyes widened to the limit as his sight met the Dragon's ferocious gaze. He felt punitive and inconsequential before the figure standing before him. He roared out, pouring every last bit of his strength as the most powerful barrier he could construct immediately materialized before him, forming a powerful wall impervious to attacks before him.

Percy's Aura peaked and he roared. The fifth floor master shuddered, then collapsed backwards with fear. The soul domain retracted and his eyes slowly cleared. The powerful defense he had constructed still stood, not even scratched.

Percy stood on the other side, holding the heaven smiting sword over his shoulder as he coolly stepped forward and poked the defense. "Looks pretty strong. And it will probably last for a few moments before you completely get drained of all power. "

The fifth Floor master stared at him with horror. "Y-you… "

Percy lifted an eyebrow as he glanced at him before walking away. "The power of bluffing against a powerful opponent. It's pretty effective. "

The fifth Floor master gaped at him, then collapsed as his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted away.

Percy was still chuckling softly as a portal to the next trial opened up before him. Thalia had already explained the ones till here, since this was as far as she had reached back then. The first was a trial of Identity, where the person was confirmed to be a floormaster. Then, they were given a trial period to break through an enchanting array formation. The next round was where the participants were forced into a terrain of wild beasts. After crossing through that, he had arrived here, facing off the Nine other Floormasters. The next trial was an unknown so Percy grew serious as he stepped through into the next trial.

As soon as he did, he found himself standing on a gigantic landmass suspended in the void. The void was dark, and the only illumination came from the gigantic moon that hung up in the sky. It's bright light shone down, illuminating the bare and Rocky terrain that stretched as far as the eye could see.

A figure stood in the distance, with his back to Percy, looking up at the moon. Even from such a distance, Percy felt his breath catch in his throat as he sensed the sheer power emanating from the figure. It was a familiar figure. But even if he had never seen it before, he would have still recognized it… because a power of this level… only one person in the entire tower could possibly have… a power of such great magnitude, that his presence was undetectable by Percy!

"Magnus Chase … Tower Master and ruler of the Tower Continent. The Human Emperor. "Percy said softly.

The figure didn't seem surprised at his words as he slowly turned around. The Moonlight illuminated his dirty blond hair as it hung down to his jaw, parted in the middle and cut unevenly. His face was lean, and his eyes were Grey, filled with a haunting, feral sadness that seemed enough to engulf the world. He regarded Percy for a moment, then spoke. "I do not answer to that name… If you dare to address me, then speak my name properly… Human… I am the Asura… Titled… The Undying Immortal! "

Both men stared at each other, then Magnus looked away at the moon. "And for the sin of your kind… I shall use your blood to satisfy my Hatred! You have come to your own death! "

N. :Introducing a character I spent a lot of time designing, and setting off a battle I spent a lot of time working on, The final showdown between the two Asura's shall finally begin! Buckle up everyone. It's been a while since a battle like this turned up in my story! We have reached the climax!


	89. War of the Asuras

**Battle of Asuras!**

A cold wind was all that existed in the void as Percy and the Tower Master faced off. The two warriors stood still as they glared at each other. Then, Magnus turned away from Percy, sighing as he shook his head. "When you managed to get this far, I hoped that you would be a worthy opponent. But you… Are nothing but a disappointment! "

Percy stretched out his arm and the heaven smiting sword appeared in his grasp as the Vermillion Seal appeared on his left hand and his Aura flared as his mortal power was unsealed. "Divine Sea Tsunami! "The space around him trembled as he directly used one of his most powerful attacks!

Magnus raised his head and glanced up at the attack at the same time. His Divine Sea Tsunami was a highly compressed wave of vibrations. It was ten thousand vibrating threads that were compressed into one destructive sword beam! They were impossible to block, and were able to cross any and all defense instantaneously! The strain on Percy upon using this attack was also comparably mediocre. It could be called a trademark attack of Percy!

Magnus watched the Heavy Sword beam bearing down upon him, and his eyes glinted coldly as he emitted a sudden rumble, and his game pierced forth.

Percy's own eyes widened as he felt his attack shatter midair!

He immediately leapt to the side, and his Aura surged once more as his hair turned a shocking silver and the symbol of the Crescent moon on his chest flared as he charged forth in a zig zag motion, raising his weapon up as he brought it down on Magnus.

Magnus's gaze met his and Percy winced as though his eyes had been stabbed. His soul trembled for an instant and he quickly averted his eyes, using his abnormally powerful soul force to shield himself from his eyes. It was like a refreshing spring flowing out of his soul and soothing his eyes.

He landed defensively and glared at Magnus. "What a terrifying sword Intent! His gaze… is just like a sword! He's able to use his gaze like a sword to perform both Physical and Mental attacks of such a high level! This man has mastered the way of the sword to an incomprehensible peak! " Artemis exclaimed within Percy's inner world. "The realm spoken of in legends, becoming a sword by oneself! "

Percy stood and raised his sword again, charging at Magnus, his silver form blurring as the phantom of the moon appeared behind his sword, condensing into his strike.

Magnus watched impassively, then slowly, deliberately raised his hand. Inside Percy's inner world, Artemis felt an odd sensation assault her. "there's no way right? He couldn't actually be planning to… "

The Heaven Smiting Sword slammed into Magnus' hand, but a dull boom echoed up to the sky and in everyone's hearts, instead of the ferocious explosion everyone had come to expect.

Percy's body became frozen in mid charge. His pupils were shrinking rapidly.

Magnus's body hadn't moved an inch despite taking the attack head on. His left hand was only slightly pushed back by the heavy vermillion blade.

Percy's slash was powerful enough to crack a mountain in half, and yet Magnus … had blocked it with just his left hand!

He wasn't even forced to take half a step backwards!

The corner of Magnus 's lips curled up slightly at the sight of Percy's shrinking pupils. Slowly, he closed his fingers around the blade, causing the Heaven Smiting Sword's power to crumble and the golden flames surrounding it to die away layer by layer.

Magnus casually raised his arm with seemingly no effort whatsoever, and yet Percy felt like the very pillar of heaven was pushing back against him. No matter how much strength he gathered to his arms, he wasn't able to form any sort of resistance at all. His entire body was pushed back several inches, and the Golden Crow flames surrounding his blade died away completely.

"It's not a bad power." Magnus looked sideways in Percy's direction. There was actually pity in his eyes, "You actually managed to hurt my hand my a little. You deserve praise for this."

His tone was praising, but he was without a doubt ridiculing and looking down on him. Magnus 's lips curled slightly again before he gave the Heaven Smiting Sword a small push.

Bang!

An invisible, tremendous strength hit Percy through his sword, causing him to shudder and back away at least a dozen steps in panic before he managed to stop himself. His vital energy and blood were in turmoil, and his mind even more so.

The Heaven Smiting Sword… was blocked… with one hand…

Although Percy had never fought against a Peak Overgod before, he knew very well just how wide the gap between two great realms was. That was why he dared not underestimate Magnus in the slightest.

It was a tentative attack, true, but it had contained almost his full power. He was so sure that his sword was powerful enough to keep even a True Overgod on his toes…

He had never even dreamed that Magnus would be able to block it with one hand so easily.

Percy's breathing was rapid and uneven… How can this be?

Magnus didn't attack Percy. Still standing leisurely with his right arm behind his back, he smiled lazily and lifted his left arm once more, "Come, let us continue. Show me how far you can struggle, and please, please don't disappoint me too much, okay?"

Right now, he looked like a kind god who was delivering an oracle to a lowly mortal.

Percy slowly regained control of his breathing as golden flames burned around the Heaven Smiting Sword even brighter than before. He leaped up into the air, concentrated all of his strength inside the weapon, and swung it right down on Magnus 's head.

He refused to believe what had just happened seconds ago. He refused to believe that Magnus was powerful enough to block the Heaven Smiting Sword barehanded.

Magnus remained motionless despite facing a far deadlier strike than before. He acted to grab the Heaven Smiting Sword with his left hand.

Bang!

The impact still sounded as dull as ever. When Magnus grabbed the Heaven Smiting Sword, the terrible power surrounding the weapon suddenly struggled like it was trapped inside an inescapable cage. It faded away swiftly before it could detonate outward, and the Golden Crow flames extinguished one after another as well.

"!" Once again, Percy was shocked beyond words. Again he backed away from Magnus in panic before exploding into a deadly horizontal sweep.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang…

Every time Percy swung the Heaven Smiting Sword, his attacks grew fiercer and more violent than before. As a result, the fire on the void ground platform where they fought spread further and further. But no matter how many times the Heaven Smiting Sword slammed into Magnus 's hand, and no matter how ferociously the golden flames burned, Magnus remained perfectly untouched. He didn't take a single step away, nor did he use anything but his left hand to block all of Percy's attacks. Not a single trace of the sword's might or golden flames had come into contact with his body. His hair was the only thing that was dancing to the wind.

Bang!

Again, Magnus had pushed Percy and his sword far, far away with his left arm, and again Percy forced himself to come to a stop before launching himself into a downward swing once more… this time though, Percy suddenly vanished just before the attack could land before appearing behind Magnus like a ghost.

"Fusion Style :Gnomes Strength and Undine's Heart! Shattering Firmament!"

The sword's power suddenly climbed to a whole new level and slammed into Magnus 's back with destructive power.

BOOM

A dull boom shook the very sky itself, but the sword didn't land on Magnus 's body because a thin yellow barrier was standing in the way. Although the barrier looked slightly dented, it successfully kept the Heaven Smiting Sword at bay and protected Magnus from all harm.

"…" In that moment, Percy felt like his heart had dropped into the abyss.

Magnus turned his head halfway towards the back before saying slowly, "I probably should tell you that I was far stronger than you are right now even before I was sealed in here. With merely this much strength, you are bound to die at my hands."

Percy, "…"

When the final word slipped out of his mouth, the yellow barrier suddenly exploded and slammed straight into Percy.

Percy instantly flew backwards like he had been struck by a giant hammer. His face was pale when he landed on his feet, and a trail of blood poured down the corner of his lips despite his efforts to hold it Back.,,

He raised his hand up weakly, smearing the blood away as his eyes flashed even brighter and his Aura began to rise even further. Magnus was unmoved as he watched him without a care.

"If you think this is a the limit to my strength, you're sorely mistaken!" Percy snarled as he summoned the power of the Lifeblood of Poseidon!

Magnus raised his left hand again and curled his finger with a mocking look. "Struggle as much as you want. Today, you will die by my hands! "

The Blue Green glow of his Aura swept over him as his eyes turned solid Blue green and his Aura reached the peak. Magnus smiled and slowly withdrew his left hand. "I see… the harbinger of the Prophecies… you must be the successor of the Sea! " then his eyes darkened as his right hand glowed and a sword appeared within his grasp. It was a shortsword with a gold-colored, 30 inch long blade. The handle was wrapped in leather, and has a simple, polished oval as a pommel. Down the center of the blade, there is a wide, shallow fuller. In the fuller, there are Norse runes which are a silver color.

With the appearance of the sword, Magnus suddenly seemed relaxed, his movements free and faster as he grasped his weapon and lifted it to face Percy. "Harbinger of the Prophecies… Let me see how worthy you are! "

Both Percy and Magnus charged forward at the same time, the ground under them shattering the instant they moved. Percy turned into a Blue Green Wave, while Magnus turned into an arrow of pure gold, both warriors exceeding the speed of humans instantaneously as they clashed.

BOOM!

The land split, a crack stretching into the distance as both of them came to a standstill, neither gaining the upper hand in the blow.

Magnus roared and slashed again, sending Percy sprawling as a wave of vibrations exploded from within Percy, all of them homing in on Magnus.

Magnus sneered and lashed out, and over a thousand sword beams erupted from his blade and shattering each attacks.

Percy landed and all his Aura condensed onto his blade as he charged forward yet again, bringing his sword to bear against Magnus.

Magnus's Aura burst out of him like a fountain and smashed into the Heaven Smiting Sword. Percy felt his chest filling with blood as the sudden Shockwave blew him back. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as Magnus leaped up into the air after him, chasing after him with repeated blows.

Percy grit his teeth, barely able to hold his own as each sword strike sent out by Magnus smashed into the Heaven Smiting sword, turning his arms numb. His vision grew dim as the next blow almost blew his sword out of his hands. Magnus rushed into the opening left behind and his sword slammed into Percy's shoulder. It sliced through his flesh and slammed into his shoulder bone, only stopped from cutting his arms off by the presence of the Bone marrow of the Azure Dragon God.

The sharp pain cleared Percy's mind and he roared as the Dragon Soul domain opened with full force, completely enclosing Magnus.

Even with her powerful cultivation, Alex had been defeated by his soul attack. However, Magnus cultivated the Heart of the Sword, keeping his will as firm and sharp as a sword. But despite that, his eyes turned dazed for a second as his soul was swamped by the terror of The Primordial Azure Dragon!

Percy wasted no time as he struck with all his strength, pouring all his energy into his weapon. "Divine Sea Dragon's Slash! "

The Phantom of a Primordial Dragon appeared behind Percy as his weapon crashed down upon Magnus's head.

Bang!

Blood sprayed as Magnus was sent flying down, smashing into the ground underneath. The earth exploded, a geyser of sand billowing upwards. Percy charged down, the ferocious flames of the Golden Crow burning all over his body as he roared. "Inner World Manifestation! Golden Crow Burns the World! "

His inner world Manifestation exploded forth, crashing down like a small golden sun crashing down into the earth.

Magnus raised his head, blood trickling down his face as a ferocious grin swept past his face. "Aren't you so confident? " he roared and slashed his weapon in an upwards sweep, his attack tearing the space around his sword apart as a Gigantic sword materialized, slicing upwards.

This was the same attack he had used to slay the Quasi Emperor Demon all those years back! Endless Sword!

The gigantic sword smashed into the Blazing Sun, and both exploded with immense force. Then the sword sliced through the sun, tearing it into two ragged halves before carrying on and smashing into Percy.

Percy's eyes widened as the force of the tyrannical attack threatened to break through his defense and smash into him. And at the force with which it was beginning to rise up, he knew that if that happened, he would be fatally wounded by that single strike.

"No…. CHOICE! "He roared and his own strength surged forth like an endless tide, the Heaven Smiting sword smashing through the attack in a single sweep!

Magnus stepped out of the crater his crash had formed and looked at the multicolored streak that had managed to tear through his attack.

Percy crashed into the ground in front of Magnus, his form covered by a multicolored Aura that swirled mesmerizingly. Silver… Blue Green… And Vermillion!

Magnus sneered as he regarded Percy. "So that was the trump card that you were hiding so carefully eh? A pinnacle level fusion of all your powers, able to unlock all of your strengths and abilities in a single form! "

Percy smirked and raised the Heaven Smiting sword as he coolly pointed it at Magnus. "Since you've seen it. Are you ready to give up yet? "

Magnus fell silent, his lip curling as he stared at Percy. Then he burst out into mocking laughter. "Your form is no threat to me! And most importantly, even if you could match me using that transformation, the current you can't even maintain that form for long! Otherwise, you wouldn't have hesitated to use it when blocking my attack, and you would have used it when you used that soul domain, so you can deal the maximum damage! It's obvious that you can maintain your form for at most, a few minutes! " He chuckled sinisterly. "And against me, that simply means a few minutes more of life for you! "

Percy grit his teeth. His assessment was spot on. The fusion State he had was highly exhausting on him, since it required the energy to maintain itself and stay in a stable state while he was in combat! And against such a powerful opponent, it would require greater energy to maintain its integrity!

Percy roared and slashed as a wave of flames exploded from his sword, searing his surroundings to Ash.

Magnus lifted his own sword and cleaved the flames apart and charged at Percy. His attack tore through all the flames covering Percy and with a muffled boom, the two weapons smashed into each other. Magnus's eyes were filled with blood lust as he glared at Percy. "You're transformation has a time limit in it! But I'll show you the difference between the two of us! Even before your transformation runs out, I'll defeat you! I'll show you that no matter how much you struggle, you are simply a mortal trying to rebel against a God! Your power is insignificant! And that makes you insignificant! "

His form flickered and appeared behind Percy like a ghost. Percy's eyes widened and he spun, trying to block, but before he could, Magnus's sword slashed down on Percy's back, all his strength smashing down on Percy's spine.

A geyser of blood sprayed from under his sword as he smashed Percy's limp body on the ground before kicking him, sending him flying into the air and leaping up after him and raining down more attacks on his battered body, each slash carrying greater power than before.

Any ordinary warrior, even if he was as strong as Percy, would have been reduced to mincemeat under such an intense assault. Only Percy's powerful Dragon God skeleton kept him in one piece even as he was smashed into the ground yet again.

Magnus gave Percy a cold glare, watching him struggle in a pool of his own blood. "That is as far as you can go eh? The farthest a mortal can rebel against God? Then allow me to put you out of your misery… and end your pathetic life! "

Percy glared up at Magnus, his Aura flickering weakly and on the verge of collapse. The barrage of attacks he had just undergone had pushed it to the absolute limit, and any moment now it would disappear and he would be left completely helpless!

He growled, spitting blood as he staggered to his feet. He slowly raised his Heaven Smiting Sword and his Aura roared, every last bit of his energy congealing together. "A mortal… against a God? A human against…. A halfling? " Percy raised his head, eyes flashing vermillion. "These words… are meaningless! You're right! Without power, I am meaningless, my words are meaningless! But even if a God were to stand in my path, or if the heaven's block my way, I will slaughter my way past! That is my will! "

All his burgeoning Aura condensed onto the Heaven Smiting sword as his blood flowed into the blade and a black haze covered him. The Aura of a Devil suddenly exploded forth.

"God's and Devils can both be slain! That is my will! "Percy poured all his strength into his Sword and a majestic Aura blossomed from within.

Magnus's eyes widened as the pressure from the blade slammed into him, almost crushing him. "T-this Aura…is… ? "

Percy didn't move, but his pupils abruptly flashed azure.

The dragon roared again once more above the Void Tower Stage.

AAOOO!

The second activation of the Dragon Soul Domain was pushing his Dragon soul to the absolute limit!

"He can activate it a second time?..." Artemis muttered to herself, her eyes on Percy changing a little again.

Activating the Dragon Soul Domain twice in such a short time cost him a tremendous amount of mental strength, but Percy couldn't care less about it at this point… It was because it was his only choice left, even if it was a choice that left him with no escape.

Naturally, the second Dragon Soul Domain wasn't as powerful as the first, but it was still enough to make Magnus tremble and fall into an abyss of fear. The True Overgod profound energy he had just summoned crumbled away like tidewater, and Percy leaped into the air while bursting into a giant ball of fire.

Ten drops of phoenix blood…

Nine drops of golden crow blood…

Seven drops of Vermillion Bird blood…

All of the divine blood he had in his possession , was burned yet again in this instant.

The power of the three great divine spirits overlapped one another and became a blazing sun so bright no one could open their eyes. But that wasn't all. It was just the beginning.

The light of determination in his eyes trembled before turning into two burning dots.

BOOM!

A terrifying profound light that was thicker than blood instantly exploded from Percy. At the same time, blood burst out of his body from a dozen or so places as if he was about to explode. His aura had become so powerful that it terrified anyone who felt it.

"It's… it's that technique from last time…" Artemis felt her heart freeze as she recalled the terrifying technique he had used against Thalia.

"End of the Universe! Shatter and Destroy all of Creation! Heaven's Smite! "

The world before Percy was dyed completely red. The power he was using was too rampant, so rampant that it might tear his body into pieces in the next instant. Executing Dragon Soul Domain twice in a row had also pushed his mind to the brink of collapse.

He had forcefully activated the Dragon Soul Domain, forcefully burned his divine blood and forcefully activated Heaven's Smite… Percy cut off his own chances of retreat. It was no longer possible to take even a step backwards now.

He did all this because it was the only hope he could think of…

Percy couldn't see Magnus at all because his vision had turned completely red, but he still had a shred of willpower sticking to the latter. Raising the Heaven Smiting Sword and shouting like a crazed, wild beast, he slashed straight at Magnus.

Percy had already been in a pitiful state the last time he had activated Heaven's Smite, so his body and soul had collapsed instantly. As a result, he completely lost control over the attack he had staked his life to execute and had only grazed his opponent.

This time, Percy was faring much, much better. At the very least, he hadn't lost control completely despite his collapsing body. Pouring every ounce of power and willpower into his final hope, he slashed at Magnus and watched both his arms bursting like there was dynamite in them. All of his arm veins broke due to the impact.

Magnus was shaking uncontrollably in fear, but there was still a trace of clarity in his shock filled eyes. He raised his arms defensively and summoned a flash of yellow profound light at the last second…

BOOM

The bloody sword beam instantly knocked away Magnus's arms and profound energy and slammed into his body. It was as if a star itself had exploded as hundred of meters of solid ground was shattered by the resulting explosion. The blood colored profound tornado on the Void Tower Stage refused to fade for a very, very long time.

"Waaaaaahhhhh!"

A bloodcurdling scream pierced through the noise, and it sounded so terrible that no one could believe that it came from a mighty True Overgod . Like a leaf being flung about by a hurricane, Magnus was thrown at least tens of meters into the distance while spilling blood like the rain.

He grit his teeth, the pain washing away the effects of the Dragon Soul Domain as he raised his sword. All his chaotic energy was abruptly wrenched into his blade as a Bloodthirsty Roar erupted from within his soul. The golden sword he held erupted with a Demonic Aura that rivaled even Percy!

The phantom of a Devil God appeared behind Magnus as his Devil God sword awoke!

"Sumerbrander! Devil God's Annihilating Rage! "

He slashed and the Devil God phantom mimicked his attack, the Devil God Sword slamming into Heaven's Smite.

Magnus roared as all his energy exploded forth, a terrifying storm of sword energy tearing through the Heaven's Smite! The Devil Phantom roared and the sword it held smashed into Percy's frail and defenseless form, the single strike annihilating everything around for almost a kilometers radius.

Magnus stood, panting and gasping for breath, blood dripping down the thin scratch that extended across his chest. And silence reigned.

AN:and that is how this story ends. With Percy dying a meaningless death.

Review if you want me to update quickly, or I'll just leave you guys on this cliffhanger. *Cue evil laughter*


	90. Chaos Seed Blooms in Death!

**Chaos Seed Blooms in Death!**

The terrifying might of Magnus's strike left even the void trembling. The Devil God phantom had torn through the Heaven's Smite that Percy had used almost all his strength to perform. Silence was all that was left behind after the two's attacks had finally dissipated. And it was at this moment that the sealing Formation around the Void Tower Stage flickered as a projection screen opened up.

"I hope we aren't too late… " Carter murmured worriedly as the screen projecting the battle being waged inside slowly appeared. Both his and Sadie's eyes widened as they saw the carnage that had ripped through the stage inside. "T-this… this is…? "

Calypso stood up and grabbed his sleeve, worry clouding her face as she tugged on his clothes. "P-percy… can you sense his aura? How is he? What happened? "

Carter and Sadie's faces grew grim as they sent their mental perception through the Stage. Their expressions grew tighter as they sensed the extent of destruction that the previously pristine and solid stage had undergone. Then the worry on their faces drained away. "He's there… he's still alive… "

Calypso was just about to heave a sigh of relief when Sadie's brow furrowed with confusion. Her heart jolted with fear and she turned to her. "What's wrong Mistress? "

Sadie frowned, then looked at Carter. Carter nodded. "So you sensed it as well? The distortion of Laws and all creation. "

Sadie's expression turned into one of disbelief. "So you weren't joking when you said…. "

-Void Tower Stage –

"Hmmm? "Magnus glanced around as an unsettling Aura suddenly shrouded him. He felt his unease grow as he leapt up, surveying the entire stage with his Aura. His eye twitched with shock. "T-this? Who? "

He landed and with a flicker, he dashed towards the crater his slash had created. It stretched for almost a kilometer, and it was as if a gigantic sword had cleaved into the earth and sliced it into half.

Even now, the Devil God Sword Aura lingered in the earth, it's evil Aura stirring up a storm. A weaker warrior would be torn to shreds simply standing in the midst of the storm created by the Devil God Sword Aura.

And it was in the center of this Crater that this unsettling Aura originated from.

Magnus stood at the edge and stared at the dark figure slowly stepping out from inside the storm. "You… Quite impressive… "

Percy slowly strode out, his entire body torn apart to the point of death itself. His Aura was almost non existent… yet this faint Aura was even more disturbing than the Evil Devil God Aura he had used previously.

It felt as if this Aura was something that was unraveling space and time itself, a fundamentally wrong energy that could warp light to darkness and death into life. Just the sensation of the Aura was enough to make Magnus feel apprehensive and fearful. Just what sort of a suppression was this?

Percy raised his head, glancing up at Magnus and suddenly his figure blurred. Magnus barely managed to react, raising his sword up as the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword slammed into his chest, sending him skidding backwards.

What speed was this? And his movements! They've completely surpassed his past self!

Magnus roared as he twisted, slashing his sword down on Percy's head.

Percy's eyes remained dull and lifeless even faced with this attack that was strong enough to rob half his life. He shifted aside, raising the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword up to his shoulder, easily blocking the blow as he stepped forward, the clashing swords giving birth to a fountain of sparks as both blazed with power.

Percy twisted his sword, using the weight of his weapon to slam down against the flat side of Magnus's Devil God Sword and unbalance him before sweeping the sword up towards Magnus's face.

Magnus's eyes widened as the oversized sword hurtled at his face. In such a clash, Percy's Heavy Sword had both the weight and the size to take the advantage! His short sword was no match for the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword in both aspects!

He hissed, ducking backwards and barely avoiding the deadly blade as it swept over his head, grazing the tip of nose. He flipped backwards, slamming his foot against the flat side of the blade and kicking back, sending Percy stumbling backwards.

Now! Magnus landed in a crouch and leapt forward with all his force, drawing his sword in as he aimed the tip straight at Percy's defenseless chest!

Percy's fingers twitched, and the humongous Heaven Smiting Sword spun around and the tip slammed down into the ground. Magnus was unable to stop his momentum as he slammed into the Heaven smiting sword. The earth shuddered with the force of the blow, and Magnus was stopped cold as he stumbled backwards with surprise, dazed and unsteady. Percy appeared like a silent mirage, right behind him.

Magnus roared as he spun to face Percy, his short sword stabbing out with all his speed. Thousands of sword shadows burst forth, all homing in on Percy.

Percy's gaze was cold as his entire body shifted, twitching just barely as he weaved in and out of the sea of sword shadows, dancing through all the stabs. Magnus's eyes widened to the limit as his stabbing speed doubled and the sword shadows grew even more crowded. Percy continued flowing through the dense attack, just managing to evade each strike at the last moment.

Artemis was dumbstruck inside Percy's Inner world. The speed of these attacks was so fast that even if she had greater speed than Percy, it would still be completely impossible for her to dodge through the attacks! But Percy had such perfect control over his body and such precise movements that he was able to weave through this storm of attacks, moving in perfect accordance with the chain of attacks that Magnus was sending out! This was the extreme movement of his unconscious Chaos State!

Percy's eyes coolly followed the stabs Magnus was throwing out. Each stab was perfectly linked together, leaving no room for a counter attack, but Percy calmly watched. His eyes twitched as soon as Magnus was forced to take a step back, slightly shifting his position. Percy rushed forward both hands flying out as he batted away the sword and appeared in front of Magnus. Both his fists blurred and a barrage of punches rained down on Magnus!

Magnus sneered and his sword was withdrawn into his inner world as he immediately began defending himself, both hands sweeping up and countering each blow that Percy sent down, barely managing to stop all his punches.

While he managed to stop each punch, the vibrations within each blow were unstoppable, directly passing from Percy's fists into his body. The ground under Magnus's feet cracked and shattered under the force of the vibrations and both his feet sank into the ground and started digging backwards as the force of Percy's punches slowly forced him back!

Finally, he emitted a burst of his Aura, sending Percy flying backwards,he himself stumbling into the Heaven smiting sword still stabbed Into the ground. Percy charged forward, leaping up and grabbing the sword. Magnus recovered at the same time, summoning the Devil God Sword Sumerbrander and leaping up at Percy.

Both swords clashed, blowing the two of them apart. Then they charged forward yet again, both warriors exchanging over a thousand blows in seconds.

-Outside the Void Tower Stage –

Carter and the rest watched, shocked and awed into silence.

Finally, Hestia broke the silence. "P-percy… is he equally matched with the Tower Master?! "

Sadie slowly shook her head and raised a trembling finger as she pointed at the projection. "You guys can't see it… but right now, Magnus should actually have the upper hand, because of his incomparably powerful sword techniques and combat style… But Percy… he's managing to dodge every attack that slips past the his guard…"

"And… " Carter interrupted, disbelief clearly painted across his face. "Not only is he managing to dodge all of those attacks, the number of attacks getting through his guard are reducing! He's adapting to Magnus's fighting style even as they fight! "

-Void Tower Stage –

Magnus stabbed forward, his sword scraping past the edge of Percy's Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. The blow was aimed at Percy's abdomen, but Percy's form blurred, disappearing as he twisted, swinging his sword at Magnus from behind.

Magnus countered and the force of the collision gave rise to a muffled explosion as the two of them were sent flying backwards yet again.

Magnus skid to a stop and stood, panting lightly as he glared at the expressionless Percy. Percy regarded him, then moved forward again, charging forth again.

"Do you really think that just by matching me, you have any hope of defeating me?! "Magnus screeched in a frenzy of rage as he raised his sword to meet Percy's strike. The collision caused the space around both of them to shudder and ripple as fine cracks slowly spread out.

They drew back and clashed again, exchanging thousands of moves as they tore around the Void Tower Stage, wherever they were crossing turning into ruin and rubble. Magnus was filled with disbelief as Percy blocked his every move, not allowing even a single strike to pass through as they fought!

He growled with rage and the Devil God Sword awoke, screaming with killing intent and Blood Lust.

At that moment, The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword in Percy's hands emitted a bright Vermillion glow and the Devil Aura around Magnus turned chaotic. His eyes widened with horror as the Devil energy he had summoned was all dissipated by the sword Percy held.

His strikes wavered, and in that moment, Percy pressed forward, breaking through his defense. His sword slashed across his stomach, then Percy roared, the first sound he had made since he had activated the Chaos State, as he suddenly summoned all his strength, condensing it into his blade before slashing down on the defenseless Magnus!

"Divine Sea Tsunami! "

The Heavy Sword beam condensed from ten thousand vibrating threads slammed into Magnus and he was blown backwards, crashing into the ground and only stopping when he crashed into a mountainside in the distance.

Percy's eyes flashed and he leapt forward, the energy of Gnome filling his arms as he hurtled at Magnus.

-Percy's Inner World –

Artemis was watching the battle between the two, her eyes brimming with worry as she clenched her fists, praying for Percy's victory with all her might.

Even when he had taken the upper hand with his chaos state, the worry she felt hadn't eased in the slightest. Instead, a foreboding feeling was slowly becoming stronger in her gut.

"Just… just what is bothering me so much? " she murmured to herself.

Bzzzzt…

A crackling sound suddenly emitted out of nowhere. She immediately spun around. This was Percy's inner world. Apart from her and the two Elemental Spirits of Gnome and Undine, no other living creature was present in here at the moment… then what could have possibly caused that sound?

The feeling of danger that had come out of nowhere strengthened and she hissed with fear and carefully surveyed the entirety of Percy's inner world. Nothing was out of the ordinary then what-

BZZZZT

Her eyes snapped open and she spun around, catching sight of a flash of grayish black across the sky. Her eyes twitched and she leapt into the air, floating towards the patch of sky she had seen changing color.

She probed it with her spiritual sense, but found nothing out of the ordinary. But the sense of unease and danger grew even stronger and suddenly the air around her warped.

BZZZZZZZT

BZZZZZZZT

BZZZZZZZT

Patches of Grayish black suddenly tore through the blue sky and even the ground underneath started to tremble and twist as chunks of rocks suddenly tore out and hurtled into the air!

This… this was a collapse?

Artemis stared around with wide eyes, then the truth of what was going on hit her. She recalled what Carter had said when he had seen Percy's Chaos State.

"A double edged sword. This ability of yours allows you to push your body, soul and essence to the absolute limit. However, the current you can't bear the strain of such an immense burden yet. That's because, the strain it places on your soul will cause it to crack and scatter apart. Your mortal energy can't sustain such damage or repair the damage caused to your soul by your transformation! So if you were to ever overuse this ability, your soul would shatter apart from the burden, causing irreversible damage… and eventually lead to your death! "

Then this was… the warping of his inner world!?

The inner world and Domains were a Manifestation Core of the Soul, the Lifeblood and Blood essence were a Manifestation Core of the Body and the Profound Veins and Dantain were the Manifestation Core of the Essence and Energy!

If a humans Inner world collapsed, then that would simply mean that his soul had shattered! And there was no way to cure a shattered soul! It meant death!

-Void Tower Stage –

Percy hurtled towards Magnus. In his chaos state, his mind was overloaded and hence he was considered to be unconscious. He was unable to speak or think of strategies. Even if Artemis were yelling at him from within his inner world, he would have no idea about what was happening.

He raised his sword and the phantom of the Azure Dragon appeared behind him as he struck.

Clang!

A clear ring echoed across the void.

Magnus looked at Percy coldly, his Aura turning a fiery red as tongues of flame burst along his sword. His sword was lodged against the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, entirely steady as it held back Percy's full power strike.

"You are indeed surprising. I had originally thought that simply using my sword skills would be enough to completely obliterate you. However, your strength has forced me to acknowledge that you indeed have great skill. " Magnus lowered his head. Then his sword burned even brighter as he pushed back against Percy.

It was as if a volcano had erupted under Percy's blade, and he was blown backwards as a geyser of flames exploded forth, completely enveloping his body as he was tossed backwards like a doll.

Magnus's eyes blazed with fiery flames as he straightened and raised his sword again, pointing at Percy as he stepped out unharmed from the flames. "However! This is your Limit! This is something a mortal like you can never overcome! I possess the power of a God and the blade of the Devil! And the fire of my rage is blessed by the Fire spirit of the Elements, the Spirit of Surt, Salamander! And now, I shall show you how much weaker you are before my rage! "

Percy silently raised his weapon as he calmly regarded the fiery Magnus.

Magnus took a deep breath, then slowly drew his sword in a circle as a flaming ring burst out of him, spreading voraciously. The fire spread hungrily and completely devoured the ground surrounding Magnus.

It grew higher, the color brightening before it burst apart, and the fiery figure of a girl appeared from within, floating above Magnus's head.

She was completely made of flame, and her build was unlike gnome and Undine. Those two resembled proper women inside Percy's Inner world. But she was crude and seemed sloppy, more humanoid than human.

"That's the flame of Salamander! " Undine exclaimed within Percy's inner world.

Gnome frowned as she nodded. Then her eyes widened as she pointed and shook her head.

Undine looked down at her with confusion, then her own eyes widened as well as she looked back at the figure made of fire. "You're right! That isn't Salamander! It must be… one of her daughters. "

Undine frowned, kneading her chin as she surveyed the situation. "Salamander, the Elemental Spirit of Fire. Originally she was supposed to be Contracted to Surt, the Black One, the Asgardian Giant of Fire, after Ra, Primordial Egyptian God of the Sun was exiled from the Skies. But she's always blessed those with strong fighting spirits and hatred. Her daughters aren't as strong as her… but they are far more compatible with mortals! Using a daughter probably means her power will probably be even greater than ours! "

Gnome replied to her assessment with a nod, then raised both of her arms as she indicated the world around them. The warping was growing stronger and more frequent as more of Percy's inner world crumbled apart.

Undine shook her head. "We can't slow down the collapse of his soul. And the more power we use to help him the faster his Inner world crumbles. Of course, even if he dies, we'll simply be expelled from his inner world and return to the elements. Looks like we're simply spectators to the end of a spectacular genius… Too heaven defying perhaps? "

Artemis bit her lips a she heard their words. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she stared up, blood trickling down her hands. "Percy… Don't worry about it… at last the time has come from me to repay you for saving my life… "

"This is Salamanders daughter, Scorch. Salamander blessed her with her flame because of my spirit of hatred and my thirst for revenge! "

Magnus spread his arms as the flames from all around all started leaping up, all converging into the figure of fire as she burned even brighter. "A human like you deserves only death!"

Percy watched, then slowly shifted his stance. His eyes were twitching as his chaos state started falling apart under the strain on his soul. His soul itself started burning with a ferocious flame as he converted every last piece of his soul and will into pure power.

The Lifeblood of Poseidon burned with a fury and all of his remaining Aura all flooded into his sword.

Undine and Gnome nodded at each other and all the power in their bodies flooded forth, filling his body and energizing him for one last moment. "If you're going to die…. Then as a disciple of mine, Take your opponent down with you! "

Percy's Aura ignited, burning a Bright Blue Green around his body as the Phantom of Poseidon appeared behind him, the endless energy of the sea roaring. Then the Phantom of his Asura roared with vengeance as it tore upwards, bringing all his berserk strength forth. The Devil God Phantom appeared as well as the black scales of his Devil form appeared over his battered hands, giving him the strength to perform this last slash.

"HAAAAAAHHH! " Percy roared as he dashed forward, every last bit of his power, soul and body pouring into his sword. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword Blazed vermillion as the space around him completely shattered apart.

"Hundred Thousand Layered Waves! Divine… Sea… Tsunami! "

Percy roared and slashed down. The Void Tower Stage shuddered as a divine force cleaved down, shattering the stage into half.

Magnus roared as he raised his burning sword. The divine spirit of Fire melded with it and a Golden flame erupted forth with all its rage. " Rage Asura's slash! "

The force of the two attacks split the stage into equal halves, one half filled with the mixture of Vermillion and Blue Green and Black, the other simply filled with furiously burning flames of rage.

For an instant the two attacks were balanced, each holding the other back. Then with a Heaven shattering screech, the flames burst forth, devouring everything in their path.

Percy's eyes were wide as the incomparably hot flames swallowed him, even his powerful body being seared away to ash as his soul crumbled away into nothingness.

Artemis grit her teeth as the dark scar she had carved into her own chest began to burn.

"Contract of life… yet another lie… forgive your master Percy… " Artemis clutched at her own chest as she slowly sank to her knees.

She had told Percy that she had made a bond of life, so that when he died, she would die with him. But it was all a lie. She had connected her own life force to his. As he died, her life force would slowly become his. It might not bring him back to life from the dead, but as long as there was a chance, she would never give up!

Percy's Inner world quickly crumbled and his eyes went dim as his soul slowly unraveled, turning into dust as it scattered away. Then suddenly, like a clear spring rushing down into a parched desert, Artemis sent her Life force into Percy's soul. His soul was suddenly invigorated as the damage on it slowly reduced and it even began to heal!

At the same time, Artemis felt her own life force quickly diminishing as her own soul started to dry up and crack apart. Her eyes were wide with despair as she felt all of Life force she had as a powerful Peak Full God Realm warrior quickly running out.

But if Percy's life force was like a burgeoning ocean, Artemis's life force was barely even a pond, it's power hardly increasing Percy's own life force.

Artemis closed her eyes as the last bits of her soul force ran out and her soul completely dried out and began to scatter away. At the same time, the damage to Percy's soul began yet again and his soul began to scatter with hers. At this moment Percy's consciousness slowly returned, despite him being in his Chaos State. It was a momentary awakening, a last glimpse of life flashing before his eyes as death finally overtook him.

He saw his life in Hope city, his childhood growing up his encounter with the mysterious figure that was Artemis. He entered the academy, befriended the two loves of his life, Piper and Calypso. Meeting Aphrodite after joining the Alchemist association, the dragon God trials, the battle with Luke and the shadow association. His journey to the realm of the Gods, the tournament, his battle with Ares and rescuing Hestia and Artemis. Heading back to Earth, realizing his prophecy from his past, and meeting the Enigma that was Annabeth. And now after all this, he was here, with Artemis as his soul scattered with hers, and both their lives ended.

"Artemis… I'm so sorry… you only wanted for me to live… to take you away from the war and battles… but I dragged you into this entire mess again and-"

"Shush." Artemis hissed as she glared at him. "Don't you dare say another word…. Not a single word… just… just… "

She smiled softly at him as her soul form suddenly flickered, then turned to dust. "It's not goodbye yet…. "

Percy was left stunned into silence as he watched Artemis's soul completely scatter away, then felt a heart wrenching pain run through his own body as the last drops of her Soul energy trickled into him. "… just… Live… Percy… "

Percy's body was completely consumed by the flames, even his flame resistant physique quickly turning to ashes within as his soul completely scattered away and turned to dust that floated away with Artemis along with his ashes.

Calypso and the rest were left in stunned silence as they stared at the projection in silence. Then Calypso and Aphrodite both slumped forward lifelessly as they fainted with shock. Even Hestia was left standing as if her soul had left her body.

Carter and Sadie scanned the entire Void Arena Stage , but apart from the remaining traces of power weakly fluttering by, the only Aura was that of Magnus.

Percy had perished.

Magnus stood, panting hard as he slowly lowered his sword. "In the end, you were simply a mortal. Before the wrath of a God, death was inevitable for you. " he sighed as he turned away. "But I commend your bravery… you were a remarkable human. To be able to force me to such an extent…after being sealed, you are the first. "

He slowly started to walk away from the flames, then his steps faltered as he stopped and slowly turned around.

Carter raised his head with astonishment.

The flames that engulfed half of the stage were warping as a severe wind blew through. Even though they were within an isolated space, dark clouds slowly spread out, covering the space above the stage.

The wind grew stronger as the flames were torn apart. "My path is a moth to the flames! "

Shimmering flames congealed together as energy from everywhere was suddenly sucked in by the storm brewing within the flames. "I am a mortal who challenged the Gods! "

The flames all exploded as Percy's figure slowly reappeared. His body was bring remade, the bones and flesh slowly growing out as his vitality burst forth. His skin glowed like pristine jade, his hair growing out as his body was clothed in a robe of flames. His eyes opened and they flashed Azure as a Dragon's Roar emitted from within his body.

Everyone stared at him as their Jaws dropped. The dark orb of chaos… the Chaos Seed within his soul shattered, reaching out and pulling his broken soul together, pulling Artemis's soul back together as their souls were both healed together, the tendrils of Chaos firmly binding and strengthening them.

"Life after death… giving life to yourself after your soul has scattered… this is a… " Carter gasped as he stared at the projection.

"Breakthrough… to… " Magnus murmured as he summoned Sumerbrander again.

"Overgod Realm! " Percy announced as he summoned the Heaven smiting sword to his hand. "Now come, Tower Master…. No, the Immortal Asura Magnus! This shall be a battle between the God's! For I am the Dark God Asura! "

AN: the Author is too busy fangirling over her own character to write much. But that was amazing! Finally, after such a long struggle, we have Percy finally reaching the Overgod realm! That death scene was supposed to be a cliffhanger by the way, but since I got so many reviews I decided to spare you. With the battle reaching its climax, the next chapter will see Percy and Magnus go all out in a war of Asuras! Asuras, Devil God Swords, Inner World Manifestations, everything shall be unveiled as we finally draw this story to a close!

P.s. The story series Percy Jackson and all the characters within belongs to Rick Riordan Sama and I claim no rights over it.

Also, about the doubts on Magnus calling himself a God and calling Percy a mortal, that's because He's an Overgod while Percy was still in the Mortal Realm. So the current Magnus is still quite a lot weaker than the Olympians of the Old days, but he would be among the strongest Minor God's, perhaps above even Hercules. Also, the request for reviews is for your sakes, to make me update faster. Writing such intense battle scenes on mobile is annoying especially for quick updates


	91. Battle Between God's

**Battle Between God's**

Percy's body was completely bare and only that layer of scorching flames, which seemed to be unwilling to dissipate fully, acted as clothes as it covered his entire body. Furthermore, there was not a single wound that could be seen on his entire body. His black hair had grown several times longer, and those long locks chaotically danced as they were illuminated by the tongues of fire that played about his body.

A deathly silence settled across the entire Void Tower Stage.

Zzzt… zzzzzt… zzzt zzzt!

Percy's eyes shifted and to everyone's astonishment, they could see flames flash and crackle in his pupils. He slowly lifted an arm as he pointed a finger wrapped in the fires of Salamander towards a pale white face:

"Immortal Asura… Magnus… "

"Let's… go… again!"

The flames around his body dissipated in an instant and he was immediately covered by a gleaming white robe.

Magnus raised Sumerbrander as he cocked his head. "Breakthrough to the Overgod Realm, using only your own strength… quite impressive. Only a peak genius blessed by the heavens could even hope of making such a powerful breakthrough. "

"But before true power, all talent is useless! You must be a great talent, but compared to my power, you still have a long way to go! "

Percy stretched his arm out. His figure flashed and he appeared behind Magnus. Magnus inhaled and spun, already leaping back as he took up a defensive stance. But Percy didn't attack, calmly looking at him over his shoulder.

"Showcase your power then… why are you running away? " he said softly.

Magnus's eyes flared and he swept his sword out, and a wave of fire exploded forth. Percy mimicked his slash and a screech burst out as a Phoenix made of fire erupted from the Heaven Smiting sword, covered with Vermillion and Golden flames!

The two waves of fire struck each other and burst like a volcano! Percy charged forward, and he slashed through the flames, a Dragon's Roar shaking the void as his Heavy sword smashed down on Magnus.

The flame spirit still hovering next to Magnus raised her hands and a pillar of fire burst out of her hands, slamming into the Heaven smiting sword. The flames on the sword reignited, but then they were torn apart as the flame spirit splayed her arms out.

Percy retreated, leaping back before the scorching flames could engulf him again. The Phoenix gave a dismal cry as it was swallowed by Salamanders fire and burnt away Into nothingness.

Scorch laughed and her palm rumbled forward as a gigantic hand made if pure flames slammed down upon Percy. He deflected the worst of the flames with his weapon, then used Moonlight Flash as he charged backwards, quickly dodging the rest of the attack.

"These are the flames of Salamander! The Primordial flames that erupted in the core of the Earth when Chaos first created Mother Gaia! These flames are the heart and lifeblood of Gaia, and they are the flames that originally forged the scythe of Kronos! The power of these flames can consign even a True Olympian to death! Even Hephestaus or Poseidon were not immune to the threat posed by these flames! As for you, you've only mastered the use of the three flame birds. Their powers are meagre before the true Flames of Primordium! "

Scorch thrust both her hands forward and two gigantic hands that blanketed the Skies descended upon Percy. The temperature of them was so extreme, even the ground under his feet burst into fire and began melting into molten magma!

Percy retreated quickly, his Heaven Smiting Sword slashing out repeatedly as bursts of Phoenix, Golden Crow and Vermillion bird fire erupted out of his sword, slamming Into the two descending palms of fire.

However the sheer strength of the attack was simply too powerful and it barely slowed down as it slammed down on Percy.

Scorch sneered as she looked down at the fiery inferno her attack had created. She started to descend down to the fire, but before she could, Magnus grabbed her wrist and pulled her back as he silently retreated.

She shook his hand off and turned to glare at him. "What is wrong with you? I still have to finish him off! "

Magnus shook his head. "Don't underestimate him. He's finished his breakthrough into the Overgod Realm. His power at the moment is not to be trifled with! Even though I used such a powerful attack back then, not only did he survive, he even made such a complete breakthrough! A freak like him naturally has…. " his voice trailed off as all of a sudden a number of Auras pierced through the flames, rising up to the skies.

The inferno of flames Scorch had created was torn apart as multicolored flames shot up to the Heaven's. Percy raised the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword up above his head as the Auras of the Three Flame Spirit Birds exploded out of him.

Scorch grimaced and she clapped her hands together. The flames around her started boiling furiously, the temperature of her fire forcing even Magnus to back away from her. "Using those pathetic flames to Resist the flames of Salamander?! What a futile struggle! " she screeched and thrust her hands out as a stream of fire exploded from within her, directly slamming down towards percy

Even Carter and Sadie felt a shiver of apprehension at the power of those flames. Such power was something that even they would avoid at all costs!

Percy's eyes flashed with fire and the Divine Tree of Enlightenment Bloomed behind him, now covered by a webbing of chaos as well.

"Inner… World… Manifestation : Vermillion Birds Holy Song! Golden Crow Burns the World! Phoenix Nirvana Rebirth! "

With his breakthrough to the Overgod realm, not only had his energy reserves grown explosively, he was finally able to use the complete inner world Manifestation!

There were a series of screeches as three flaming figures burst out from within Percy, wings spreading wide as they exploded with dazzling flames. The sheer force of their appearance was enough to completely cancel out the full power attack Scorch had sent out at Percy!

The Vermillion Bird soared up into the sky, followed by the Golden Crow and the Crimson Phoenix as they rose up into the sky like lofty gods overlooking the world indifferently.

Magnus and Scorch both retreated at full speed as the majestic spirits glared down at the two of them.

"Foolish Child! " The Vermillion bird spoke, eyes flashing as it regarded Scorch. "even if your mother were here in person, she would not dare be arrogant enough to belittle our flames! "

"The most powerful flames? My flames of nirvana originate from the heart of a star, and are even more deadly than your mothers flames! " the Phoenix screeched.

"And my flames are the flames of Destruction, existing only to destroy and bring forth the end of the Universe itself! Flames that can burn even Chaos! " The Golden Crow roared as she swept her wings forward, unleashing a blistering storm of flames that completely engulfed both Magnus and Scorch.

Magnus's expression grew serious as he withdrew Scorch into Sumerbrander. The golden blade reignited with the searing flames of Salamander as he slashed The Golden Crows attack.

The three Flame birds screeched in unison as they all charged down at Magnus. He glared up grimly and raised his sword as he prepared to defend. Just then a light ping echoed around the Void Tower Stage and a silver glow suddenly engulfed all.

In the Dark Void above, the full moon suddenly broke out, bathing the world beneath in its moonlight. Magnus felt time and space around himself slow down, trapping him within like a fly.

Percy's figure appeared ethereal in the distance as he waved his arm. "Inner World Manifestation :Moonlit Celestial Domain! "

Magnus grit his teeth, unable to block or dodge as all three flaming figures screeched and slammed into him, setting the land awash with flames. Even an almighty overgod like him had no defense against the searing flames as they burnt him mercilessly.

He roared and forcefully broke out of the enchantment that had bound him as the Devil God Sword awoke, the Devil God Phantom shrieking as it appeared behind him, covered in an armor of flames.

It slashed and its single attack tore apart both of Percy's inner world domain's.

Percy seemed unfazed as he stretched out his hand again. "Inner World Manifestation: Devil Slayer Intent! "

A Vermillion glow covered Percy's body and the Holy flames of the Vermillion Bird burst into life all over him. He glared at the Devil God phantom, then leapt up.

The phantom roared, the shriek echoing like the tortures of hell itself! Then it swung its sword down at Percy, the gigantic flaming sword crashing down like a mountain upon the seemingly insignificant Percy.

Percy's Aura exploded and he accelerated, turning into a Vermillion streak of fire as he slammed into the sword. Then without slowing down or losing any momentum, he pierced through, suddenly turning into a meteor of fire that slammed Into the Devil God Phantom's chest.

The gigantic Phantom cried out with pain as the Vermillion flames immediately ignited, hungrily spreading all over its body!

Percy leapt up, arriving at its head before slashing down. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword Glowed like divine retribution as it slashed down, a gigantic sword of flame slicing the Devil God Phantom in half.

"Flames of Purification! "

The Phantom staggered back, then collapsed backwards as it's entire body was instantly consumed by the flames, burning into a conflagration of ashes as Percy slammed down right in front of Magnus his eyes cold as he stared at him. "This is your godly power? "

"Y-you dare be insolent! You human! " Magnus fumed as he charged at Percy. Percy regarded him, then slowly swept his hand out. "Inner World Manifestation : Ice Priestess Binding! "

The phantom of the Ice Maiden appeared behind Percy, swinging her staff of Ice down at Magnus. Magnus leapt up and his entire body glowed golden.

"Inner World Manifestation :Undistracted… Sword… Domain…! "

Rays of light darkened at once all of a sudden.

All sorts of sounds in the surroundings vanished abruptly as well.

The scene before the eyes of all the people blurred indescribably, and then a dreamy, vast, starry sky appeared in front of them.

The space of the Void Tower Stage turned murky gray, as if the rays of light had been swallowed mercilessly. In the midst of this darkness, there were countless bright stars twinkling in the sky. Magnus seemed to be covered in moon light, as he stood amidst the stars. The whole scene appeared as if countless stars were welcoming the moon god of the celestial palace, a sacred, mighty and lofty existence, with cupped hands.

As the countless stars shone towards Percy, his completely murky gray body made him look quite low and petty in this suddenly opened world.

"This… This is…"

"Undistracted Sword Domain!" Carter said in a heavy voice.

"Legend has it that back then Magnus had only comprehended this 'Undistracted Sword Domain', after reaching the Level 16 Overgod Realm. But using its power, he was able to defeat warriors of level 500 from the Elven Village! "

"This is definitely nothing as simple as just comprehending the art," Sadie said in a light tone. " With his current power, even you cannot survive this domain."

"There has never been a Sword Sovereign in the history of the Tower Continent. It's no wonder that even the greatest warriors failed to tame the Devil God Sword, but this kid was successful. The level of skill he has in the path of the sword is incomprehensible! "Carter said slowly.

With the Undistracted Sword Domain opened up before him, Percy had an incomparably serious expression on his face. The glow of ice drifted on his body as an ear-piercing sound resounded across the place, but his pupils were turning emerald green, little by little.

His Divine Spirit aura, which was growing increasingly denser, fluctuated in the space enshrouded by the sword domain.

People held their breaths as they noticed the stirring of a wisp of aura.

In a split second, all the stars transformed into terrifying sword beams, and as if they were a form of punishment sent down by heaven, they immediately shot down towards Percy. Magnus also transformed into a streaming figure as he flew straight in the direction of Percy.

Percy let out a loud roar, and the divine aura emitting from him also became extremely strong at this moment. Following a long cry and whistling sound, two divine images emerged before and behind him at the same time.

The one before him was a Snow Priestess , and the one behind him was the Azure Dragon.

The Snow Priestess let out a long cry, generating a sky blotting snowstorm that brutally destroyed the incoming sword beams and forced Magnus far, far away. As more and more sword beams poured down, they were firmly blocked by a Azure light, and thoroughly annihilated before they could come closer to Percy.

All things could be used as swords in the Undistracted Sword Domain, and every wisp of air could be used as sword energy. Even if the sword beams were getting shattered and annihilated constantly, more and more sword beams would pour down, as if there was no end to them.

Such a level of strength surpassed the limit of the True Overgod Realm, and the power Magnus possesed made even Sadie and Carter feel Terrified. However, despite the fact that he had so much power, and his sword energy had filled the sky like countless stars, all the incoming attacks were blocked by Percy, and not even one of the sword beams was able to get close to his body for so much as an instant.

Whoosh! BOOM… BOOM!

Magnus's pupils could no longer be seen at this time. In the midst of the Undistracted Sword Domain, he had also entered an "undistracted" realm, and no other thing besides his sword intent existed in his mind. The endless, sword-shaped, streaming lights were frightening countless souls every second.

"If it was me fighting him, I'd have already died several hundred times," Sadie murmured softly as she stared at the projection of the deadly battle. She knew that if she was sealed inside the Tower like Magnus and Percy her sealed power would be nowhere near to Magnus's power! And she was one of the people who was supposed to be capable of holding Magnus back!

The swords looked like daylight and their typhoons also grew more and more violent. It was at this time that a world-shocking cry resounded. Soon after, an unusual light flashed in Percy's pupils and the images of the Snow Priestess before him and the Azure Dragon behind him burst apart all of sudden.

BOOOOM—

All the sword beams got forcefully dispersed by the impact of the shockwaves, before they started to move in a disordered manner. A strange crack suddenly opened up inside the Undistracted Sword Domain, after which… it completely collapsed and disintegrated.

Magnus's eyes regained their focus, as his whole body shook intensely. Amidst the windstorm generated by the explosion of profound energy, both of them were blown away uncontrollably, and were already fifty kilometers apart from each other by the time their bodies came to a stop.

Drifting in the sky, Magnus's body swayed a bit and his face turned ghastly pale in an instant. It was evident that he had sustained internal injuries, which he forcibly suppressed with his incomparably unyielding will.

Percy was also drifting in the sky, lightly gasping for breath.

A cool breeze blew past him, after which his left sleeve suddenly turned into fragments that filled the sky. Blood streaked down his arm, gathered at his fingertip, and dripped on the ground.

A bloody cut had also opened up on his face at some point in time.

The audience watching from outside became deathly silent.

Percy stretched out his right hand and caressed that deep bloody scar. There was a drop of blood held between his finger and thumb carefully.

Then he twitched his head to the side. "Celestial Moon God's Transformation… "

Magnus trembled as a bright silver flash filled the skies and Percy suddenly appeared before him, instantaneously having crossed the gap between them. He quickly went to raise his sword but before he could, Percy had already moved again, appearing behind Magnus.

Magnus shuddered, his entire body stiffening. Then he jerked forward as blood exploded from his chest and he collapsed onto all fours, gasping and heaving as his blood dripped down his chest.

"W-what was that speed? "

He gasped and slowly stood up as Percy glanced indifferently at him. "You might as well give up now. Because you have been completely outmatched. The difference between our strength is simply too much for you to overcome! And this still isn't my limit either! "

Magnus grimaced, trembling as he wiped his blood onto his sword. "Is that so? Is that what you think? Is that WHAT YOU THINK HUH? " his voice rose in crescendo as he roared with blood lust.

Percy sighed and looked at him with indifferent eyes. "it's not what I think. It's the truth. "

Magnus's expression grew livid and twisted as he growled, shaking his head. "No… no no no no NO NO NO NO! THIS ISN'T OVER YET! If my power fails me now, then for what have I suffered for all these years? Why did I have to lose my mother… my dear daughter… watch her die in my arms…. Never! "

He whipped his head up, panting Like an enraged beast. "You think that you can win? You believe that this insignificant power of yours can defeat my rage? "

Bang!

Percy's eyes widened as he banged his own chest ruthlessly. Blood spewed down and his flesh tore apart, revealing his beating heart. He made a fist and punched his own heart. His body shuddered and blood sprayed out of his mouth as he collapsed. "It hurts… but this is nothing compared to the pain from back then… Nothing! "

A sudden Aura erupted from his body and Percy charged forward. He slashed his right arm off, sending his sword flying away.

Magnus turned, smiling Bloodily. Then he chuckled as he turned to face Percy. Despite himself, Percy shivered as he saw his body.

Completely healed… From his arm to his chest. Every wound on his body had been healed!

Magnus summoned Sumerbrander and sneered at Percy. "This is the power of my rage and hatred! My Asura Manifest! Immortality! Now, come, let me see how long you can hope to survive! "

AN.: I was supposed to finish this battle in this chapter, but I just didn't have enough time today. Let's bring the bloody climax in the next chapter!


	92. Berserk Asura

**Berserk Asura**

Magnus stood still as Percy charged at him. His sword flashed up, blocking the Heaven smiting sword before pushing Percy back. Percy growled, flashing Silver as he appeared behind Magnus and swung down, severing his arm from his body. Magnus hissed with pain, but he was already counter attacking. Percy ducked backwards right as Sumerbrander sliced across his chest, blood spraying from the wound.

Magnus sneered as his detached arms immediately reattached itself to his body. "In a war of attrition, an immortal is unbeatable! "

Percy growled as he slashed again. The phantom of the Primordial Azure Dragon appeared behind him as his lifeblood powers exploded forth. The Dragon phantoms howl shook the heavens and the earth as Percy struck. "Divine Sea Dragon Slash! "

Magnus laughed hysterically as the attack smashed into his chest, almost tearing his body in half as he was sent flying backwards, blood exploding like a fountain from his body. His flesh was torn, his body mangled beyond belief. But even so, it was hardly anything to him.

He chuckled as he propped himself up on one arm and looked up at Percy. "Haaahhh… Is that all you've of?! But it's already healing! "

Even as he spoke, his flesh wriggled, growing at an impossible speed as it completely mended itself. He groaned and stood up.

Percy's mind raced with surprise. He had long known of Magnus's immortality. But from what Carter had explained, he had been impossible to kill, not faltering despite his heavy wounds! But this was on a different level altogether! This was invincibility! He was regenerating so rapidly, any wounds he could inflict were all being healed in moments!

"The head. " Artemis spoke suddenly. "An organism can survive any damage, but it must die if you either behead it or entirely destroy its head! "

Percy's eyes twitched as soon as he heard her words and he realized the truth behind her words.

Magnus slowly laughed as he tilted his head, already guessing what was running through Percy's head. "Oh? Are you perhaps planning on targeting my head? Maybe slicing it off, or crushing it completely? "

Percy stared at him coldly as he took up his sword stance, not bothering to reply to him.

Magnus chuckled, then raised Sumerbrander, the golden shortsword gleaming as he slid the edge against his own neck. His skin tore and his blood spilled out, flowing onto the Weapon. Immediately, the blood began to bubble and hiss as the blade turned from golden to a deep crimson.

The Devil God Sword Aura that Percy had previously suppressed appeared again as Magnus slowly lowered the sword to his chest. "My Devil God Sword, Sumerbrander is one of the Supreme weapons present on Earth… But I will admit that your weapons holy attribute appears to perfectly counter my Devil Attribute. However… In terms of Quality, my Devil God Sword far exceeds your weapon! So if my weapons own power were to increase… the one being suppressed would be you! "

Magnus suddenly drove the sword into his own chest. Percy exploded forward at that exact moment, his sword smashing down upon Magnus's defenseless throat.

Boom!

A thunderous boom shook the ground as Magnus reacted even faster than Percy had believed possible, blocking Percy's attack.

His eyes were pitch black and the blade of Sumerbrander had also turned pitch black, dark smoke rolling off the weapon as it stood in stark contrast with the Vermillion Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword.

Percy's pupils slowly shrank as he felt all the strength of his slash disappearing. This… this was…. Suppression?

Magnus's expression was cold. "Sumerbrander feeds of my vitality to battle! And when I unleash its true force, it's devil attribute can easily suppress anything! This is the true might of the Devil God Sword! "

His Aura flared and he pushed forward. Percy was unable to resist as he was blown backwards by his strength.

Magnus leapt up and slashed down. Percy immediately spun, blocking with a slash of his own. The two attacks clashed, and Percy felt all the strength in his sword slash suddenly warp and dissipate! He grunted softly as Magnus's attack slammed into his chest, smashing him down into the ground.

Percy coughed and rolled over, struggling back to his feet. Magnus landed in a crouch, Sumerbrander now glowing as he slowly straightened and walked towards Percy. "I want to praise you for managing to push me to my limits. But I think I'll save that for your funeral! "

He slashed down, blade aimed at Percy's neck.

Clang!

Percy and Magnus's eyes locked as they both stared at each other with fury. Again, the Aura of the Devil God emanated from Percy.

But this time, it came from the simple gold studded bronze sword Percy held in his hand!

Riptide!

Sumerbrander hummed as Magnus leapt back.

Percy stood up, his blood dripping down his arm and onto Riptide. The blade gleamed dully and for the first time in years, Percy felt a Devilish Presence emnate from the sword. Then a familiar yet unfamiliar voice suddenly rang in Percy's mind. "Hmph. So you finally decided that you needed my help eh, old friend? "

Percy's eyes twitched as soon as he heard the voice. "W-wait Riptide? "

"Of course it's me. Who else could speak to your mind like this?" The sword answered, humming as it spoke.

The blade in Magnus's hand suddenly quivered as well, then a soft voice suddenly rang out, almost as if the sword itself were suddenly speaking. "That weapon… Anuklasmos? "

Riptide vibrated and Percy almost dropped the sword as a refined, feminine voice rang out. "Sumerbrander. Found a good wielder I see. "

Magnus's eyes widened at the exchange and he immediately retreated, quickly leaping backwards. "A devil Sword User? "

Percy stared down at Riptide. "Want to explain what the heck is going on here? "

Riptide hummed again and it was almost as if the sword was shrugging. "what part needs explanation? " the same girlish voice rang out.

Percy shook the sword. "Perhaps the part about why you sound like a girl? "

Riptide buzzed, and Percy could almost hear it's laughter. "My God's Percy. Can't you tell just by looking at me that I'm a girl? Don't blame me for your weak soul power not being able to receive my voice transmission properly. "

Percy ignored her sarcasm, then looked up at Magnus, and more specifically, the Devil God Sword he was holding. "What's up with that sword then? "

Riptide sighed and Percy felt that if it could shake its head, it would. "That's obviously the Devil God Sword, Sumerbrander. He's always had a bit of a crush on me, since the old days. "

Sumerbrander's black glow was suddenly tinged with red and both Magnus and Percy stared at it with odd expressions as they wrapped their heads around the idea of a sword blushing.

"Of course, in terms of power, we're almost equal, though I claim the advantages in terms of quality, with me being the Core and him being the edge." Riptide continued.

"Whaaaa -? " Percy blinked."Core and edge…? "

Riptide hummed again. "Forget it. This is far above your level of understanding. You'll need to atleast condense a universe as your inner world or maybe even reach the realm of chaos to be on the level of understanding what those terms mean. For now, let's just focus on your opponent shall we? "

Magnus straightened and the color of Sumerbrander turned pitch black yet again. "Enough with this nonsense. I never expected you to be a Devil God Sword user as well. No wonder you're an extreme genius… but it's clear you haven't learned to sync yourself with your Devil God Sword. In such a case, you using this sword will not save you! And even if you could sync with your Devil God Sword, you still cannot overcome my immortality! "

Percy glanced down at riptide, then slowly, the barriers between their souls slowly collapsed. The last time, and the only time he had done this was when he had battled against Artemis. Back then they had achieved a perfect fusion, managing to overcome the impossible gap between him and Artemis.

Riptide chuckled softly and suddenly the image of the inside of the Sword God World appeared within Percy's soul.

A figure shrouded in darkness stood within, observing Percy. The sheer level of the Darkness was something Artemis failed to comprehend, feeling an innate fear wriggling inside of her soul. Even Hong'er, who had returned to Percy's inner world, shivered when she saw the figure. "This… is something beyond even Tartarus ? How can such a monster exist? "

Percy growled as a black miasma erupted from Riptide, engulfing him within as it spread its tendrils out towards Magnus. "You're right… even with Riptide… I might not be able to beat your immortality. "

Magnus felt a new Aura surging from within Percy as he looked at him. Even Sumerbrander hummed intensely and he reacted instantly, his Aura bursting out as he summoned all his power. "Inner World Manifestation :Immortal Asura! "

Percy roared at the same time as the dark scales appeared over his body as his Devil God transformation activated. His arms were covered by the scales, and they spread across his chest, down to his legs. His fingers turned into claws, but unlike his previous berserk transformation, there was no tail, nor had the transformation reached his head or dramatically increased his body size. This was the partial transformation triggered by Riptide!

Magnus was hit by a wave of shock and horror. "A demon? No, a human with Demonic Essence? Impossible! "

However, Percy wasn't finished as he dug into the depths of his soul, summoning forth his greatest strength. "Inner World Manifestation :Berserk Asura! "

A howl tore through the skies, a screech that sounded from the depths of hell. And Percy's face whitened dramatically as the scales on his right arm suddenly turned pure white. The white color extended down his arm, even coating Riptide and turning the blade pure white. Percy's eyes turned a pure white as he glared at Magnus.

Magnus was so shocked, the breath froze within his chest. "An… Asura manifest? How… can you be worthy!? What have you done to get this power? How did you get all this power!? It can't be! There can be no power greater than my hatred!"

Percy struggled to hold his mind in check as he stared at Magnus. This was the absolute peak of his power. His Devil Transformation and his Asura state combined. It was so powerful that he was barely able to keep his mind under control under the sheer power and blood lust. He could perhaps maintain his sanity for only a dozen minutes before losing complete control. But even so, his instincts told him that this wasn't how he could win this fight. Immortality was something beyond his comprehension. Then how strong must his hatred be to create this Immortality?

Percy grit his teeth, blood dripping down his chin as his teeth creaked, cracking and bleeding. "You hate humanity for the deaths of your mother and daughter? Then what were your mother and daughter? Weren't they humans as well? Aren't you half human as well? "

Magnus shook his head. "Humans are the true monsters. They're driven by greed and an unquenchable thirst for power! They're mediocre and weak in all aspects, but still want to ruin the world! They must be eradicated! "

Percy's growled as he clenched Riptide's Hilt. "You're using the same colors to paint all of humanity? What about the love your mother had for you, despite bringing her the calamity of her life? The girl you married? And what about your friends who still want to save you from the darkness you've trapped yourself in? "

Magnus growled. "The time for words is past. If you really think that you can change the world with words, then you're a fool! This world is run by power! If you don't thirst for it, you will be eaten by those who claim to care for you! I don't know what kind of cushy life you've had to have that optimism, but you don't deserve your power if your resolve is so weak! "

Percy closed his eyes. His instincts were right. The power he had was completely insufficient! If this was his limit, then he had to break past his limit!

"AHHHHHH! " Percy's Aura exploded as he summoned every drop of energy within his profound veins. Not enough! Not enough! More!

Erupt! Lifeblood of Poseidon!

Percy's Aura suddenly turned a shocking blue green and his profound veins bulged as they were filled with energy beyond their capacity.

"Divine! Sea! TRANSFORMATION! "

Percy howled as the ground around him imploded simply by his presence! The space around him twisted, tearing and distorting as everything, even time itself started to unravel and disintegrate.

Magnus felt a suffocating Aura blanket him and he involuntarily took a step back as a sensation he hadn't felt for a long time suddenly birthed within his heart.

FEAR….

Fear of another person. After becoming immortal, Magnus had felt no fear. Nothing was capable of killing him. With his hatred festering within his heart… he could never be stopped!

But today, an intense fear of death was birthed in his heart. "How? " he howled desperately as his Immortal Asura Devil God Phantom appeared behind him. "How do you have such power?! "

Percy's eyes were bloodshot, and his sanity was on the verge of cracking as his Profound Veins, Body and Soul were all pushed beyond their limit. An attack that exceeded even Heaven's Smite. An attack that distorted even time! An attack that could kill an immortal! Hong'er shuddered as her eyes widened with recognition. It was faint but unmistakable. "The Second Heaven Smiting Sword. Shattering Void! "

She immediately reached out her hand, trying to get Percy's attention. "Percy! Don't! This attack… it will use up part of your lifespan! "

However, Percy's consciousness was already on the verge of scattering, and nothing could stop his attack anymore.

"My power?" Percy's mind flashed back to the time Luke had attacked Piper, Calypso and Artemis. He remembered the despair when he realized that Tartarus had captured his entire family clan. "I might have suffered just as much as you… but my power is so great because I don't use it to obsess over what I've lost! "

He felt a stabbing pain in his heart as he remembered Annabeth.

"I use my strength simply to protect those by my side right now! " Percy Roared and slashed.

KA-CHA!

A crisp cracking sound echoed as the entire stage and the space around it shattered instantaneously, all of it blowing apart around Percy as his attack slammed into Magnus.

Percy's own body emitted a loud crackling sound as all the scales on his body were blown to bits, his flesh exploding as his blood sprayed from every part of his body.

Magnus didn't even get a chance to scream. The attack washed past him and an instant later, he was blown back, his entire body sprinkling into a fog of blood as both he and Percy were blown away in opposite directions, one from the attack, the other from the backlash!

Percy felt his Devil God Transformation shatter. His Asura state broke as well and his Aura turned back to normal as his Divine Sea Transformation ran out of all power. His eyes were wide as he slammed into the ground, shocked by the sheer force of the attack he had just executed. He himself hadn't anticipated how powerful it was going to be!

Hong'er was even more shocked, speechless for the first time in her long life. After a long time, her mind regained some semblance of reason as she muttered to herself. "Shattering Void… the Second Move of the Heaven Smiting Chaos Destruction Sword… He figured it out by himself? It wasn't as powerful as the original move, but it still used up almost ten percent of his remaining lifespan! This is bad… I have to stop him from ever using that move again! "

Percy slowly struggled to his feet. Physically, he was fine, since the damage was all nullified by his Devil God Transformation. But all his energy was drained to the limit. At present he had probably only five percent of his profound strength remaining, and ten percent of his soul force left. It might take him almost a month to recover from this battle!

He staggered forward, whistling despite himself. A circle with the radius of almost ten kilometers had been carved into the stage, within which everything had been destroyed. Absolutely nothing remained. And this was just caused by the excess power that had spilled out of the attack. The main part of the attack had been all focused on Magnus!

Then his eyes slowly moved as he noticed a figure leaping out of the darkness. He grimaced, summoning Riptide as he quickly ran around the circle towards the other side of the stage.

Within a few minutes, he had arrived, slowly nearing the figure he had seen. "Well, well, well. What are you doing here? "

Alex Fierro whipped her head around with shock and horror as she fell backwards onto her butt. The entire right side of her body was bloody and her right arm was missing entirely. A healing glow covered her left hand, but surprisingly, it wasn't directed to heal herself. Instead… she was healing the broken form of Magnus lying behind her.

Magnus's body was damaged beyond belief. Not a single spot could be found uninjured and Percy was certain even an Overgod would perish simply of the bloodloss in his place. But he was still alive, obviously due to his immortality. But it appeared to be at its own limit, unable to heal Magnus despite all the time that had passed.

His arms had been destroyed and half his chest was missing as well. His feet had been blown down to stumps that ended at his knees and his entire body had been scorched and dyed in his own blood!

"P-please spare Magnus" Alex's voice quivered as she spoke in a soft voice, her eyes wide and pleading. "I-if you want… you can have my life. J-just spare him."

Percy gave her a cool look, then shook his head. "I'm not after your life, or his." He looked at Magnus. "I was simply trying to remind Magnus that true strength is when you want to protect something dear to yourself, than when you lose sight of what you have and focus on what you've lost. I'm sure your daughter, nor your mother would have wanted this. You almost gave up what you have left for the sake of mindless revenge. Keep that in mind... Magnus Chase."

Percy turned away and started to walk away. Artemis let out the terrified breath she didn't even know she had been holding as she spoke. "Letting him live is dangerous you know. It took all you had to get him so close to death. If he decides to retaliate in the future – "

"He won't" Percy interrupted with a confident smile.

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "He hates humanity. Even the friends who spared his life. What makes you so sure? "

Percy smiled and gave a small shrug. "His name. It reminds me of someone just as stubborn and single-minded as him. "

"Wait! "

A weak shout came from behind and Percy slowed to a stop and turned to face the speaker.

Magnus was standing, supported by Alex. He hesitated, then looked at Percy with conflicting emotions. "I… admit my defeat. You are indeed the Harbinger of the Prophecy. "

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Still don't know what that means. "

Magnus sighed. "It means… The return of The Titan Lord Kronos is soon to be upon us. "

Percy shivered intensely at the mention of the Titan Lord's name. "Tell me more."

Fin

AN.: Finally! A surprise ending when all my battles always end with percy using his final attack to anhilate his enemy. Why didn't Percy try befriending the villains before? Oh yeah because Luke tried stabbing him and almost killed Artemis when Percy tried to befriend him.

At any rate, this brings our book one to a close! And what a Rollercoaster of a year it has been. This is the first fan fiction I have written(The others on this account belong to the previous owner) and I think I've done the best I could for my first attempt!

A new year, bringing in a new book! But I have my own exams in May so I can't focus much on writing. I already messed up my exams last year.

But, yes, there will be a book two and a book three as well I hope.

I'll post a proper chapter discussing the next book later. The parties and late nights have killed me and I'm down with a cold as well.

But what about the name?

Dark God Asura : Vengeance!

Ciao, with love from your Author Nim


	93. Epilogue:War of the World's Begins!

**Epilogue: War of the World's, Begin!**

Thunder tore the Skies open. But all remained silent and dark. The from the distance, shrill screams echoed. A dark miasma clung to everything, a sickly smell permeating the air.

Suddenly, space trembled, resisting for a brief moment before tearing down in a rectangular hole. A figure slowly stepped out from within, shrouded in complete darkness. It stood in the empty plain, surveying the area around it. Then it spoke in a dry scaly voice that echoes everywhere. "How Sssurprising… it'sss rare for ssso many of usss to gather together in the sssame place. "

Space trembled and suddenly three more figures appeared on the dark ground, each facing the newcomer.

One of the figures spoke to the first one, his voice heavy and powerful. "Hmph… I could smell your reptilian stench from a year away,Python. "

A hissing sound emanated from the first figure. "Python… That name is ss a mockery of my ssstrength, given to me by that accursssed God Apollo in order to demean me and belittle our battle! I am not the ssserpent ssslayed by an arrow, I am Pythosss! Pythosss, the great Rotting created by the death of all creation upon earth! "

The second figure chuckled, then glanced around, as if searching for someone. "Hmph… The lord had summoned all Seven of the Half Step Primordials to come to the meeting. How impudent of the other three not to show themselves despite his lords express orders… "

A soft giggle sounded as another one of the figures stepped forward, speaking up. "Hush Now Cutie. Her Highness Is Quite Busy. She Is The General Of His Lord's Armies. She Only Moves Out On His Lord's Personal Orders, To Deal With Problems That Are Even Beyond Our Capabilities. As For The Empress, She Is Still Recovering From Her Injuries. And… I'm Sure You Already Know Why HE Can't Be Sent Out… Unless You Think That This Matter Is One of Life And Death? "

The figure fell silent, almost shivering at the musical and charming words being spoken. His entire body was soaked in cold sweat as he snorted and turned away from them. "Void Beast.. Keep your silvery tongue in control before me. "

The Void Beast giggled again. "Oh My. I Didn't Mean To Offend You Young Master. Little Me Would Certainly Never Dare To Be Impudent In Front Of Such A Cute Face. But If His Lord Doesn't Learn How To Respect His Elders, Perhaps I Should Educate You Myself? "

He was the Ruler of an entire Domain, Second only to Their Lord, and equal in standing to the other three. But still, that subtle threat was one of the most frightening ones he had ever heard.

Before their argument could get out of hand, the space around the four of them trembled and the four of them immediately grew somber, glancing up towards the Skies as a majestic presence tore through the Heaven's, a power so strong, merely te presence immediately suppressed them. Let alone the four of them, even if a thousand of them were to combine forces, they would still be inferior to this presence. Because this Presence was a True Immortal Primordial! Tartarus!

The four mighty figures knelt in unison, greeting together. "Lord Tartarus! "

Tartarus surveyed them with cold eyes. "This is not the time for your petty quarrel! Today I have assembled you four to deal with a problem that has been growing out of hand! "

The fourth figure, who had remained silent previously, finally spoke. "Lord… This insignificant one is astonished that a problem exists great enough to force all four of us to act in unison. "

Tartarus shook his head. "Keto, This is actually quite an insignificant warrior who doesn't hold any threat to even one of you. But his power is simply beyond the lower level minions. Even if they are stronger than him, he still has the ability to exceed his own limitations and grow stronger. Thus, I need you four to personally intervene. "

The DarkFlame Emperor looked up with astonishment. "could you perhaps be talking about the genius blessed by the Heaven's? The Emperor of the Twelfth Legion, Jason Grace?! "

Tartarus solemnly shook his head. "Unfortunately… He has already achieved a power that might even allow him to contend with one of you! If so… even if all four of you were to join forces, he would still inflict heavy losses and injuries upon you! Jason Grace… is a problem I will entrust to someone else. Someone who he can never kill! But as for you four… Your target is the Level One Overgod… Perseus Jackson! "

-Earth, Ruined Realms Dark Lands-

Reyna gasped weakly. Her vision was growing Grey and bright spots danced before her. The grip around her neck was like a vice, mercilessly crushing her throat.

She reached out weakly, trying to reach her one hope of survival, the only one who could save her from this predicament. Her lips were already blue, her tongue jumbled, as the words slipped out. "Sister… Hylla… "

Hylla expression remained cold. Her eyes were filled with sadistic mirth as her grip tightened around Reyna's neck. A soft giggle escaped her lips even as Reyna gasped, reaching out weakly, straining to get through to her. Tears filled her eyes as her fingers brushed Hylla face, tracing the scars across her face.

Hylla's expression twisted and she dropped Reyna. A feral scream erupted from her throat as she clutched at her head, bending over as if punched In the gut. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot as she whipped her head around, clawing at her own hair. "Reyna! Run! "

Reyna collapsed to her knees, clutching at her throat as she coughed weakly. "B-but… without you… "

Hylla screamed one last time, then her entire body went limp. She slowly straightened. Even as she did, a dark vortex made entirely of nothingness slowly opened up behind her. A cruel smile spread across her face and she flicked her finger at Reyna. "… Die"

A howl suddenly ripped through the air and a gigantic hell hound leapt from the vortex, a shadow of darkness as it struck towards Reyna's throat.

Clang!

A golden shield suddenly appeared in front of Reyna, holding the attack at bay. A golden spear thrust upwards and the hell hound yelped, turning into dust.

More hell hounds leapt forward, but numerous shields all appeared out of thin air, blocking them all as a cohesive battle unit suddenly appeared around Reyna.

Reyna's eyes widened. "Reynolds? What… "

The person protecting Reyna grinned as he helped her to her feet, retreating under the onslaught of the Hellhounds. "General Reyna. Hope we weren't too late! Twelfth Legion, Second Squad under your command reporting for battle! "

Howls and clans of metal filled the air as the endless stream of Hellhounds poured through the vortex, clashing with the legion of warriors. Reyna's eyes grew firm and she unsheathed her own sword. "Second Squad! Take up defensive stances! Archers to the back! Take them out without direct engagement! "

The legion moved, all immediately pulling together as they lifted their shields, forming an impenetrable wall as the archers began showering the Hellhounds with arrows. Reyna struck at the same time, and her slash gouged the earth in half, disintegrating the bulk of the attacking monsters.

Hylla appeared unimpressed as more vortexes opened, even more Hellhounds rushing in to overwhelm the Romans.

Reyna's expression turned cold. This would soon turn into a war of attrition. With the seemingly endless tide of the monsters, they would be overrun. The only way to get through was… kill Hylla!

She grit her teeth, then roared. "Second Squad, hold defensive perimeter! Long range warriors all together, target the enemy's leader! "

The squad immediately obeyed, the warriors all pooling their strength. Individually, they were all simply no match for Hylla. But together… they were a force to be feared! At the very least they were capable of injuring her enough to force her to flee.

Hylla appeared unperturbed as she allowed their attack to build up. Even after they fired it at her, she made no move to dodge or block the attack. A colorful host of attacks all blanketed the Skies, all aimed at her.

Finally, she smiled and glanced at Reyna as she slowly stretched her hand out. "Boom"

Space groaned as it tore apart, a huge rip tearing apart the Skies as a gigantic maw instantaneously swallowed all the attacks.

Reyna, as well as the rest of the squad was silenced by the sheer horror. To be able to tear space apart so easily and so wide and stably that it swallowed all their attacks was… impossible!

Hylla was still smiling at Reyna as she slowly twisted her wrist and pushed her hand out. "Kaboom~"

Space and darkness all shattered as all the attacks the legion had launched at Hylla suddenly erupted from the vortexes, tearing apart their defenses as they were all blown away by their own attacks. Reyna was the only one that managed to survive the assault, still standing, but filled with shock.

Hylla curled her fingers into a fist and the tear in the sky stretched open as a gigantic drakon tore through, scales shimmering as it landed in front of Hylla, it's eyes fixed on Reyna. Reyna felt engulfed in hopelessness. Her entire squad had been decimated before her eyes and in the condition she was in, she stood no chance against the Drakon, let alone Hylla.

The Drakon slowly lowered its head and Reyna felt the sword drop from her grip. She was going to die here… today… at the hands of her beloved sister…

Thunder tore the Skies open and a divine sword descended. Hylla gasped and stepped back and the drakon immediately moved to protect her.

Boom!

The bolt of divine lightning tore apart the drakons impervious armor, charring it's entire body into a blackened mess.

Hylla glanced up, having regained her composure. "Emperor… Jason… Grace… you were unexpected. "

A figure wreathed in lightning descended from the Skies, golden hair fluttering, blue eyes filled with murderous intent. "Hylla. Empress of the Amazon's. "

Reyna stared between the two figures facing off. At any other point of time, she was certain that Jason would be stronger than Hylla. But the powers Hylla had displayed… were incomprehensible.

Hylla slowly drew her Saber and tilted her head as she regarded Jason. "Cultivation of Celestial Realm 3 and if rumors are true, then you're actually even stronger than you look. Even though I'm a Celestial Realm 4 I still think that before I met my mistress, I would be weaker than you. But with my mistresses blessing, I am far beyond what I once was! "

Jason's expression was cold. "You gained that power by sacrificing your very soul. "

Hylla giggled." And I'd do it again! Serving my mistress is a joy beyond anything you can imagine! "

Jason curled his lip. "Mind control of such a high level that even your emotions are all focused towards loving the one controlling you so you never even want to get free! "

Hylla shook her head. "someone like you can never understand what joy I feel now. So your words are meaningless. "

Jason shrugged. "then all that's left… is to kill you! "

Both of them leapt forward, and sparks flew as their weapons clashed. They collided over a thousand times, their figures a blur.

Jason broke off first, blood dripping down his chin from a cut on his face. Hylla sneered. "Is that all the great emperor is capable of?

Jason slowly rubbed the scratch on his face, then looked around at Reyna. "Get back. "

"But! "Reyna started to protest but Jason's glare cut her off.

"That's a command from your Emperor. Also… please."

Reyna's expression softened as she quickly leapt back.

Hylla sneered. "Done saying your goodbye? "

Jason smiled and flipped his sword. It shimmered, then transformed into a golden javelin. "I'm afraid… that even if you're her sister, there's a rule you have to follow around her! " Jason's eyes filled with golden lightning and the lightning covering his body disappeared as a bright golden Aura spilled out. "No one… touches my fiancé! "

"Divine Sky Transformation! Awaken, Lifeblood of Zeus! "

Jason blurred, over a thousand arcs of lightning striking down from the Skies and slamming down into the earth. Hylla hurriedly retreated as Jason appeared in the skies above, each thrust of his javelin causing lightning to rain down. She was immediately forced onto the back foot as she flitted around, trying to evade the strikes.

Finally she roared and thrust her hand upwards as a red glow covered her body. "Will of Bellona! "

A vortex appeared between the two of them, absorbing all the shearing strikes of lightning. Jason appeared like a phantom behind her, striking at her throat.

Hylla cursed and spun around, barely pushing his attack aside. She yelped as the lightning on the javelin leapt into her Saber, turning her arm numb. She grunted and drew back but Jason smirked and a wave of electricity exploded from his javelin, catching Hylla and sending her stumbling.

She remained unscathed, but her expression was one of rage.

Jason lifted his javelin as he examined her. "Looks like your Bellonas will isn't working as efficiently as it used to. Probably because your own will has been displaced. "

Hylla seethed for a few moments, then giggled again. "But you're still unable to injure me! In this battle of attrition, I hold the upper hand! "

Jason chuckled. "that's actually wrong. Because I still haven't collected the blood debt owed for killing the subordinates under my care! The Roman emperor is the shield that protects his empire… and if retribution is needed, he will be the sword that kill the sinners! "

An intense blood lust suddenly erupted from Jason and Hylla felt a deathly chill assault her. "If revenge for even a single drop remains due, let my soul be shattered! Asura Transformation! Thunder Emperor Asura! "

A shriek from the depths of his soul tore forth as a hell of blood and death suddenly appeared around them. Jason roared and the entire hell trembled as countless dead soldiers suddenly clawed their way out of the ground. "Soldiers of Rome! I, Emperor of the twelfth Legion Fulminata, command you to put to death the enemy of Rome! "

Hylla flung her arms out and a series of vortexes appeared behind her as an army of monsters poured forward. "Kill! Kill them all! "

Hylla's body was suddenly shrouded with darkness and she charged at Jason. "This is the power my mistress gave me! Tremble before it's might! "

Jason and Hylla clashed and the entire battlefield was split into two halves, one shrouded by darkness, the other half filled with golden lightning.

The stalemate held as around them, countless dracanae were cut down by the undead Roman soldiers, and many of the skeletons were crushed by the attacks of gigantic monsters.

Reyna watched the battle, biting her lip, the stress of inaction crushing her. When she saw the stalemate, her breath caught in her throat. She knew that the reason Jason had told her to stay back was because he didn't want her to bear the burden of fighting her own sister. But… her eyes flashed red and she thrust both her arms out and a stream of crimson erupted from her, flowing to Jason.

"Bellona's Will! Grant him my strength! "

A crimson glow suddenly covered Jason, and Hylla's eyes widened. "Damned sister! You would be willing to see me die? "

Jason uttered a soft chuckle. "she's not just your sister. She's a general of our Twelfth Legion! "

Jason pushed her back, slamming the javelin into the ground and using it as he slammed his foot into her chest, sending her staggering backwards. He leapt forward and even as he did, the javelin in his hand morphed into his sword as he struck at Hylla's chest.

Clang!

The sword stopped, the tip of the blade just an inch from Hylla's sternum. Two fingers pinched the blade, easily holding it back.

Jason glared at the figure standing beside Hylla. "So… it's you. "

The Void Beast giggled. "Yes Indeed. Me. The Assassin Of The Previous Emperor. So Perhaps Us Meeting Here Is Fate? "

She glanced around towards Hylla. "Hylla. Retreat. "

Hylla nodded fanatically as she immediately backed up into the vortex behind her. "YES YES YES MISTRESS! "

All the vortexes immediately closed, but Jason's attention was fixed solely on the Void Beast. "Why are you here? "

The Void Beast tilted her head quizzically. "You're Even Cuter Than The Last Emperor. Are You Selected For Your Cuteness? "

Jason's Aura was still blazing, but before her, it felt minute, almost suffocatingly small.

The Void Beast licked her lips and regarded Jason as she let go of his sword and watched him back away. "Master Did Say That You Weren't The Target… But Letting Go Of Such A Cute Face Is Beyond Me~"

Jason relaxed as a smile flitted across his face. "You really think that you're capable of defeating me alone? "

The Void Beast immediately shook her head. "Why Would I Want To Defeat A Cute Little Boy Like You ~ I Want To Make You Mine~"

"That depends on if you have the power! "Jason lifted his sword as his eyes slowly turned Grey. A heavy Aura spilled out from within his body, and both Reyna and The Void Beast felt a suppressive power lock down on them.

"The Origin of all creation! The Cradle of the Primordials! The Power of a Newborn Universe! " Jason's eyes were filled with swirling grayish black clouds. "Chaos Essence State! "

The Void Beast was just about to comment, then her eyes widened as she twisted towards the side. A golden streak tore through her cloak and she barely dodged the golden blade in Jason's hand.

Jason didn't hesitate, or give her any time to react, slashing sideways at once. The Void Beast leapt into the air, twisting sideways as she dodged the slash. The cloak on her body was completely torn off, revealing a slender humanoid form, made entirely of darkness!

She landed at a distance from Jason and chuckled. "Cute And Deadly. But For How Long Can You Maintain That Power? If That's Your Top Speed, You Can Forget About Ever Catching Me! "

Jason slowly sheathed his sword. Then a golden glow appeared on his right hand, extending up his atm as a golden tattoo covered his entire arm.

Bzzzt!

BZZZZT!

A crackle of lightning sounded as, slowly, a seven foot long javelin made of pure electricity appeared in Jason's hand.

Half Of The Master Bolt!

With the weapon in hand, Jason's Aura rocketed and his Divine Sky Transformation was pushed to its limit. "How about this? This should be enough to deal with you. Still feeling cocky? "

"Enough to deal with her! But certainly not enough to deal with all four of usss! "

Jason stared as three figures appeared around The Void Beast, each carrying the same pressure and strength. "F-four Half Step Primordials? You dare to enter the realm of Earth? "

The Dark Flame Emperor chuckled. "Why wouldn't we dare? Who could possibly stop us? You? "

"Not him. " a deep sonorous voice rang out and flames exploded beside Jason and space melted away, revealing a burly man who looked in his early thirties. He had long black hair that hung down to his shoulders, as well as a short beard that appeared burnt and singed. He was well built, dressed in simple leather clothing, a spear hanging on his back. Just his very presence caused all of space around him to heat up.

Jason was astonished, not just because of his power, but because he recognized this man. "Extreme Yang Lord?! "

Extreme Yang Lord, one of the Four elemental Kings, and among the most powerful Half Step Primordials on Earth!

"But what if I decided to stop you? " The Extreme Yang Lord continued, eyes flashing fierily as he glared at the four figures standing in front of him.

The Dark Flame Emperor Roared with laughter. The four of them had already sensed him approaching, but they hadn't been able to identify who it was. "You? You alone will stop all four of us? Go Burn in Hell! "

He thrust his palm out and a stream of molten black flame erupted from his arm, engulfing the Extreme Yang Lord.

"Hmph. These useless Humans think that… what? "The Dark Flame Emperor felt his flames suddenly twist and waver and his expression fell.

The Extreme Yang Lord reappeared, holding his hand out as his palm twisted the flames flying at him, easily absorbing all the fire. "This tastes like a fusion of The Dark Flame Phoenix and the Vermillion Bird. So you must be their only child… the Dark Flame Emperor! "

The Void Beast seemed unsurprised by the turn of events. "Extreme Yang Lord. Hadn't I And Her Highness Already Sealed You Away Inside The Tomb Of Endless Ice 500 Years Back ? How Did You Get Free ? "

The Extreme Yang Lord smiled. "The Void Nether Yin Queen Decided to come free me. "

The Void Beast shook her head and muttered under her breath. "And Still This Fool Is Oblivious To The Poor Girls Feelings. Men Will Be Men. "

The Dark Flame emperor seemed highly disgruntled after seeing his attack nullified and he was beginning to see that neither the Void Beast, who was the strongest among them, nor the Pythos or Keto who had already battled in a war before seemed eager to battle with the Extreme Yang Lord. His own confidence had taken a hit after seeing his attack so easily absorbed.

The four of them were arrogant, but especially prudent and cautious. They already knew that this was not the time, nor the place for battle.

The Void Beast stepped forward. "we might have gotten quite carried away, but I apologize to the Emperor. We were actually here to discuss a conflict about to occur in the near future. "

The Extreme Yang Lord frowned. "What conflict do you mean? "

The Void Beast gave a gruesome thin lipped smile, her face still hidden under her hood. "Tartarus is going to war with the Tower Continent. "

-Earth, Somewhere in the Border of the Dark lands-

It was always dark in this canyon… the only light existed in this cruel area. Purple Light that flowed off hypnotically from the Grove of flowers… the terrifying Nether chaos Flowers! The more powerful, pure strain of the Underworld Python Flower that Artemis had asked Percy to find. But this flower was even more dangerous! It grew by absorbing chaos left behind from the birth of the universe, only existing in rare pockets like these. And their ability was hence a thousand times more terrifying! These flowers were capable of sucking out the soul of even an Olympian! Even a Primordial would avoid them!

But in the midst of these terrifying flowers, a single girl danced around playfully. The childishness was still fresh in her features and by her looks, she was hardly even twelve years of age.

She looked up at the sky, yearning in her eyes as she looked around. The face that haunted her dreams… when would she see it? Every time she closed her eyes, it appeared in her mind. She had seen it only once, weak and broken. She had held his hand and silently taught him something she knew he needed.

She no longer remembered what it meant, but the name lingered.

She opened her lips to say it, but she had long forgotten how to speak… it only existed in her memories.

Heaven's Smite… and Percy Jackson.


	94. Very Important Note

**Note: The second story is already up. Dark God Asura :Vengeance, posted on this same account. Sorry, I forgot to mention it earlier. It's the second part of this book, so go read it to see what happens next!**


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